The ruling on one who imitates the Jews in sins and whether he is considered one of them
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Question:
The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, you mentioned that whoever possesses the characteristics of the Jews or performs their actions is subject to the same ruling as the Jews. So, if the sinners from the Ummah of Muhammad commit sins similar to those of the Jews, are they considered Jews, or are they from the Ummah of Muhammad but sinners? Please inform us. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
There is a distinction here. One who imitates the Jews in their beliefs and acts of worship is undoubtedly like them; his ruling is exactly their ruling. If he imitates them in their acts of worship, his ruling is like theirs. As for one who imitates them in matters other than acts of worship, such as clothing, or in eating and drinking, or in their specific customs, this does not constitute disbelief, and his ruling is not the ruling of the Jews in every respect. However, there is a resemblance to the Jews in this, and he commits a sin to the extent of this resemblance. He commits a sin to the extent of this imitation and deserves punishment to the extent of this imitation, but his ruling is not the ruling of theirs in every respect, unless he adopts their beliefs and their acts of worship and follows them in that. In that case, he becomes a disbeliever in the religion of Islam, and his ruling becomes the ruling of the Jews and the Christians. For example, the worshippers of graves who built upon them and began to circumambulate them, and who call upon the dead for aid and perform these actions, imitate the polytheists of the first pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Their ruling is the ruling of the polytheists because they associated with them and equated them in this matter and followed them in this matter. As for one who follows them in clothing, eating, drinking, and their specific customs, this is a sin that carries a sin and a punishment, but it does not reach the level of exiting the religion. Rather, it carries a sin and a punishment to the extent of the act, like other sins. Sins vary and differ; they are not all on the same level. Some are major sins, some are minor sins, some are shirk (associating partners with Allah), some are kufr (disbelief), and some are less than that. Yes.
The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, you mentioned that whoever possesses the characteristics of the Jews or performs their actions is subject to the same ruling as the Jews. So, if the sinners from the Ummah of Muhammad commit sins similar to those of the Jews, are they considered Jews, or are they from the Ummah of Muhammad but sinners? Please inform us. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
There is a distinction here. One who imitates the Jews in their beliefs and acts of worship is undoubtedly like them; his ruling is exactly their ruling. If he imitates them in their acts of worship, his ruling is like theirs. As for one who imitates them in matters other than acts of worship, such as clothing, or in eating and drinking, or in their specific customs, this does not constitute disbelief, and his ruling is not the ruling of the Jews in every respect. However, there is a resemblance to the Jews in this, and he commits a sin to the extent of this resemblance. He commits a sin to the extent of this imitation and deserves punishment to the extent of this imitation, but his ruling is not the ruling of theirs in every respect, unless he adopts their beliefs and their acts of worship and follows them in that. In that case, he becomes a disbeliever in the religion of Islam, and his ruling becomes the ruling of the Jews and the Christians. For example, the worshippers of graves who built upon them and began to circumambulate them, and who call upon the dead for aid and perform these actions, imitate the polytheists of the first pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Their ruling is the ruling of the polytheists because they associated with them and equated them in this matter and followed them in this matter. As for one who follows them in clothing, eating, drinking, and their specific customs, this is a sin that carries a sin and a punishment, but it does not reach the level of exiting the religion. Rather, it carries a sin and a punishment to the extent of the act, like other sins. Sins vary and differ; they are not all on the same level. Some are major sins, some are minor sins, some are shirk (associating partners with Allah), some are kufr (disbelief), and some are less than that. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-09-التشبه بالكفار وأثره على الأمة|صالح الفوزان|العام|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (51:54)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.