Is it true that the determination of open disbelief varies from one era to another?
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The questioner : Is it true that open disbelief varies from one era to another in the interpretation of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): to the end of the hadith? In that time, they did not know about prayer or fasting?
The Shaykh : This returns to the issue of knowledge and ignorance.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Only?
The questioner : Knowledge and ignorance vary according to the time, in a certain time.
The Shaykh : ... the rulings ... .
The questioner : In the time of Abu Hanifah, he said: "Whoever says, 'I do not know whether Allah is in the sky or in any other place,' is a disbeliever." But in our time today, most of the people of the Sunnah and the community do not know.
The Shaykh : What I told you is that this returns to knowledge and ignorance, not that the rulings change. The rulings are fixed. And I said just now that many people in the past denied established religious truths and were not declared disbelievers for it because they fell into that denial through figurative interpretation, as I said a moment ago. This is because among the Muslims today, there are those to whom the call of Islam has not reached. Therefore, at the time when we say, for example, that calling for aid from other than Allah is disbelief, shirk, and the greatest misguidance, we do not rush to declare the common Muslims who lived in this environment, which is deviant from the correct Islam, as disbelievers. Rather, we suffice by saying that this is disbelief, this is shirk, and this is misguidance, and we establish the proof against them so that we may be excused before our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). So the issue returns to knowledge and ignorance, not that what is known from the religion by necessity is a relative matter that develops with the development of time. No, what is known from the religion by necessity is a fixed matter, but some people may be ignorant of it in some times while others are not.
Islam is studied as a garment is studied until a time comes
يدرس الإسلام كما يدرس الثوب حتى يأتي زمانThe Shaykh : This returns to the issue of knowledge and ignorance.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Only?
The questioner : Knowledge and ignorance vary according to the time, in a certain time.
The Shaykh : ... the rulings ... .
The questioner : In the time of Abu Hanifah, he said: "Whoever says, 'I do not know whether Allah is in the sky or in any other place,' is a disbeliever." But in our time today, most of the people of the Sunnah and the community do not know.
The Shaykh : What I told you is that this returns to knowledge and ignorance, not that the rulings change. The rulings are fixed. And I said just now that many people in the past denied established religious truths and were not declared disbelievers for it because they fell into that denial through figurative interpretation, as I said a moment ago. This is because among the Muslims today, there are those to whom the call of Islam has not reached. Therefore, at the time when we say, for example, that calling for aid from other than Allah is disbelief, shirk, and the greatest misguidance, we do not rush to declare the common Muslims who lived in this environment, which is deviant from the correct Islam, as disbelievers. Rather, we suffice by saying that this is disbelief, this is shirk, and this is misguidance, and we establish the proof against them so that we may be excused before our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). So the issue returns to knowledge and ignorance, not that what is known from the religion by necessity is a relative matter that develops with the development of time. No, what is known from the religion by necessity is a fixed matter, but some people may be ignorant of it in some times while others are not.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.