The ruling on scholars who are lenient in forbidding shirk (associating partners with Allah)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
They say that the Thawriyyun in the Islamic lands are a means of tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah through a means) to other than Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Are they more severe than those who take refuge in Allah?
The Shaykh:
There is a distinction here. If they believe that such an act is permissible, they are disbelievers. However, if it is merely leniency on their part, and they did not forbid the evil, did not commit it, and did not believe in it, then this is a shortcoming on their part in enjoining good, similar to those in Makkah who were unable to forbid the evil out of fear of the polytheists.
They say that the Thawriyyun in the Islamic lands are a means of tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah through a means) to other than Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Are they more severe than those who take refuge in Allah?
The Shaykh:
There is a distinction here. If they believe that such an act is permissible, they are disbelievers. However, if it is merely leniency on their part, and they did not forbid the evil, did not commit it, and did not believe in it, then this is a shortcoming on their part in enjoining good, similar to those in Makkah who were unable to forbid the evil out of fear of the polytheists.
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 (1:17:05)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.