The ruling on the statement that disbelief does not occur except through denial and rejection
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Question:
The questioner says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, some people say that disbelief does not occur except through denial and rejection, and they cite as evidence for this the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nahl 16:106] the two verses. Is this correct? And what is the position of the people of the Sunnah on this issue?
Answer:
This is not correct. Rather, the scholars mentioned in the chapter on the preservation of the apostate the types of apostasy. So whoever commits disbelief by speech, action, or belief is a disbeliever. This is the well-known position among the scholars in the chapter on the ruling of the apostate, except for the one who is coerced. If he insults the religion, or insults Allah, or insults the Messenger, or abandons the prayer, or prostrates to other than Allah, or supplicates to other than Allah, he is a disbeliever. Even if he says, "I do not consider this permissible for you," when he does it, he is a disbeliever. The one who supplicates to the dead and calls upon the dead for aid, even if he says, "I do not consider this permissible," is a disbeliever. The one who does not pray is a disbeliever, even if he says, "I did not deny its obligation"; this is the correct view. Likewise, the one who insults Allah, or insults the Messenger, or mocks the religion is a disbeliever, even if he says, "I do not consider this permissible afterward." It is not true. Rather, his ruling is the ruling of disbelief, as the scholars have explicitly stated. And there is no disagreement among the scholars on this.
The questioner says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, some people say that disbelief does not occur except through denial and rejection, and they cite as evidence for this the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Whoever disbelieves in Allah after his belief... except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith
مَن كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِAnswer:
This is not correct. Rather, the scholars mentioned in the chapter on the preservation of the apostate the types of apostasy. So whoever commits disbelief by speech, action, or belief is a disbeliever. This is the well-known position among the scholars in the chapter on the ruling of the apostate, except for the one who is coerced. If he insults the religion, or insults Allah, or insults the Messenger, or abandons the prayer, or prostrates to other than Allah, or supplicates to other than Allah, he is a disbeliever. Even if he says, "I do not consider this permissible for you," when he does it, he is a disbeliever. The one who supplicates to the dead and calls upon the dead for aid, even if he says, "I do not consider this permissible," is a disbeliever. The one who does not pray is a disbeliever, even if he says, "I did not deny its obligation"; this is the correct view. Likewise, the one who insults Allah, or insults the Messenger, or mocks the religion is a disbeliever, even if he says, "I do not consider this permissible afterward." It is not true. Rather, his ruling is the ruling of disbelief, as the scholars have explicitly stated. And there is no disagreement among the scholars on this.
Source
أسباب الثبات أمام الفتن — islamhouse.com (45:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.