Matters of Tawhid: There Is No Excuse in Them

Q: Is there an excuse of ignorance in matters of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), which are the core of the religion? And what is the ruling on declaring a specific individual a disbeliever if he falls into matters of shirk (associating partners with Allah) out of ignorance?

A: There is no excuse in matters of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) as long as one is among the Muslims. As for one who is far from the Muslims and ignorant of these matters, his case is left to Allah, and his ruling is the ruling of the people of the intervals (ahl al-fatarat) on the Day of Resurrection, where he will be tested. As for one who is among the Muslims and hears that Allah said so and so, and that His Messenger said so and so, but does not care and does not pay attention, and worships graves or calls upon them for aid, or insults the religion, then he is a disbeliever. He is declared a disbeliever specifically, just as you would say, "So-and-so is a disbeliever." It is the duty of the rulers of the Muslims to call him to repentance. If he repents, well and good; otherwise, he must be killed as a disbeliever. The same applies to one who mocks the religion, or considers lawful what Allah has forbidden, such as saying, "Zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) is lawful," or "Intoxicants are lawful," or "Adjudicating by man-made laws is lawful," or "Judging by other than what Allah has revealed is lawful," or that it is better than the judgment of Allah. All of this is apostasy from Islam. We seek refuge in Allah from that.
Therefore, it is obligatory for every Islamic government to judge by the law of Allah and to call to repentance any of its subjects found to have committed one of the nullifiers of Islam. If he repents, well and good; otherwise, it is obligatory to kill him. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Al-Bukhari narrated it in his Sahih. And in the two Sahihs, it is narrated from Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) that he ordered some of the governors to kill the apostate if he did not repent, and he said: "This is the decree of Allah and His Messenger."
It is obligatory that this be carried out through the authority of the ruler, through the Shari'ah courts, so that the judgment of Allah is executed with knowledge and insight through the rulers. May Allah improve the condition of everyone. Indeed, He is All-Hearing, Near.