The Ruling on the Worship of Shrines Before Clarification Is Made to Them

Question:
This questioner asks about the worship of shrines: is the one who does so declared a disbeliever before it is clarified to him, or not?

Answer:
The worship of shrines is kufr (disbelief); there is no doubt about that. As for the individuals themselves, the proof is established against them by saying to them, "This is shirk (associating partners with Allah) and is not permissible." If they persist, we rule that they are disbelievers, because their ignorance has been removed. The general rule is that those in the lands of Islam, in the lands of education, universities, and institutes, do not have ignorance. They read the Qur'an, they hear the hadiths, they hear the sermons, they hear the radio programs, and they read in the books. They have no ignorance; they have only stubbornness and blind following, because they found their fathers doing it. So the general rule is that they have no ignorance; they are aware of this.