Is it permissible to describe the sects existing in the present age, such as the Qadiyyah and the Shi'ah, and others, as well as those who call to Islam but by methods different from the method of the Salaf, as being among the people of the Fire whom the hadith includes?

The questioner : Is it permissible to describe the sects existing in the present age, such as the Qadiyyah and the Shi'ah, and others, as well as those who call to Islam but by methods different from the method of the Salaf, as being among the people of the Fire whom the hadith includes up to his saying ?

The Shaykh : Whoever opposes Islam and is aware of this opposition, there is no doubt that he is among those sects mentioned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that their number is seventy-two sects.
I say that whoever the truth has become clear to him and then he opposes it, he is among the people of the Fire. If the opposition, as we mentioned earlier, is in belief, then he is among those who will remain in the Fire eternally. But if the opposition is not in belief but rather in action, then he will not remain in the Fire eternally; rather, his case is left to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), as came in the hadith of 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit . This hadith and its like are, in reality, an explanation and detailing of the verse we mentioned recently . So whoever disbelieves or associates partners with Allah while knowing that this is shirk in Islam, he will remain in the Fire eternally. And whoever disobeys Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in action, not in belief, while knowing this, he deserves punishment from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but he is under His will (Blessed and Exalted is He) and His mercy, as you heard in the hadith of 'Ubadah: if He wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will forgive him. This is the ruling... for all Islamic sects. But we do not proceed to declaring someone a disbeliever... unless it becomes clear to us that it is disbelief by denial and... Therefore, we find the Imams of the Sunnah and the Imams of hadith, at the time they mention those sects, such as the Mu'tazilah, the Khawarij, the Jabriyyah, the Murji'ah, and others, and when they declare these sects to be misguided, they do not cut off their case by declaring them disbelievers of apostasy. Therefore, we find them certifying individuals from among them in terms of truthfulness and narration, but on the other hand, they rule upon them with misguidance in creed, yet they do not declare them disbelievers due to the possibility that the matter may have been confused for them, or due to the possibility that they have an excuse with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). It does not concern us, nor do we benefit anything from trying to uncover the hearts of people and what their souls and hearts contain. This is because Islam only commands us to judge by the apparent, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) takes charge of the hidden matters. So if someone declares disbelief to us and turns away... we include him with the disbelievers. But if he exerted effort and erred, even if his error was in a principle of the Shari'ah, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knew his good intention and did not know of him any denial of what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed in His Shari'ah, He would not hold him accountable for this... Therefore, you find someone like 'Imran ibn Hattan, one of the leaders of the Khawarij and one of those about whom very severe hadiths came, yet he is among the narrators from whom the Imam of the Muhaddithin, the Imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, narrated in his Sahih. This means that our Imams, the Imams of the Sunnah, when they ruled with the misguidance of those sects that opposed the Sunnah and the righteous Salaf, they did not declare them disbelievers, because declaring someone a disbeliever is a very serious matter, and due to the possibility that this person whose misguidance has become apparent to us and whom we have included with the people of misguidance... As for ruling that he will remain in the Fire eternally, this is... unless he is certain and explicit about what necessitates disbelief.
From here, we can examine a hadith that poses a difficulty for some people. This is the hadith that the Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim extracted in their two Sahihs from the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) and others, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), that he said . This hadith may pose a difficulty for some because, on its surface, it conflicts with the previous verse , especially after we clarified to you recently that the meaning of "associates" is that he disbelieves, meaning that he disbelieves... disbelief. So there is no difference between disbelief and shirk, as you remember. So what did this man do? He was thrown into his own soul, and what he threw into his soul was his fear of his Lord. He feared that if he made that unjust bequest, which is difficult for a person to imagine a bequest more deeply rooted in misguidance than it! It was suggested to him that if his bequest was carried out and he was burned in the fire, and the ash of his body was distributed, half in the sea and half in the wind, that he would be lost from his Lord, and that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) would not be able to do anything to him. So it was as if he forgot that ruling which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned in the conclusion of Surat Yasin . So this man forgot this reality: that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who created man from nothing, it is easier for Him, if there was... it is easier for Him to return him from these particles that did not... his body. This man forgot this reality, but what he forgot was a good thing, which was his fear of his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). Therefore, he bequeathed what he bequeathed, and his bequest was carried out, so Allah (Mighty and Majestic) returned him as he was, a sound human being, and said to him: "What made you do what you did?" He said: "Your fear." So it is as if Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is saying to him: Since what made you commit that error and that misguidance... was only your fear of Me, then go, for I have forgiven you. The point is: this is the scale of Allah and this is His ruling. As for us, we have the apparent. If we saw a person who bequeathed with this bequest, we would certainly hasten to declare him a disbeliever of apostasy. And if our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) has His dealings with His scale, the just ruling, which is not our scale, which is deficient, incapable, and based on apparent matters. Therefore, the Mu'tazilah, for example, when they denied seeing Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the Hereafter, there is no doubt that they erred in that with a far-reaching error, and this denial from them was one of the reasons for the people of the Sunnah ruling upon them with misguidance. But the people of the Sunnah did not rule upon them with disbelief and apostasy. And likewise, we say, as we mentioned earlier, regarding the other schools and paths. That from them is a combination of what appears of their misguidance, which we have no room to ignore... it is necessary, and the possibility that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knows from some of these people, at least, an excuse for them in what they went to. Therefore, the methodology of the people of the Sunnah, in reality, those who do not exaggerate and do not be severe, but rather walk on the middle path, is to declare misguided those who deviate from the Sunnah, without linking that to declaring them disbelievers and expelling them from the religion, because this declaration of disbelief is based on hidden matters, so the matter is entrusted to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) alone.