قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آَمَنَّا قُلْ لَمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِنْ قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَإِنْ تُطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَا يَلِتْكُمْ مِنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ شَيْئًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ﴿49:14﴾
(49:14) The Bedouins say: “We believe.”(O Prophet), *30 say to them: “You do not believe; you should rather say: ‘We have submitted’”; *31 for belief has not yet entered your hearts. If you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish anything from the reward of any of your deeds. Surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.
(49:14) The Bedouins say: “We believe.”(O Prophet), *30 say to them: “You do not believe; you should rather say: ‘We have submitted’”; *31 for belief has not yet entered your hearts. If you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish anything from the reward of any of your deeds. Surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.
*30 This does not imply alI the desert Arabs but only a few particular groups of the Bedouins who had become Muslims, seeing the increasing power of Islam, thinking that they would not only remain safe from any attack by the Muslims but would also gain materially from the Islamic conquests. These people had not embraced Islam sincerely but had professed faith only verbally in order to be counted among the Muslims, and their this inner state became exposed whenever they would come before the Holy Prophet with different sorts of demands and would enumerate and mention their rights as if they had done him a great favor by accepting Islam. Traditions mention several of such tribal groups, e.g. Muzainah, Juhainah, Aslam, Ashja', Ghifar, etc. About the Bani Asad bin Khuzaimah in particular, Ibn 'Abbas and Said bin Jubair have stated that once during a drought they came to Madinah and making a demand for financial help they said to the Holy Prophet again and again: "We became Muslims without any conflict: we did not fight against you as have such and such other tribes fought." By this they clearly meant to point out that their refraining from fighting against the Messenger of Allah and their accepting Islam was a favour for which they must be rewarded by the Messenger and the Muslims. It was this same attitude and conduct of the Bedouin group living around Madinah, which has been commented upon in these verses. One can understand this appraisal better if one reads it together with vv. 90-110 of At-Taubah and vv. 11-17 of AI-Fat-h.
*31 Another translation of the words qulu aslamna can be; "Say: we have become Muslims. " From these words some people have concluded that in the language of the Qur'an, "Mu 'min" and "Muslim" are two opposite terms. A "Mu'min" is he who has believed sincerely and a "Muslim" he who might have accepted Islam only verbally without true faith. But, in fact, this is an absolutely wrong idea. No doubt the word iman here has been used for sincere affirmation by the heart and the word islam for only outward and external submission but to understand them as two independent and mutually contradictory terms of the Qur'an is not correct. A study of the Qur'anic verses in which the words Islam and Muslim have been used, shows that in the Qur'anic terminology "Islam " is the name of the the Faith, which Allah has sent down for mankind; it comprehends the faith and obedience both, and a °MuslIm " is he who believes with a sincere heart and obeys the Commands practically. This is borne out by the following verses:
"Indeed, Islam is the only right way of life in the sight of Allah." (AI'Imran: 19)
"And whoever adopts any other than this way of submission (Islam), that way shall not be accepted from him," (Al-'Imran: 85)
And I have approved Islam as the way of life for you." (Al-Ma'idah: 3)
`Whomever Allah wills to guide aright, He makes his breast wide open to Islam." (Al-An'am: 125)
Obviously, in these verses Islam " does not imply obedience without the Faith. Here are some other verses:
'Say (O Prophet): I have been enjoined to be the first one to affirm (faith in) Islam. "(AI-An'am: 14) '
"If they have surrendered (to Islam), they are rightly guided." (AI-'Imran: 20)
All the Prophets, who were Muslims, judged the cases according to the Torah." (AI-Ma'idah: 44)
Here, and at scores of other places, acceptance of Islam cannot mean adopting obedience without the the faith. Likewise, here are a few verses in which the word "Muslim" has occurred signifying the meaning in which it has been used repeatedly in the Qur'an:
"O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should truly be feared and see that you do not die save as true Muslim. " (AI-`Imran: 102)
`Allah had called you "Muslims" before this and has called you (by the same name) in this Qur'an, too." (AI-Hajj: 78)
"Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a Muslim, sound in the faith." (AI-i-'Imran: 67)
`And remember that when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the walls of this House, they prayed: ... Lord, make us Thy Muslims and also raise from our offspring a community which should be Muslim. " (AI-Baqarah: 128)
(The Prophet Jacob's will for his children "O my children, AIIah has chosen the same way of life for you Hence remain Muslims up to your last breath. (AI-Baqarah: 132)
After a study of these verses who can say that in these the word "Muslim" implies a person who does not believe sincerely but has accepted Islam only outwardly? Therefore, to make the claim that in the Qur'anic terminology "Islam" implies obedience without the faith and the "Muslim" in the language of the Qur'an is he who accepts Islam only outwardly is absolutely wrong. Likewise, this claim also is wrong that the words iman and mu'min have been used in the Qur'an necessarily in the sense of believing sincerely. No doubt, at most places these words have occurred to express the same meaning, but there are many places where these words have also been used for outward affirmation of the faith, and aII those who might have entered the Muslim Community with verbal profession have been addressed with. "O you who have believed", no matter whether they arc the true believers, or people with a weak faith, or mere hypocrites. For a few instances of this, sec Al-i-`Imran: 156, An-Nisa' :13t5, AI-Ma'idah: 54, Al-Anfal: 20-27, At-Taubah: 38, Al-Hadid: 28, As-Saff: 2.