What is your opinion regarding the statement of the Shaykh al-Islam that if the word "kufr" (disbelief) comes in the indefinite form, it indicates practical kufr, and if it comes in the definite form, it indicates kufr?
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The questioner : I have an answer to your question, my Shaykh, from their perspective, they
The Shaykh : they
The questioner : I will mention it
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : They cite and rely on a statement by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) in *al-Iqtida'*, in which he says that the term if it comes in the indefinite form indicates that it is practical kufr, whereas if it comes in the definite form with the article "al" and as a verbal noun, it indicates creedal kufr.
The questioner : ... .
The questioner : Creedal kufr. So we say, what is the wording of the hadith? No, no, the hadith of kufrSunan Ibn Majah 1078Sahih (Darussalam). So he did not say "kufran" or "kufr," but rather he said: "al-kufr" (the kufr). So this is creedal kufr.
The Shaykh : No problem.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The issue here is a secondary matter, but the subject is not secondary; rather, it is a fundamental principle.
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : Ah, so we know that some of the Hanbalis still issue fatwas to this day that abandoning the prayer is kufr and apostasy, but they are not Khawarij and do not adopt the path followed by the Khawarij. So if we hypothetically concede to them what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned, and we look past the other texts that we mention, especially in the treatise on prayer that you know, and if we set aside this specific issue because the evidence in it is conflicting and similar, but the important point is that if they are guided to the truth in declaring the abandoner of prayer a disbeliever, that does not mean it is obligatory to declare a believer a disbeliever for any deed that is obligatory upon him which he does not perform. The meaning here is that the rule is sound, but every rule has exceptions, as is the case with the Hanbali school, for example. They do not affirm the validity of the Khawarij's school of thought; rather, they are against that school. But they converged with them, or more accurately, those Khawarij converged with the Hanbalis in the statement that the abandoner of prayer is a disbeliever. But they deviated from the Hanbalis, the Shafi'is, the Malikis, the Hanafis, and the majority of Muslims in their statement that the abandoner of a deed is a disbeliever. As you said, faith is not sufficient, narrated from them, of course, it is not sufficient; rather, its implication is action. Whereas the hadiths that you know well, which are part of the hadiths of intercession, state that Allah the Exalted and Majestic commands the removal from the Fire of anyone who has in his heart the weight of a grain, the weight of a grain, of faith. This faith is what saves one from eternal abode in the Fire. And this is among the meanings of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:48]
The Shaykh : they
The questioner : I will mention it
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : They cite and rely on a statement by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) in *al-Iqtida'*, in which he says that the term
Disbelief
كفرThe questioner : ... .
The questioner : Creedal kufr. So we say, what is the wording of the hadith? No, no, the hadith of kufr
Between a person and Kufr (disbelief) is abandoning the prayer.
بينه وبين الكفر ترك الصلاةThe Shaykh : No problem.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The issue here is a secondary matter, but the subject is not secondary; rather, it is a fundamental principle.
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : Ah, so we know that some of the Hanbalis still issue fatwas to this day that abandoning the prayer is kufr and apostasy, but they are not Khawarij and do not adopt the path followed by the Khawarij. So if we hypothetically concede to them what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned, and we look past the other texts that we mention, especially in the treatise on prayer that you know, and if we set aside this specific issue because the evidence in it is conflicting and similar, but the important point is that if they are guided to the truth in declaring the abandoner of prayer a disbeliever, that does not mean it is obligatory to declare a believer a disbeliever for any deed that is obligatory upon him which he does not perform. The meaning here is that the rule is sound, but every rule has exceptions, as is the case with the Hanbali school, for example. They do not affirm the validity of the Khawarij's school of thought; rather, they are against that school. But they converged with them, or more accurately, those Khawarij converged with the Hanbalis in the statement that the abandoner of prayer is a disbeliever. But they deviated from the Hanbalis, the Shafi'is, the Malikis, the Hanafis, and the majority of Muslims in their statement that the abandoner of a deed is a disbeliever. As you said, faith is not sufficient, narrated from them, of course, it is not sufficient; rather, its implication is action. Whereas the hadiths that you know well, which are part of the hadiths of intercession, state that Allah the Exalted and Majestic commands the removal from the Fire of anyone who has in his heart the weight of a grain, the weight of a grain, of faith. This faith is what saves one from eternal abode in the Fire. And this is among the meanings of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.