Repentance from Disbelief: Is It Obligatory to Pronounce the Two Testimonies?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Is it obligatory to pronounce the two testimonies, or is repentance alone sufficient?
The Shaykh:
If he pronounces the testimony, that is fine, but the repentance is from what he did. If he pronounces them, as some scholars have said, there is no harm. We will enter [into Islam]. Otherwise, the intended meaning is that repentance is achieved by his turning back from what he erred in. If he was calling upon the dead, he repents to Allah from that. If he was slaughtering for other than Allah, he repents to Allah from that. If he was abandoning the prayer, he repents to Allah from that. If he was denying the obligation of fasting, he repents to Allah from that, and so on. The thing by which he committed disbelief, he enters Islam by acknowledging it. And if he brings forth the two testimonies, that is an additional good, as some scholars have said. But the correct view is that he enters Islam by acknowledging the thing he denied, the thing that made him a disbeliever. For example, if he denied the obligation of prayer, we say that if he repents to Allah and turns his face [toward the truth], he enters Islam. If he denied the prohibition of zina, and he repents and acknowledges that zina is forbidden, he enters Islam, even if he does not pronounce the testimony, because he did not deny the testimony. Likewise, the worship of graves: if they repent to Allah and acknowledge that the One to whom repentance is due is the One worthy of worship, and that it is obligatory to call upon the dead and seek aid from the dead, they enter Islam.
Is it obligatory to pronounce the two testimonies, or is repentance alone sufficient?
The Shaykh:
If he pronounces the testimony, that is fine, but the repentance is from what he did. If he pronounces them, as some scholars have said, there is no harm. We will enter [into Islam]. Otherwise, the intended meaning is that repentance is achieved by his turning back from what he erred in. If he was calling upon the dead, he repents to Allah from that. If he was slaughtering for other than Allah, he repents to Allah from that. If he was abandoning the prayer, he repents to Allah from that. If he was denying the obligation of fasting, he repents to Allah from that, and so on. The thing by which he committed disbelief, he enters Islam by acknowledging it. And if he brings forth the two testimonies, that is an additional good, as some scholars have said. But the correct view is that he enters Islam by acknowledging the thing he denied, the thing that made him a disbeliever. For example, if he denied the obligation of prayer, we say that if he repents to Allah and turns his face [toward the truth], he enters Islam. If he denied the prohibition of zina, and he repents and acknowledges that zina is forbidden, he enters Islam, even if he does not pronounce the testimony, because he did not deny the testimony. Likewise, the worship of graves: if they repent to Allah and acknowledge that the One to whom repentance is due is the One worthy of worship, and that it is obligatory to call upon the dead and seek aid from the dead, they enter Islam.
Source
شرح كشف الشبهات [ ابن باز ]، بداية من الفصل الثاني عشر : كشف شبهة من زعم أن من أدى بعض واجبات الدين لا يكون كافرًا ولو أتى بما ينافي التوحيد — islamhouse.com (1:00:02)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.