Text copied Link copied

Al-Fatawa – home

﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

Scholar
Search mode

Is this statement correct: "What does not indicate inner disbelief in speech or action is not disbelief"?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is this statement correct? "What does not indicate inner disbelief in speech or action is not disbelief"?

Answer:
This is roughly from the statements of the Murji'ah, because in this time we have been afflicted by people who adopt the view of the Murji'ah out of ignorance, not intentionally, if Allah wills, but out of ignorance. So this has the scent of irja' (postponing judgment). If a person does an act or says a word of disbelief, we rule upon him based on his word or based on his action, and we refer his matter to Allah regarding his heart. We do not intervene to judge the heart; we judge the apparent. Allah has not entrusted us with the matter of hearts; He has only entrusted us to judge the apparent. So the one who slaughters for other than Allah, or vows for other than Allah, or calls upon other than Allah, is a disbeliever. We rule that he is a disbeliever, unless he has an excuse that excuses him, such as ignorance, compulsion, or other matters that avert the declaration of disbelief from him. That is a different matter. We have only the apparent. If a person says a word of disbelief or does an act of disbelief and he is not compelled, and he is not ignorant, then he is ruled upon by his word and his speech, and no one knows the hearts except Allah. Yes, and I have told you more than once: do not produce statements that the Salaf never made. Do not produce statements in matters of creed, especially in particular, or rather in all matters of religion, it is not permissible to innovate anything in them without evidence. But in matters of creed, it is not permissible for a person to speak in them, to detail and answer with things from his own mind, to innovate issues from his own mind, and to create distinctions from his own mind that the Salaf did not state. He must be cautious of this, and we must adhere to the path. Yes, what they said, we say it, and what they were silent about, we are silent about. We do not add to what they said. Yes.
And not the ignorant one, for he is judged by his words and his speech, and no one knows the hearts except Allah. Yes, and I have told you more than once: do not invent statements that the Salaf never made. Do not invent statements regarding matters of creed, specifically. Otherwise, in all matters of religion, it is not permissible to innovate anything in them without evidence. But in matters of creed, it is not permissible for a person to speak about them, to elaborate, to answer with things from his own mind, to invent issues from his own mind, and to create distinctions from his own mind that the Salaf did not state. One must be cautious of this and stick to the path. Yes, what they said, we say it; and what they were silent about, we are silent about. We do not add to what they said. Yes.
Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [528 -1024] هل هذه العبارة صحيحة: ما لا يدل على كفر الباطن من القول أو العمل فليس بكفر؟ — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

Flag this fatwa