وَإِنَّمَا الإِقْرَارُ شَرْطٌ لِإِجْرَاءِ الأَحْكَامِ فِي الدُّنْيَا
Verbal profession is a condition for applying worldly rulings.
An influential Ḥanafī–Māturīdī formulation treats inward assent as the essence of faith and verbal profession as a condition for its external legal application. Other scholars incorporate both into their definition. The disagreement concerns whether one is identifying faith's inner reality or its public legal manifestation.
Example: Marriage, funerals, inheritance, and communal dealings rely on publicly recognizable legal status. A judge cannot inspect hearts, so the law proceeds from outward evidence.