What is the ruling on declaring the Shi'ah disbelievers in their entirety? And do we call upon Allah to grant victory to the disbelievers over them?

The questioner : Our brother is asking you: Do the Shi'ah reach the ruling of disbelievers, or in the wording of the questioner: Do the Shi'ah fall under the ruling of disbelievers? And do we call upon Allah to grant victory to the disbelievers over them? Naturally, this brother who is asking is in Lebanon, where the Shi'ah are. The Shi'ah do not see what they do; the Shi'ah tell you: They do things of disbelief that disbelievers do not do. So, do these people fall under the ruling of disbelievers? And do we call upon Allah to grant victory to the disbelievers over them so that we may be rid of them?

The Shaykh : As for calling upon Allah to grant victory to the disbelievers over these Shi'ah whom the questioner thinks are disbelievers, we do not know the truth of the matter regarding their disbelief, meaning it is more harmful to the Muslim community. As for whether we rule that the Shi'ah are disbelievers? This is, as I always and forever say, not permissible to declare disbelief upon every individual of the Shi'ah. Rather, it is necessary to qualify that by every Shi'ite who holds a belief that constitutes disbelief. And there is no doubt that we know that the scholars, the scholars who know the correct knowledge, are undoubtedly more knowledgeable than the masses of people. Take, for example, the issue of the divine attributes; the scholars are more aware of the details of this issue than the general Muslims. On the contrary: the scholars who deviate from the Book and the Sunnah, such as the Shi'ah and the Khawarij and their like, are, in my critique and knowledge, more astray than the general public. Is this clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Ah, why? Because they are cultured with an academic culture that is distorted from the Book and the Sunnah, whereas the general Shi'ah and the general people of the other sects mostly live on their fitrah (innate natural disposition). So, to the extent that one of them delves into knowing his madhhab (school of jurisprudence), he delves into misguidance, and the opposite is the opposite. And on this basis, it is not befitting to declare the general Shi'ah as disbelievers. Rather, we say in the second detail: Everyone among them who holds a belief of disbelief, and it does not matter to us after that whether he is from the special or the general, whether he is from the scholars in their claim or from the students of knowledge, or from their general public. The important thing is that we look at whether his statement contains a belief of disbelief or not? If the answer is affirmative, may Allah forbid it, then he meets with disbelief, otherwise not. And I give an example in reality of some of the scholars of the Shi'ah in this time. I do not think any of you has not heard of Khomeini, whom the Shi'ah call: Ayatollah. Also, I do not think that any of you has not heard of, or perhaps read, his treatise titled: The Islamic Government. He wants to classify that the Ahl al-Bayt (People of the House) are in a position with Allah below the position of the messengers and prophets and angels. So, we can say that he is a disbeliever. But can we say: Every Shi'ite is like this? No, because there is a doctor, and it seems they are in their dissolution and extraction from much.