Hadiths
The Messenger of God - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - said: (Whoever treads a path in search of knowledge, God will make easy for him a path to Paradise).
The Messenger of God - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - said: (Whoever God wants good for, He makes him understand the religion)
The Messenger of God - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - said: (Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim).
The Messenger of God - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - said: (If a person dies, his work is cut off except for three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who
Faith Faith in God 237 2026-08-03

Does a hypocrite have faith? And what is the reality of dividing faith into different types?

Question
There is a classification of faith that says: Faith is of five types: innate faith for the angels, protected faith for the prophets, accepted faith for the believers, rejected faith for the hypocrites, and suspended faith for the innovators. Is this classification correct?
Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

This classification is not a correct one. It is found neither in the Noble Qur'an nor in the authentic Sunnah, nor is it among the recognized classifications of the early generations (Salaf) of this Ummah.

Does a hypocrite have faith?

A person guilty of major hypocrisy (nifaq akbar) is not a believer in the sight of Allah, even if he outwardly professes Islam. Allah, the Exalted, says:

"And of the people are some who say, 'We believe in Allah and the Last Day,' but they are not believers."
(Qur'an 2:8)

Allah explicitly denied faith to the hypocrites. Therefore, it is incorrect to describe them as having "rejected faith," because true faith does not exist in their hearts.

Are only the angels naturally inclined to faith?

It is incorrect to say that only the angels are naturally created upon faith. Human beings are also originally born upon the natural disposition (fitrah).

The Prophet ﷺ said:

"Every child is born upon the fitrah, then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian."

Thus, every person is born upon the natural inclination toward Tawhid, but may later deviate from it because of various influences.

What is the definition of faith according to Ahl al-Sunnah?

The definition unanimously accepted by Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah is:

  • Faith is speech of the tongue.
  • Belief of the heart.
  • Actions of the limbs.

Faith increases through obedience and decreases through disobedience.

This is the definition derived from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and it is the understanding held by the Companions and the righteous early generations.

Conclusion

Dividing faith into "innate," "protected," "accepted," "rejected," and "suspended" is not an established Islamic classification. A person guilty of major hypocrisy is not a believer in the sight of Allah, because Allah Himself denied faith to such people. The correct creed of Ahl al-Sunnah is that faith consists of the statement of the tongue, the belief of the heart, and the actions of the limbs. It increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience.

And Allah knows best.