Is the hypocrite a disbeliever? And continuing the discussion on the necessity of distinguishing the one who judges by other than what Allah - Mighty and Majestic - has revealed, and the one who abandons prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The hypocrite.
The Shaykh : The hypocrite ... .
The questioner : No one can declare him a disbeliever, on what basis?
The Shaykh : No, this ... this generalization - also - is an error; because hypocrisy is divided like disbelief; practical hypocrisy and creedal hypocrisy. So the one who is a hypocrite in creed is like the disbeliever in creedal disbelief, an apostate from his religion. And the one who is a hypocrite in practice is like the disbeliever in practical disbelief, ... the scholarly issues that one cannot grasp unless a person is enthusiastic about establishing the ruling of Islam on earth, ... the Qur'an and the Sunnah and combining the evidence and looking at them with one perspective, a set of goals before his eyes until he is able to know the intended meaning of the word of Allah and the word of the Messenger of Allah.
The important thing is that your saying the hypocrite ... it is not possible to say in it that he is a disbeliever, an apostate from his religion, this is an error. Rather, the truth is the distinction that we follow; practical hypocrisy, so this does not make one a disbeliever. Creedal hypocrisy, he says: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah with his tongue and his heart, but he denies it. This is the radical, deep hypocrisy. And this is what is intended by His saying - Exalted is He - :[An-Nisa 4:145] ; these hypocrites have creedal hypocrisy. As for practical hypocrisy, it is not like that. He said - peace and blessings be upon him - : Sahih Muslim 59a to the end of it. So the one who lies, this is a hypocrite, but this is practical hypocrisy; because lying is not among the characteristics of Muslims.
The questioner : Okay, ... a person, you might judge by the apparent that he is a disbeliever; meaning the apparent, you judged him as a disbeliever, you have no doubt about that. But this is not ... meaning you do not judge him, meaning one hundred percent ... if he acts, how is he a hypocrite by action? And if his apparent is contrary to his inner, and he is a disbeliever in creed, but is ... the explicit disbeliever ... ?
The Shaykh: No.
The questioner : So...
The Shaykh : ... the one who says: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and he denies it in his heart; what is the treatment of Islam for him? How do we treat him?
The questioner : ... he has entered Islam, we treat him with the treatment of Muslims; because ... .
The Shaykh : Even though he denies it in his heart, so we have the apparent, but Allah is his accountant.
The questioner : ... and that he bears witness that there is no god but Allah; is this not the apparent ... ?
The Shaykh : It may be other things, it may be ... other things depending on the person, but let us assume the least of the possibilities; he bears witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and he does not deny anything of the religion at all.
Please proceed.
The questioner : I say that the apparent, the apparent is not sufficient to say: There is no god but Allah, but rather the apparent.
The Shaykh : It is not sufficient, why is it not sufficient?
The questioner : Because you judge him as a Muslim.
The Shaykh : We do not judge him as a Muslim, this apparent is not sufficient!!
The questioner : ... he says: There is no god but Allah, except if ... so one says: There is no god but Allah ... you cut open his heart ... .
The Shaykh : Do not interpret the self-evident, what am I telling you: your speech is fine, build upon it ... .
The questioner : ... the testimony that there is no god but Allah ... to the Shari'ah that Allah has revealed ... .
The Shaykh : Okay ... he accepts resorting to the Shari'ah with his tongue, but in practice he does not accept it; what is his ruling with you?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I am telling you, now you answer ... do not tire yourself and do not tire others, do not tire others meaning ... you have to answer the question. Either you understood the question and you answer it, or if you did not understand it, you say: please, I did not understand the question. It is not that you understand the question and answer it in a way that does not happen. If the question is wrong, you have the right to say: I see this question as wrong. So I say to you: please explain. I am saying: what is your ruling on this person who testified that there is no god but Allah; this you said is the first apparent ... the ruling is Islamic, but this is not sufficient, what did we say again? He must accept resorting to Islam ... I brought you the example, and this image is actually included in the previous research ... the previous research, I tell you: it is necessary that he testifies that there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, he told you: it is obligatory to resort to Islam; this is a second apparent; correct?
Okay, when he was called to resort to Islam in a specific dispute and he did not accept, this brother ... his not accepting resorting in a specific detail, does ... his saying: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and this you are satisfied that Islam is the judge ... this and this ... resorting practically in a case or in a situation? So study this ... a special study - also - as we studied the one who abandons prayer, so we look: if he refused by creed, he is a disbeliever. And if he refused not by creed, but by following desire; why? Because he - for example - it appeared to him that if he wants to resort to a Shari'ah judge, the judge will rule against him, and he does not want to follow his desire; he does not want this ruling ... upon him. So this resorting to the Shari'ah, in his heart that this ruling is what must be resorted to, but his desire prevented him and stood between him and that; what is your opinion of him? Is he a disbeliever, an apostate from his religion? Or is it disbelief less than disbelief, and practical disbelief and creedal disbelief?
The questioner : It is not disbelief less than disbelief, but it is disbelief ... .
The Shaykh : So the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever with you, and the liar is a disbeliever, and the thief is a disbeliever, and the fornicator is a disbeliever, and every person who neglects prayer, and the one who shaves the beard is a disbeliever, and so on, because all of these are contrary to the rulings of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - , and you have no escape from this except to say: let us see what his creed is?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : You have no escape from what I obligated upon you except to say: let us see what his creed is? If he considers shaving the beard permissible, he considers - for example - fornication and immorality and everything Allah has forbidden permissible, and he knows it, then he is a disbeliever. And if he does not consider it permissible by his creed, then he is not a disbeliever. You have no escape except this, you and all people. The one who wants to act by Islam has no way except this clear, manifest path. Practical disbelief does not take one out of the religion, and it is not permissible to declare him a disbeliever. And the one who declared him a disbeliever is the disbeliever. And creedal disbelief, he declared himself a disbeliever by himself, he ... what Allah has not revealed.
So this one who was called to resort to the Shari'ah in a case and he was not satisfied; it does not happen - my brother - that you declare him a disbeliever, or the one who abandons prayer, there is no difference between him and the one who abandons prayer. But you distinguish: if his refusal is by creed, he is a disbeliever, like the one who abandons prayer, if his abandonment of prayer is by creed, he is a disbeliever. And if this one called to resort to what Allah has revealed is not by creed, may Allah turn to us in mercy, and this is an error ... to the end of it, how do you declare him a disbeliever?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The hypocrite ... .
The questioner : No one can declare him a disbeliever, on what basis?
The Shaykh : No, this ... this generalization - also - is an error; because hypocrisy is divided like disbelief; practical hypocrisy and creedal hypocrisy. So the one who is a hypocrite in creed is like the disbeliever in creedal disbelief, an apostate from his religion. And the one who is a hypocrite in practice is like the disbeliever in practical disbelief, ... the scholarly issues that one cannot grasp unless a person is enthusiastic about establishing the ruling of Islam on earth, ... the Qur'an and the Sunnah and combining the evidence and looking at them with one perspective, a set of goals before his eyes until he is able to know the intended meaning of the word of Allah and the word of the Messenger of Allah.
The important thing is that your saying the hypocrite ... it is not possible to say in it that he is a disbeliever, an apostate from his religion, this is an error. Rather, the truth is the distinction that we follow; practical hypocrisy, so this does not make one a disbeliever. Creedal hypocrisy, he says: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah with his tongue and his heart, but he denies it. This is the radical, deep hypocrisy. And this is what is intended by His saying - Exalted is He - :
Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire
إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ فِي الدَّرْكِ الْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ النَّارِThree are the signs of a hypocrite: when he spoke he told a lie
آية المنافق ثلاث : إذا حدَّث كذبThe questioner : Okay, ... a person, you might judge by the apparent that he is a disbeliever; meaning the apparent, you judged him as a disbeliever, you have no doubt about that. But this is not ... meaning you do not judge him, meaning one hundred percent ... if he acts, how is he a hypocrite by action? And if his apparent is contrary to his inner, and he is a disbeliever in creed, but is ... the explicit disbeliever ... ?
The Shaykh: No.
The questioner : So...
The Shaykh : ... the one who says: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and he denies it in his heart; what is the treatment of Islam for him? How do we treat him?
The questioner : ... he has entered Islam, we treat him with the treatment of Muslims; because ... .
The Shaykh : Even though he denies it in his heart, so we have the apparent, but Allah is his accountant.
The questioner : ... and that he bears witness that there is no god but Allah; is this not the apparent ... ?
The Shaykh : It may be other things, it may be ... other things depending on the person, but let us assume the least of the possibilities; he bears witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and he does not deny anything of the religion at all.
Please proceed.
The questioner : I say that the apparent, the apparent is not sufficient to say: There is no god but Allah, but rather the apparent.
The Shaykh : It is not sufficient, why is it not sufficient?
The questioner : Because you judge him as a Muslim.
The Shaykh : We do not judge him as a Muslim, this apparent is not sufficient!!
The questioner : ... he says: There is no god but Allah, except if ... so one says: There is no god but Allah ... you cut open his heart ... .
The Shaykh : Do not interpret the self-evident, what am I telling you: your speech is fine, build upon it ... .
The questioner : ... the testimony that there is no god but Allah ... to the Shari'ah that Allah has revealed ... .
The Shaykh : Okay ... he accepts resorting to the Shari'ah with his tongue, but in practice he does not accept it; what is his ruling with you?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I am telling you, now you answer ... do not tire yourself and do not tire others, do not tire others meaning ... you have to answer the question. Either you understood the question and you answer it, or if you did not understand it, you say: please, I did not understand the question. It is not that you understand the question and answer it in a way that does not happen. If the question is wrong, you have the right to say: I see this question as wrong. So I say to you: please explain. I am saying: what is your ruling on this person who testified that there is no god but Allah; this you said is the first apparent ... the ruling is Islamic, but this is not sufficient, what did we say again? He must accept resorting to Islam ... I brought you the example, and this image is actually included in the previous research ... the previous research, I tell you: it is necessary that he testifies that there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, he told you: it is obligatory to resort to Islam; this is a second apparent; correct?
Okay, when he was called to resort to Islam in a specific dispute and he did not accept, this brother ... his not accepting resorting in a specific detail, does ... his saying: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and this you are satisfied that Islam is the judge ... this and this ... resorting practically in a case or in a situation? So study this ... a special study - also - as we studied the one who abandons prayer, so we look: if he refused by creed, he is a disbeliever. And if he refused not by creed, but by following desire; why? Because he - for example - it appeared to him that if he wants to resort to a Shari'ah judge, the judge will rule against him, and he does not want to follow his desire; he does not want this ruling ... upon him. So this resorting to the Shari'ah, in his heart that this ruling is what must be resorted to, but his desire prevented him and stood between him and that; what is your opinion of him? Is he a disbeliever, an apostate from his religion? Or is it disbelief less than disbelief, and practical disbelief and creedal disbelief?
The questioner : It is not disbelief less than disbelief, but it is disbelief ... .
The Shaykh : So the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever with you, and the liar is a disbeliever, and the thief is a disbeliever, and the fornicator is a disbeliever, and every person who neglects prayer, and the one who shaves the beard is a disbeliever, and so on, because all of these are contrary to the rulings of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - , and you have no escape from this except to say: let us see what his creed is?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : You have no escape from what I obligated upon you except to say: let us see what his creed is? If he considers shaving the beard permissible, he considers - for example - fornication and immorality and everything Allah has forbidden permissible, and he knows it, then he is a disbeliever. And if he does not consider it permissible by his creed, then he is not a disbeliever. You have no escape except this, you and all people. The one who wants to act by Islam has no way except this clear, manifest path. Practical disbelief does not take one out of the religion, and it is not permissible to declare him a disbeliever. And the one who declared him a disbeliever is the disbeliever. And creedal disbelief, he declared himself a disbeliever by himself, he ... what Allah has not revealed.
So this one who was called to resort to the Shari'ah in a case and he was not satisfied; it does not happen - my brother - that you declare him a disbeliever, or the one who abandons prayer, there is no difference between him and the one who abandons prayer. But you distinguish: if his refusal is by creed, he is a disbeliever, like the one who abandons prayer, if his abandonment of prayer is by creed, he is a disbeliever. And if this one called to resort to what Allah has revealed is not by creed, may Allah turn to us in mercy, and this is an error ... to the end of it, how do you declare him a disbeliever?
The questioner : ... .
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.