Some reports regarding the disbelief of one who insults the Messenger have been narrated from some of the Companions and some of the scholars. Is this to be taken in its absolute sense?

The questioner : Also, some reports have been narrated from some of the Imams and some of the Companions, such as Khalid ibn al-Walid, and from some of the Imams, such as Imam Ahmad, regarding the disbelief of one who insults Allah or the Messenger, and they considered it to be apostasy. Is this to be taken in its absolute sense? We ask for your guidance.

The Shaykh : We do not see that to be the case in an absolute sense. The cursing and insulting may result from ignorance, bad upbringing, or heedlessness. Finally, it may be done with intent and knowledge. If it is done with intent and knowledge, then it is apostasy, and there is no doubt about that. However, if there is a possibility that it falls under any of the other aspects I mentioned, then caution in not declaring someone a disbeliever is more important in Islam than rushing to declare someone a disbeliever. On this occasion, I am pleased to mention that some jurists have a saying: if ninety-nine scholars agree that a person is a disbeliever because of something he did that constitutes disbelief, and one out of a hundred says, "This is not disbelief; it is only open sinfulness," they say, "Do not declare him a disbeliever until all a hundred agree to declare him a disbeliever." This is the caution and wariness derived from such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , and the more famous phrase is: . Therefore, one should be cautious and careful about declaring a Muslim a disbeliever who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. On this occasion, I remind you of the well-known authentic hadith about a man from the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) who encountered a polytheist and began to duel and fight him. When the polytheist was under the blow of the Muslim's sword, he said, "I testify that there is no god but Allah." So what was the matter with him? He killed him. When the news reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he became very angry and rebuked the Muslim Companion who had killed that polytheist when he heard that good word from him, "There is no god but Allah." . Here is the point: . It is clear that this polytheist, who was fighting the Muslim for his religion, in that moment when he felt he was under the blow of the Companion's sword, said, "I testify that there is no god but Allah." It is clear that he did not say it except out of fear. But despite that, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) respected that good word and forbade that Companion from what he did. So, declaring someone a disbeliever is a very difficult matter. And I see, and this brings us to the nature of the research, that we should point out what many of the enthusiastic young people today do: they waste their time declaring many, if not all, of the Muslim rulers to be disbelievers. They occupy themselves with pronouncing this word. We say: those who declare others disbelievers may include those who pray, for example, and those who fast and perform Hajj, and so on. There are outward signs indicating their Islam, and there are other outward signs that may indicate their disbelief. So, we should not rush to prioritize disbelief over Islam, given the severity of declaring someone a disbeliever, as we mentioned earlier. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, what do we benefit today from brandishing the weapon of declaring people disbelievers against the rulers or some of the rulers' followers, as long as we are unable to do anything of what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted in such as the well-known hadith when they said: , and in the other hadith: ? If we see clear disbelief, and we are unable to fight them, what is the benefit of raising this issue other than occupying ourselves first with what is not the most important for us as students of knowledge and jurisprudence, and secondly, with what may harm us in our Islamic lives? So, we must be scrupulous in using the word "takfir" (declaring someone a disbeliever). And in order to warn against the actions of those whom these people want to judge as disbelievers, we suffice in saying that they are misguided, and that they have deviated from the rulings of the Shari'ah in many or few matters. This is sufficient for us to say: this is clear misguidance. As for saying "So-and-so is a disbeliever" and "So-and-so is a disbeliever," and "Whoever said such-and-such has become a disbeliever," and so on, we say regarding that question: whoever utters a word of disbelief, it is known among the Muslims that he is to be given the opportunity to repent. If he repents, this indicates that he did not intend the word of disbelief. If he persists in it, he is killed as an apostate and disbeliever, and he is not buried in the Muslim cemeteries. The issue of disbelief is truly a very serious matter. And here I remind you of the hadith, and I conclude my answer to this question with the hadith narrated by Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), in which he said: . Excuse me, this is what concerns us now: . He said, and here is the point, he said: . This is disbelief: doubting the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to be able to punish this criminal who did no good in his life at all. He said: . And to complete this disbelief, what did he bequeath? . Why? In his opinion, to mislead from his Lord. The point is: . Now we come to the saying of Allah the Exalted: . This is shirk (associating partners with Allah). Some of you may say, "No, this is not shirk; this is disbelief." I say, on this occasion, that shirk and kufr (disbelief) in the language of the Shari'ah are synonymous terms. So, whoever disbelieves has associated partners with Allah, and whoever associates partners with Allah has disbelieved. This has another discussion, and we will not delve into it now. The point is that when it became apparent from this man, I say when it became apparent from him, that he denied the power of Allah to gather him and resurrect him, and then to punish him based on the fact that he did no good at all, when this became apparent from him, this is disbelief. So, what is our answer to the saying of Allah the Exalted: ? This is his disbelief, and yet it was forgiven? The answer is: it was a disbelief that was not intended by the heart, not held in the heart, but rather out of his fear of his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) regarding the sins and transgressions his hands had committed, he bequeathed such an unjust will, which perhaps did not occur in the history of this entire world. So, he bequeathed that will, and it is disbelief and misguidance, but we say that not everyone who falls into disbelief has disbelief attributed to them. This is a reality we must keep in mind so that we do not become like the Khawarij, who exaggerate in declaring Muslims disbelievers because of their committing some sins and transgressions. Even though our discussion is not about sin and transgression, but about disbelief, we distinguish between disbelief intended by the heart and disbelief that was not intended by the heart, but only by the tongue and action. This is what I wanted to remind you of.