The Ruling on One Who Denies the Attributes of Allah

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: Does the one who denies the attributes of Allah the Exalted become a disbeliever? And why did the Salaf not declare the Mu'tazilah and the Asha'irah to be disbelievers?

Answer:
How do you know that they did not fall short? The one who denies the names and attributes of Allah, if he is a follower of taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) or a practitioner of ta'wil (figurative interpretation) who thinks he is right but is not, he does not become a disbeliever; the ruling of takfir (declaring someone a disbeliever) is lifted from him due to ta'wil or taqlid. As for the one who deliberately denies the names and attributes while knowing the truth, there is no doubt about his kufr (disbelief). The kufr of five hundred scholars, as Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned, who declared the Jahmiyyah to be disbelievers, is a point of pride for the Jahmiyyah. Yes.