Wednesday, 29 April 2026 (12 Dhuʻl-Qiʻdah 1447 AH)
Question: A Christian maidservant was accompanying those she served on a journey. When they drew near to Mecca, they became perplexed and said to her: “Embrace Islam so that you may enter Mecca and the Mosque with us.” She said: “Yes, but I will return to the Christian religion after that.” They asked me whether that solution was correct.
Answer: I replied to them that Islam is accepted from her, and it is not proper that her Islam be rejected nor that she be turned away from it on account of her intending to return to her first religion after that. It may be that she comes to desire Islam when she circumambulates the House and hears supplication and weeping, and perhaps Allah will cast desire (for faith) into her heart. The Messenger of Allah, May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace, accepted the Islam of many people, and they had only accepted Islam under compulsion or for purposes other than desire for Islam. From here Amīr al-Mu’minīn, Peace be upon him, said concerning Muʿāwiyah and those like him: “By Allah, they did not accept Islam; rather, they only submitted.”
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2