The ruling on one who withholds judgment regarding a person who committed an act of disbelief out of ignorance, knowing that some scholars declared him a disbeliever and others excused him; is this person considered misguided?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, what is the ruling on one who withholds judgment from declaring a person who committed an act of disbelief out of ignorance to be a disbeliever, and then withholds judgment because he knows that some scholars issued a fatwa declaring him a disbeliever while others issued a fatwa excusing him for his ignorance? Is he considered misguided?
The Shaykh : May Allah be our helper! This is the one who is guided. Anyone who withholds judgment on a matter because the evidence is not clear to him, either because he is a mujtahid (scholar qualified to derive rulings) who examined the evidence and found, in his opinion, a contradiction, or because he is a layman and the scholars differed on this matter for him, so he withholds judgment, this is the truth, and this is faith.
Why? Because Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Isra 17:36] So if he rules that he is a disbeliever while he does not know what the evidence is, he has said what he has no knowledge of. And if he rules that he is not a disbeliever while he does not know the evidence, he has said what he has no knowledge of.
But what is the reality if people have differed on this ruling? Is the foundation the preservation of the Muslim's Islam or the Muslim's disbelief? It is the preservation of the Muslim's Islam. For this reason, this matter is considered serious. The matter is not something trivial where you say to a person: "You are a disbeliever." The matter is not merely uttering it with the tongue. The matter entails that if you rule that he is a disbeliever, you rule that his blood and wealth are lawful, that his wife is forbidden to him, that the wealth in his possession is not his, and that if he is a ruler, obedience to him is not obligatory, among other rulings that follow from apostasy, which are numerous.
Then who are you to judge the servants of Allah as disbelievers when Allah the Exalted has not ruled so? Who are you? If one of us were to say, "This is forbidden," and Allah has not forbidden it, would we not say that you are fabricating against Allah? How much more so if he says, "This is disbelief," and it is not disbelief? And how if he says, "This is a disbeliever," while with Allah he is not a disbeliever?
Therefore, this school of thought, which declares as disbelievers those for whom no evidence of their disbelief has been established, is exactly the school of the Khawarij (an early sect that declared sinners disbelievers), about whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us:.
So the matter is very serious. Therefore, it is obligatory for a person to fear Allah above all else, and not to rule that this is disbelief until it becomes clear, and not to rule that this is a disbeliever until the conditions for declaring someone a disbeliever are met.
As for "disbeliever, disbeliever, disbeliever," how is this? This is exactly the school of the Khawarij. The Khawarij were with 'Ali against Mu'awiyah, and when the reconciliation took place between 'Ali and Mu'awiyah, they turned against and fought 'Ali. But praise be to Allah, Allah Mighty and Majestic destroyed them, and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) killed them, and may Allah reward him well for the Muslim community with a great killing, and I seek refuge in Allah.
We ask Allah for guidance and success for us and for you in what He loves and is pleased with, and that He grant us adherence to His limits in our judgment of His servants. Indeed, He is capable of all things.
And glory be to You, O Allah, our Lord, and praise be to You. I testify that there is no deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
And I say to everyone, may you be safe and may Allah's mercy and blessings be upon you, so that each one does not think he has the right to speak, because time does not allow me to continue.
The Shaykh : May Allah be our helper! This is the one who is guided. Anyone who withholds judgment on a matter because the evidence is not clear to him, either because he is a mujtahid (scholar qualified to derive rulings) who examined the evidence and found, in his opinion, a contradiction, or because he is a layman and the scholars differed on this matter for him, so he withholds judgment, this is the truth, and this is faith.
Why? Because Allah the Exalted said:
And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned.
وَلا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُولَئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْؤُولاًBut what is the reality if people have differed on this ruling? Is the foundation the preservation of the Muslim's Islam or the Muslim's disbelief? It is the preservation of the Muslim's Islam. For this reason, this matter is considered serious. The matter is not something trivial where you say to a person: "You are a disbeliever." The matter is not merely uttering it with the tongue. The matter entails that if you rule that he is a disbeliever, you rule that his blood and wealth are lawful, that his wife is forbidden to him, that the wealth in his possession is not his, and that if he is a ruler, obedience to him is not obligatory, among other rulings that follow from apostasy, which are numerous.
Then who are you to judge the servants of Allah as disbelievers when Allah the Exalted has not ruled so? Who are you? If one of us were to say, "This is forbidden," and Allah has not forbidden it, would we not say that you are fabricating against Allah? How much more so if he says, "This is disbelief," and it is not disbelief? And how if he says, "This is a disbeliever," while with Allah he is not a disbeliever?
Therefore, this school of thought, which declares as disbelievers those for whom no evidence of their disbelief has been established, is exactly the school of the Khawarij (an early sect that declared sinners disbelievers), about whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us:
That they recite the Qur'an but it does not go beyond their throats, and that they emerge from Islam as an arrow emerges from its quiver, and that there is a reward in killing them until the Day of Resurrection.
أنهم يقرءون القرآن ولا يتجاوز حناجرهم، وأنهم يمرقون من الإسلام كما يمرق السهم من الرمية، وأن في قتلهم أجرا إلى يوم القيامةSo the matter is very serious. Therefore, it is obligatory for a person to fear Allah above all else, and not to rule that this is disbelief until it becomes clear, and not to rule that this is a disbeliever until the conditions for declaring someone a disbeliever are met.
As for "disbeliever, disbeliever, disbeliever," how is this? This is exactly the school of the Khawarij. The Khawarij were with 'Ali against Mu'awiyah, and when the reconciliation took place between 'Ali and Mu'awiyah, they turned against and fought 'Ali. But praise be to Allah, Allah Mighty and Majestic destroyed them, and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) killed them, and may Allah reward him well for the Muslim community with a great killing, and I seek refuge in Allah.
We ask Allah for guidance and success for us and for you in what He loves and is pleased with, and that He grant us adherence to His limits in our judgment of His servants. Indeed, He is capable of all things.
And glory be to You, O Allah, our Lord, and praise be to You. I testify that there is no deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
And I say to everyone, may you be safe and may Allah's mercy and blessings be upon you, so that each one does not think he has the right to speak, because time does not allow me to continue.