Who are the Murji'ah and what are their beliefs?

The Murji’ah, linguistically, derives from irja’, meaning postponement. Terminologically, it refers to those who postpone the matter of Ali and Uthman, or those who say: "Faith is utterance without action."

The innovation of Irja’ emerged towards the end of the era of the Companions. Among their beliefs are: 1. Defining faith as mere affirmation by the heart or pronouncement by the tongue. 2. Actions are not part of faith, and their omission does not negate it. 3. Those who commit sins are believers with complete faith. 4. Faith neither increases nor decreases.

The Murji’ah comprise different factions: some view faith as knowledge (which is disbelief), some see it as affirmation by the heart (the view of the Ash'aris), some consider it as verbal confession (the view of the Karamiyyah), and the least extreme among them see it as conviction by the heart and pronouncement by the tongue.

The Salaf condemned Irja’ and considered it an innovation. They held that faith is knowledge, utterance, and action, and that action is an integral part of it.

The Murji'at al-Fuqaha' (jurist Murji’ah) believe faith is affirmation by the heart and tongue, and that actions are not part of faith but are obligatory, and that sins harm their perpetrator. This is in contrast to the extremists who say no sin harms with faith.

In summary, the Murji’ah differ from Ahl al-Sunnah (definition) wa al-Jama’ah in their definition of faith. For Ahl al-Sunnah, faith is utterance and action, which increases and decreases, whereas for the Murji’ah, it is mere affirmation and utterance, and it neither increases nor decreases.