There is a disagreement among some of the brothers, the substance of which is that the one who circumambulates the graves is a disbeliever who has apostatized from his religion, and his wife is divorced.

The questioner : Your Eminence, there is a disagreement among some of the brothers, the substance of which is that the one who circumambulates the graves or makes a vow to the dead, or such things, is a disbeliever who has apostatized from his religion, his wife is divorced, and it means the ruling of the disbeliever applies to him permanently; so we request that you clarify this matter.

The Shaykh : The reality is that my nature is to wish for repetition, and I feel that the questions revolve around one issue, but I do not forget that the matter requires this repetition. I said earlier that our duty is to rule that this is misguidance and that this is disbelief; if the text states that it is disbelief and misguidance, but it is not our function to rule that people are apostates from their religion; because this is contrary to the practice of the righteous Salaf, as we mentioned to you. The Mu'tazilah denied many texts from the Book and the Sunnah, and I gave you an example of their denial of the believers seeing their Lord on the Day of Resurrection, yet they were not declared disbelievers. We also mentioned to you the story of the one who willed his children to burn him with fire, and how Allah forgave him. So our duty is to advise people, my brothers; we are not cursers and we are not those who declare people disbelievers, rather we are guides who lead people to the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). ?!
These are calamities that have spread throughout all the Islamic lands, but first, where is the Shari'ah text that obligates us to rule that these people are disbelievers while they are ignorant?! Most of the scholars of the world are silent about these abominations, and some of them even justify them on the pretext of "leave them, their intention is good!" Their intention is good! That is clear misguidance. In reality, their intention is ruin and desolation. But if they have an excuse, their excuse is ignorance. Some people will say: But this ignorance does not excuse its owner. We say: Yes, when this ignorant person lives among a group of people of knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah, and they are engaged in advising, as we mentioned at the beginning of our speech; then at that time, these people are not excused; because they heard the scholars warning them constantly and forever that what they are doing is exactly disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah). But these people whom some Salafis call "grave worshippers" are surrounded by people who mislead them, and who make them understand that this is not of disbelief in any way. So our goal is to teach people and to guide them, as for declaring them disbelievers, that returns to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He); because I believe that there is no disagreement among the people of the Sunnah and the righteous Salaf, in particular, that a person is not judged as a disbeliever except after the proof has been established. And most of these people have not had the proof established against them; why? Because the Islamic world consists of eight hundred million Muslims, so how many are the people of the Sunnah and the community, especially those who have been given the opportunity to connect with this vast, long world and advise them and explain these misguidances to them?!
This is a very small number. So I want to remind you of an issue that may be hidden from some people. Some people may assume that the Europeans, for example, and the Americans who know nothing about Islam except its name, and who hear the Qur'an on the radio, that some Muslims today assume that the proof has been established against them; why? Because they hear the Qur'an. Fine, they hear the Qur'an, but they do not understand anything from it; so has the proof been established against them? The answer is: No. And this is a fact that I do not think anyone can dispute or argue with. If that is the case, I remind you of another fact: the Arabs, leave the non-Arabs aside, the Arabs themselves have become non-Arabs in their language. The evidence is that many scholars still understand the verses that forbid worshipping other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to mean only that one should not pray to other than Allah, and not prostrate to other than Allah; so if you pray to other than Allah and prostrate to other than Allah, that is disbelief. But if you call upon other than Allah and seek help from other than Allah, they still understand that this is not of shirk (associating partners with Allah) in any way. And they are specifically the Arabs. So I say: the Arabs today, due to the distance from their original language in which the Qur'an was revealed, hardly understand this Qur'an in its meaning; so what do we say about the non-Arabs, who are the overwhelming majority in this huge number of Muslims?
So, my brothers, imagine before you rule that so-and-so or so-and-so is a disbeliever, has the proof been established against them, and the proof from the Book and the Sunnah and from the people of knowledge? And I said on a recent occasion: that some of our students assume that they have become people of knowledge, and that merely by connecting with one of those misguided people; especially if that misguided person looks at himself through a magnifying glass and sees himself at the peak of knowledge, a small student comes and says: You are a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) and you are misguided and deviant, and so on. He thinks that with such quick words he has established the proof against him! And we observe in Sham and elsewhere that some of our brothers who are beginners in this knowledge hardly sit with one of those misguided people, and we are certain that they are misguided, and he speaks two or three words and he is defeated. Why? Because he has not read the principles of the Arabic language and its literature, and he has not read the principles of jurisprudence or the principles of hadith or anything of these sciences; so he comes to him with these sciences which he has mastered, but he has not benefited from them, so he thinks this Salafi student has established the proof. Therefore, you must be cautious. It is sufficient for you to point people to the truth to the extent of the knowledge you have been given, that this is misguidance and this is disbelief and this is guidance and this is Sunnah (recommended practice). As for "this is disbelief and you have become a disbeliever"; first, we cannot rule this by Shari'ah, and second, it is of no benefit, rather it is repelling. And he (peace be upon him) said regarding less than that: .
This is what Allah has made easy.