The ruling on one who belittles a sin among the sins of Allah.

The questioner : A brother here gave me a question about one who belittles a sin among the sins of Allah.

The Shaykh : One who mocks, you mean?

The questioner : I don't know if "belittles" means "mocks."

The Shaykh : No, we do not answer about anything except what we know the questioner intends.The questioner : .

The questioner : One who belittles the obligations of Allah, the Exalted, has committed disbelief.

The Shaykh : This, my brother, is one of the words that carries multiple meanings. Look now at his saying, peace and blessings be upon him, and so on. They make lawful—what is the ruling on these people? We need to know whether it is practical permissibility or heart-based permissibility. If it is heart-based permissibility, it is disbelief. If it is practical permissibility, how many there are who make lawful the prohibitions of Allah, the Exalted; that is open sinfulness and stepping out of obedience. Now, here the word "belittles" can mean belittling in the sense of mockery, and it can mean denial. That is disbelief. And if the intended meaning of belittling is, meaning, not caring about the obedience of Allah and the obedience of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in practice, then it is open sinfulness and not disbelief. Therefore, whether the questioner intended this or that, what is behind this question?The questioner : Is this or that what is beyond this question?

The questioner : In the Arabic language, mockery in the Arabic language, the questioner asked about the meaning, does it mean to belittle, or to be casual?

The Shaykh : What hadith? Do you remember a hadith?

The questioner : What hadith do you remember? Do you remember a hadith?

The Shaykh : Yes, I am thinking, and before we look at whether this hadith serves as a corroborating narration, let me complete my previous point. I say that the Arabic language has multiple aspects, and sometimes a single word conveys two opposite meanings. Do you remember this fact? A single word is called one of the words of contradiction. It is said, "The sun has disappeared," meaning it rose. It is said, "The sun has disappeared," meaning it set. It is said, "A man of worth," meaning great, and it is said, "A man of worth," meaning lowly. And I have a joke for you regarding the Maronite priest, this Lebanese man. We touched upon this in our discussion with him about translating the Qur'an. He objected to the Muslims for forbidding the translation of the Qur'an. So I explained to him that translating the Qur'an is of two kinds: forbidden, indeed impossible except with distortion, because the Qur'an is sanctified; and permissible, indeed obligatory. The forbidden translation is the literal translation, and the obligatory translation is the meaning-based translation. We said to him, let us enter into an experiment with you. He is truly a cultured man, a Lebanese Maronite who speaks French like the French themselves. I said to him, let us enter into an experiment. Translate the following verse for me, despite its brevity, with a literal translation. He said, which one? I said to him, He said, the Exalted, He said to me, what is "asa'asa"? I said to him, here is the point: "asa'asa" is one of the words of contradiction. It means to approach and to recede. This is from the eloquence of the Qur'an; it came with a single word to establish two divine signs, as they say today, two natures: the approach of the night and its recession. Without doubt, each is a sign. A single word, Think about it. He was truly shocked. Do you know what he said? I will look, and this is proof that he is cultured and knowledgeable. I will look at the context and the preceding text, because our scholars say this is one of the restrictors. He said he will look at the context and the preceding text and determine the meaning. So if one of the two meanings prevails for me, in French, he brought a word, of course, which I do not understand. I mean, if it is "approach," I said to him, another translator will come and contradict you, saying if it is "recede." We would then have two mushafs with two meanings and two completely opposite words. And from here came to you the alteration and substitution in the Torah and the Gospel.

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : He said, I will combine both matters by saying, "And the night when it approaches and recedes." I said to him, a third person might come and say, "approaches" or "recedes." The conclusion is that the man was silenced, and the argument was established against him. The point now is that in the Qur'an there are meanings of this kind, and it is the speech of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So what do you think if a person speaks with an expression containing belittlement? At that time, it is obligatory to look first at his intention, and then at his wording. We may know, you may know, we do not agree with condemning those who call for aid to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by ruling that they are disbelievers merely for the calling for aid. Because many of them, and among them this miller, interpret the calling for aid as seeking nearness to Allah through a means. And seeking nearness to Allah through a means, although we disapprove of it, does not reach the point where we equate it with calling for aid to other than Allah. So we look at this one who calls for aid: what does he intend? If he intends seeking help, health, and provision, among other things, then without doubt it is associating partners with Allah and disbelief, among other things. And if he intends seeking nearness to Allah through a means, we disapprove of it, but not as we disapprove of what he intends if he means calling for aid and the like, among other things.

The questioner : 'Abd al-Rahim al-Tahhan. After you heard the tape between you and him and you advised him, did the book reach you?

The Shaykh : Who is he?

The questioner : So what is your opinion of it? We found some extremists who do not sell it. Praise be to Allah who guided us.

The Shaykh : "Save us with water," is that permissible? It is permissible.

The questioner : So what is your opinion of it? We found some extremists who do not sell it. Praise be to Allah who guided us.

The Shaykh : By Allah, my experience with him is distant. We ask for his guidance and success.

The questioner This miller does not distinguish between seeking nearness to Allah through a means and calling for aid.

The Shaykh : May Allah guide him. Yes, here we say to those like him, this difference between us is sufficient for you. And every vessel emits what is in it.

The questioner : That is enough.

The Shaykh : The hadith in which "belittles" is mentioned, you mean?

The questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah. I wrote a book against them now.

The questioner : The hadith in which it says "belittled," meaning?

The Shaykh : Yes, look at the hadith. Tell me, did he become a disbeliever? You will catch up with those who declare people disbelievers.

The questioner : No, I do not rule "usually" because the matter concerns individuals.

The Shaykh : No problem, but belittling is now... in a broad sense. Belittling now is like declaring something lawful; it may be practical or it may be in the heart. So each takes its known ruling. Is that clear?

The questioner : Regarding their rights, meaning he was lax.

The Shaykh : The evidence was a right upon Allah to admit him to Paradise.

The questioner : And the opposite is the opposite, if He wills He will torment him, and if He wills He will forgive him.

The Shaykh : There will be among my Ummah people who make lawful fornication, silk, wine, and musical instruments.

The questioner : He belittled his people, so they obeyed him.

The Shaykh : And the night when it approaches.