Muslims and Believers
- philhoraia
- Aug 7, 2023
- 3 min read
In Islam can you be a Muslim without being a believer? Can you be a believer without being a Muslim?
S 6:163 No partner has he. And with that have I been commanded and I am the first of the Muslims.
Commanded with what? Here the author is calling himself a Muslim. But:
S 2:285 The messenger has believed in what has been sent down to him from his lord, and the believers. All have believed in Allah and his angels and his books and his messengers. We do not distinguish between any of his messengers. And they have said: We have heard and obeyed. Your forgiveness, our lord, and to you is the destiny.
Who are all?
S 33:50 Prophet, we have made lawful for you your husbands whom you have given their wages to and what your right hand possesses from what Allah has given you as booty and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman who has given herself to the prophet if the prophet wants to futter her--exclusively for you, excluding the believers. We knew what we made obligatory upon them concerning their husbands and what their right hands have possessed, that there should be no difficulty upon you. And Allah was a forgiver, merciful.
S 33:59 Prophet, tell your husbands and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their jalabib over them. That is more appropriate that they should be known and not harmed. And Allah was a forgiver, merciful. 60 If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease and the agitators in Al-Madinah do not cease, we will cause you to lure them then they shall not be your neighbours therein except a little.
It doesn't say: 'the women of the other believers'.
S 49:14 The Bedouins have said: We have believed. Say: You have not believed; but say: We have surrendered, and faith has not yet entered into your hearts. But if you obey Allah and his messenger, he does not deprive you of your deeds at all. Allah is a forgiver, merciful.
The Bedouins were to say that they had surrendered, turned Muslim, and were to be told that they had not believed.
Question: Who would not deprive them of their deeds? Allah? Its boss? As Muslims have tawhid 'unification', is this both Allah and its boss?
Iblis is depicted as calling Allah 'lord' and he obviously believed in Allah. Was he a Muslim?
S 15:36 He said: Lord, then give me respite to a day they are raised.
How does he know that 'they' (who?) would be raised?
S 15:39 He said: Lord, because you have seduced me I will adorn for them on the Earth and seduce them all
Jews and Christians, we are told, believe in quran.
S 2:144 It may be we see the turning of your face to the sky so we turn you to a qiblah that you will be pleased with. So turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque and wherever you are turn your faces towards it. And those who were given the Book know that it is the truth from their lord. And Allah is not unaware of what they do.
S 28:52-53 Those whom we gave the Book to before it, they believe in it. / And when it is read to them they said: We have believed in it. It is the truth from our lord. We were Muslims before it.
They were apparently Muslims; they believe (present tense) in quran; are they still Muslims?
Throughout quran we find the phrase 'Those who have believed'. If you ask members of the stone-licking tribe whom this refers to, they will surely say: 'Muslims'. But if Christians and Jews believe in quran, would Muslims say that the former were Muslims?
Further reading:
"Those whom we gave the Book to before it, they believe in it."
The "Book" refers not to the imaginary Qur'an on imaginary stone tablets, but to the Bible, a book in the possession of Waraqa, Muhammad's "uncle" and likely father.