What is the meaning of Al-Murji'ah?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

Irjaa' in the Arabic language means to delay and postpone its root is Arja'a. Allaah Says (what means): {They said, (Arji'hu) “Postpone [the matter of] him and his brother}[Quran 7:111]. It could also mean giving what is expected. Using the word Murji'ah in order to describe the group of innovators with the first meaning is true and correct, as they delayed and postponed the acts of belief, and because they are of the view that the punishment of the sinners and disobedient people is unlikely. It is also said that they are called so because they said that no one can delay Allaah's Order, either He punishes the disobedient people or accepts their repentance. This view, of course, corresponds to their opinion that disobedient acts do not affect the faith, in the same way that an act of obedience is worthless if its doer is a disbeliever. This view is well-known, but it should not be attributed to a particular group of the Murji'ah, or a Shaykh amongst their Shaykhs, as clarified by Ibn Taymiyyah.

The most important statement of the Murji'ah in belief are as follows:

1-     Faith is a mere confession by the heart; this is the view of the Jihamiyyah and those who are of their opinion.

2-     Faith is a mere utterance by the tongue, even if it is deprived from belief; this is the view of Al-Karaamiyyah.

3-     Faith is a mere utterance by the tongue accompanied by a confession by the heart; this is the view of the Murji'ah jurists; they believe that the actions of the limbs are not considered among the acts of belief, and they believe that the faith is constant, it does not increase or decrease.

All the previous beliefs contradict the belief of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa'ah, which states that belief is a confession [by the heart], utterance [by the tongue] and actions [with the limbs], and that it increases and decreases. 

Allaah Knows best.