Questioned about the meaning of the statement in the Tahawiyyah: “And we do not declare as disbelievers anyone from the people of the Qiblah”

The questioner : Praise is to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own selves and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is no one who can misguide him, and whomsoever He misguides, there is no one who can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. As for what follows, we ask our Shaykh’s permission to complete some questions on the issue of declaring someone a disbeliever (takfir), and we hope for his permission to do so. Al-Tahawi said in the Tahawiyyah: “And we do not declare as disbelievers anyone from the people of the Qiblah for a sin, as long as he does not consider it permissible.” The commentator of the Tahawiyyah said: “This should be qualified: we do not declare as disbelievers anyone from the people of the Qiblah for every sin.” Is this qualification correct?

The Shaykh : Yes, we do not declare as disbelievers anyone from the people of the Qiblah for any sin he commits, provided the condition we mentioned in some detail in a previous session is met, which is that he does not consider that sin permissible in his heart. As for if he commits a sin, even if it is among the major sins, even if that sin is abandoning the prayer, as long as he acknowledges in the depths of his heart that he is a sinner before his Lord, Mighty and Majestic, he is not declared a disbeliever for that sin, no matter its magnitude. However, if he considers it permissible in his heart, just as he did in his action, that is the disbelief that expels one from the religion. There is no difference between one sin and another; it is not permissible to declare a Muslim a disbeliever for a sin except under the condition mentioned above, namely, as long as he does not consider it permissible in his belief. If he believes in his creed that it is a sin, and that this belief is obligatory to hold, but his desire and his Shaytan overcame him, and he acknowledges it, then I remind you on this occasion of the sin of the one who made that unjust will, which we cannot imagine a more unjust will than it, when he ordered his son to burn him so that he might be a trial for his Lord. This is a sin beyond which there is no sin. And yet, our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, did not hold him accountable when the man, and Allah knows best what was in his heart, clarified that he did not act or make that unjust will in denial of the power of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, or in the belief that He is incapable of restoring him to a sound human form. No, rather he said: “I feared You.” So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, forgave him. Therefore, whatever major sin a Muslim commits while not considering it permissible in his heart, here comes the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , and here come the hadiths of intercession that explicitly state at the end of the intercession: . Therefore, the creed of the righteous Salaf and the people of the Sunnah and the community, truly, is that the one who commits a major sin is an open sinner (fasiq) who does not exit Islam by his major sin, unlike others.