What is the ruling on declaring the people of sins to be disbelievers?

The questioner: It has been reported regarding the declaration of disbelief against some of the people of sins; that if they commit sins, they are declared disbelievers; based on his saying - peace and blessings be upon him - : , so this is clear that if he does this thing, he disbelieves in what was revealed to Muhammad; so is this hadith a proof for establishing the declaration of disbelief against him?

The Shaykh: It is necessary for us to know that disbelief is of two types: doctrinal disbelief, which is that by which its owner apostatizes from the religion. And the other type is practical disbelief, which is that by which its owner commits a sin, but if this practical disbelief is not accompanied by doctrinal disbelief, it does not cause him to exit the religion.
And the correct view is that there are many hadiths in which it is said that whoever does such-and-such has disbelieved, but the scholars, and here is the example in the previous research, when the scholars studied the Book and the Sunnah, and studied their words and their implications, they found that the word "disbelief" - for example - when used in a general sense does not always and forever mean what is equivalent to apostasy. Rather, the word "disbelief" comes in a general sense to mean apostasy at times, and to mean practical disbelief at other times. As for disbelief in the sense of apostasy, this does not need explanation or elaboration. As for disbelief in the sense of practical disbelief, why is it called practical disbelief? That is: because its owner, even though he believes in everything that came in the Book and the Sunnah, when he falls into that transgression in which the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him - applied the word "disbelief" to the transgressor; he has done the deed of the disbelievers and performed the work of the disbelievers. Therefore, the scholars agreed to name this type of disbelief "practical disbelief"; meaning: he performs the work of the disbelievers, but he is not included with those disbelievers until what is present in the disbelievers of doctrinal disbelief is present in him. Therefore, we saw the scholars interpreting such a text either this way or that way.
For example: Either it is interpreted as "denied," and in that case, his disbelief is disbelief of apostasy, and he has exited the religion. Or it is interpreted as that he performed the work of one who denied the religion of Muhammad - peace and blessings be upon him and his family - and those are the disbelievers. But performing the work of the disbelievers, if it is not accompanied by the belief of the disbelievers as we mentioned earlier, he is not included with the disbelievers. Meaning: , and this fighting occurs in the past and the present among Muslims, so we do not say: that this one who fights a Muslim is a disbeliever in the sense that he apostatized or did not apostatize; because this relates to the hearts. But we interpret and say: whoever fights a Muslim without right, if he considers that permissible in his heart, then that is apostasy, and it is doctrinal disbelief. And if he did not consider it permissible, then his disbelief is practical disbelief. This is said regarding all the deeds in which the word "disbelief" was used in a general sense; as long as the transgression stopped at the deed and did not exceed it to the belief.
Among what the Muslims agreed upon is that a Muslim, merely by denying something established in the Shari'ah and rejecting it, is a disbeliever, even if - for example - he prays and fasts. When he prays and when he fasts, we consider him one of us and a Muslim within us. But Allah - Mighty and Majestic - if He knows from him that he denies this prayer and this fasting and that zakah, for example; then he is an apostate in the sight of Allah, and he is in the lowest depth of the Fire. Why? Because he denied in his heart what Allah legislated. So doctrinal disbelief does not stop at the deed, but merely that the belief is contrary to the Shari'ah makes him a disbeliever. And this - also - must be reminded of; because there must be a condition, which is after the establishment of the proof. Because Allah - Mighty and Majestic - says: , so whoever the proof is established against him regarding the corruption of his belief, then he persists in it, he is like those disbelievers about whom Allah said: .
So whoever denies what is known from the religion by necessity is a disbeliever, even if he performs the deeds of the Muslims. But it is not so for one who performs the deeds of the Muslims and believes their belief, but at some times he follows his desire and performs the work of the disbelievers who took their desire as their god other than Allah - Blessed and Exalted is He. So if a Muslim follows his desire while admitting that he is a sinner and shortcoming with his Lord - Mighty and Majestic - and that he hopes for His pardon and forgiveness; then he is not included with the disbelievers except by a sect from those many sects that the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him - referred to in the previous hadith. And this sect exactly is the Khawarij. They are those who used to declare Muslims disbelievers for their commission of sins. Some of them condition that it be from the major sins, and some of them may not condition that. This is extremism and deviation from the Sunnah of the first Muslims in declaring Muslims disbelievers merely for their commission of some sins. From these sins is going to the fortune-teller. So if the one who goes to the fortune-teller does so while considering it permissible, he has disbelieved; there is no doubt or ambiguity in that. And whatever he considers permissible, even if the word "disbelief" did not come in it, he is a disbeliever.
And from here appears the rigidity of some of us today when they cling to some hadiths in which the word "disbelief" is used, and they say: then he is an apostate from his religion. We say: No, unless he denies. And in that case, denial does not necessarily require that a person come and deny - for example - the legitimacy of the witr prayer. There is no hadith: whoever leaves the witr prayer - for example - has disbelieved. But he says: Allah did not legislate except the five prayers, and there is no witr prayer. So this - also - is disbelief; meaning: disbelief of apostasy. Why? Because he denied what is known from the religion by necessity. And although there is no hadith that whoever denies such-and-such has disbelieved, the scholars take these meanings and expand upon them from the word: . So whatever a Muslim is certain of as being from Islam, then he denies it, he is a disbeliever. But if he believes in everything that came in Islam, except that he sins sometimes, and disobeys Allah - Mighty and Majestic - in some sins, and he admits his weakness and shortcoming with his Lord; then it is not permissible to declare him a disbeliever.
And we must observe something here, O our brothers; declaring someone a disbeliever means that this person denied something in his heart. And we assume that he did not deny. We assume that he did not deny, but rather he admitted and believed in everything that came from Allah - Mighty and Majestic. So how do we rank him with the ranks of the denying, rejecting disbelievers? Then this is a person who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and he fasts and prays, and so on. But - for example - he goes to the fortune-tellers, and this poor man may not know, due to the silence of the people of knowledge, that going to the fortune-tellers is disbelief according to the previous detail. Especially since today new fortune-telling or means of fortune-telling have appeared, and people are afflicted with them, and no one reminds them that this type of fortune-telling, which was in the time of the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him - and He prohibited it with the strongest prohibition.
When it came in the hadith of Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami, he asked him, saying: O Messenger of Allah, some of us come to the fortune-tellers? He said: ; this is the obligation. So if one comes and goes to the fortune-tellers and asks them; then either he is a believer in them and believes in that, and knows of the like of His saying - Blessed and Exalted is He - : ; so whoever claims that there is a way by which the unseen can be known, especially if it is a way that the Messenger prohibited and clarified and explained, like fortune-telling; then he has truly disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad; because among what was revealed to Muhammad is ; so this fortune-teller, either he believes in him that he is a messenger, and this is explicit disbelief, or he believes that he is a human being but he knows the unseen; then he - also - disbelieves in some of the other verses, among which is His saying - Blessed and Exalted is He - : .
In summary—and this is a long study with many, many branches—it is not permissible, according to the scholars of the Muslims, both the Salaf and the Khalaf, that if we see a text in which the Messenger (peace be upon him) stated that someone has committed disbelief, we should classify him as an apostate and take him and cut off his neck simply because the word "disbelief" applies to him. We know that in many matters where a person has fallen into disbelief, he is brought forward and asked to repent; if he repents, well and good, otherwise he is killed. Therefore, it is not permissible for us to rush to declare people disbelievers merely because the word "disbelief" applies to them. Rather, it is obligatory for us to investigate which of the meanings applies to the one we wish to label with the word "disbelief." This is like the hadith we mentioned earlier: ; do we say: is this apostasy? No, rather, the disbelief becomes apostasy only if he considers that act permissible. And so, there are many, many hadiths that are measured by this standard. If what he did is accompanied by the description of the Shari'ah that it is creedal disbelief, then he is an apostate from his religion. If it is not accompanied by that, then it is a departure from the path of the Muslims, so... Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and you from...
Other than that?