Paul of Tarsus & Bid'ah Murji'ah

At the end of the 1st century AH, a doctrine appeared in the Muslim nation in which faith was reduced to mere knowledge in the heart.
Also, some adopted the view that faith is merely belief in the heart; that affirmation with the tongue, and righteous works, are not from faith.
Meaning works are not from the essence of faith; ex. faith does not increase or decrease.
This sect became known as Murji'ites (the Postponers, as they postpone deeds from the reality of faith).

A consequence of this belief is that sins, whether major or minor, do not harm a person's faith at all and that a person could never leave faith after entering it, because faith is mere knowledge in the heart and nothing more.

The Righteous Predecessors, students of the Companions of Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, vehemently rejected this doctrine when it appeared and vilified its proponents because they recognised that this doctrine was negation of Islam itself;
they affirmed the truth that all previous Prophets taught (including Moses ﷺ and Jesus ﷺ):
that faith is belief in the heart,
expression with the tongue  and  obedience with the limbs
and that salvation lies in belief, repentance and obedience combined.

Ibrahīm al-Nakha’ī (d. 96H) stated that this doctrine is to be “feared more than the tribulation of the Azāraqites”,
and the Murji'ites were an early radical, terrorist sect (like ISIS) who mercilessly slaughtered Muslims who did not agree with their views.

This doctrine's harm to religion is greater than that of the extremists and terrorists, b/c it essentially strips ppl of their religion by leading them to belittle good deeds and consider the matter of sin to be light.
Harm to religion through this doctrine is hidden, subtle and not noticeable until nothing of religion is left to hold on to.

Imām al-Zuhrī (d. 125H) stated that “no doctrine more harmful to Islam and its adherents has been innovated than this one”.
This doctrine resulted in many sects among the Murji'ites.

One should note here that Paul (the Murji'ite) developed the same ideas when he altered the religion of Jesus ﷺ.

Jesus' ﷺ message,
that salvation is through faith, repentance, obedience and works, after Allāh’s grace and mercy,
is a recurring message in the Qurʾān.

	One should note that the writings of Paul were circulating between 40CE to 60CE before gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke & John were constructed & written.
These gospels, the 1st 3 in particular, preach a message which counteracts the Murjiʾite teachings of Paul.
	Here are some quick examples:
	—Luke 18:10-24.
	The parable of the pharisee and the publican in which
acknowledging sin and seeking God’s mercy “justifies” a person.
Which means his faith is genuine, fruitful and leads to salvation.
In contrast the Pharisee who was boastful and thought he was above others and thought he was free of sin, was not “justified”.
In the same section, Jesus orders the honouring of the parents and
shunning major sins as a means of inheriting eternal life, meaning Paradise. Just as he exhorted to charity as a means of entering the kingdom of God
in the Hereafter, which means entering Paradise.

	—Luke 15:11-31. 	The story of the prodigal son.
	A father with two sons, one of whom squanders wealth & spends it in sin.
He comes back acknowledging his sin against heaven and his father,
being remorseful and repentant. His father rejoiced because his son was dead and came to life, and was lost and is now found.
	—Luke 19: 1-9. 	The repentant tax collector.
	An unscrupulous tax collecter repents by giving half his possessions to the poor and promising to give four-fold back to those whom he cheated. Jesus said, “Today, salvation has come to this house.”
	—Matthew 18:25-35.
	Forgiving others in order to receive God’s forgiveness.
	—Matthew 6:12.
	Forgiving debts of others in order to receive God’s forgiveness for debts.
	—Matthew 6:16.
	Fasting with utmost sincerity in order to gain reward from God.
	—John 8:51.
		Whoever obeys Jesus, the Prophet of God, will never see death. 	Meaning he will remain alive through his faith & obedience
	and have eternal life in the hereafter.
	—Matthew 5:17-20.
	Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven;
but whoever practices and teaches them will be called
great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

These are some texts which show from the alleged words and teachings of Jesus that:
	acknowledging one’s sin,
	being remorseful,
	seeking forgiveness from God,
	repenting to Him,
	believing in Jesus (as a messenger from Him),
	obeying Jesus in what he commands,
	and working righteous deeds,
			such as charity,
			forgiving others,
			being good to parents and so on,
that this is the way to gain forgiveness, mercy, reward and salvation from God.
Likewise, that the law is to be fulfilled and not abolished.
Thus one is “justified” by both faith and works combined.

These are the plain words of Jesus (allegedly), & no amount of juggling, or distortion, can take them away from their apparentness & clarity of meaning.

Seeing this misguidance and blatant departure from Scripture, the Righteous Predecessors of Jesus ﷺ stood against this heretic and apostate from the law (ex.Letters of James and Jude)—
just as, 7 centuries later, the Righteous Predecessors of Muhammad ﷺ stood against the Murjiʾites.