The Difference Between Calling to Allah and Disavowing the Polytheists
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, you mentioned that those who call to Allah must disavow the polytheists. What is the nature of this disavowal? Some people insist that we should smile at them and treat them kindly so that the polytheists do not come to hate the Muslims, and this is in the name of calling to Allah. We ask for clarification on this matter.
Answer:
Calling to Allah is distinct from loyalty. You call the polytheist, even if he is an enemy of Allah and an enemy of you, to Islam and to the oneness of Allah (tawhid). As for loving him, no, you do not love him for what he believes. If he believes, you grant him your love. But before he believes, you do not love him. However, your hatred of him and your enmity toward him do not prevent you from calling him to Islam, perhaps Allah will guide him. There is no contradiction between calling to Islam and hating the polytheists. We hate them, and yet we call them to Islam. We hate them in our hearts for their disbelief (kufr), not for their persons; rather, we hate them for their disbelief.
Not for their fear, but our hatred of them does not prevent us from calling them to Islam, perhaps Allah will guide them. For Allah the Exalted commanded us to call people to this religion:[Ali 'Imran 3:110] and forbid what is wrong and believe in it [Ali 'Imran 3:104]. Therefore, it should not be understood that if we say we hate the disbelievers, we abandon calling them. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to hate them and yet he called them.
Ibrahim (peace be upon him), about whom Allah said, and who was not among the polytheists, used to call them. You read the call of Ibrahim to the polytheists in the Great Qur'an. He did not abandon his calling, even though he hated them. He disavowed their disbelief and what they were upon.
Honorable Shaykh, you mentioned that those who call to Allah must disavow the polytheists. What is the nature of this disavowal? Some people insist that we should smile at them and treat them kindly so that the polytheists do not come to hate the Muslims, and this is in the name of calling to Allah. We ask for clarification on this matter.
Answer:
Calling to Allah is distinct from loyalty. You call the polytheist, even if he is an enemy of Allah and an enemy of you, to Islam and to the oneness of Allah (tawhid). As for loving him, no, you do not love him for what he believes. If he believes, you grant him your love. But before he believes, you do not love him. However, your hatred of him and your enmity toward him do not prevent you from calling him to Islam, perhaps Allah will guide him. There is no contradiction between calling to Islam and hating the polytheists. We hate them, and yet we call them to Islam. We hate them in our hearts for their disbelief (kufr), not for their persons; rather, we hate them for their disbelief.
Not for their fear, but our hatred of them does not prevent us from calling them to Islam, perhaps Allah will guide them. For Allah the Exalted commanded us to call people to this religion:
You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَAnd let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong
وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِIbrahim (peace be upon him), about whom Allah said, and who was not among the polytheists, used to call them. You read the call of Ibrahim to the polytheists in the Great Qur'an. He did not abandon his calling, even though he hated them. He disavowed their disbelief and what they were upon.
Source
الفوزان -أشرطة- أسئلة وأجوبة من دروس التوحيد - الفوزان - أسئلة التوحيد - ٣ — archive.org (28:42)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.