1056 - Muhammad ibn al-Husayn informed me that al-Fadl narrated to them, saying: I heard Abu Abd Allah expressing that he favored the [making of] exception (istithna') in faith. A man said to him—and Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath informed us, saying: I heard Abu Abd Allah [saying that] a man said to him, and this is the wording of Sulayman, which is more complete: 'I was asked: Are you a believer? I said: Yes. Is there any [blame] upon me for that? Are people anything but a believer or a disbeliever?' Ahmad became angry and said: 'This is the speech of the Murji'ah. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, said: {And others [there are] who are deferred for the command of Allah} [At-Tawbah: 106]. Who are these?' Then Ahmad said: 'Is faith not [both] speech and action?' The man replied: 'Yes.' He said: 'Have we produced the speech?' He replied: 'Yes.' He said: 'Have we produced the action?' He replied: 'No.' He said: 'Then how do you reproach [one] for saying "if Allah wills" (in sha' Allah) and making an exception?' Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath added, and Ahmad ibn Abi Surayj informed me, that Ahmad ibn Hanbal wrote to him regarding this issue: 'Verily, faith is speech and action; so we have produced the speech, but we have not produced the action, thus we make an exception regarding the action.' Al-Fadl added: I heard Abu Abd Allah saying: 'Sulayman ibn Harb used to interpret this as [referring to] acceptance, saying: We perform deeds and we do not know whether they will be accepted from us or not.'