Details on the Issue of Declaring Someone a Disbeliever

The Shaykh : This leads me to draw attention to the rashness of some young Muslim men who are enthusiastic about the Islamic call, who declare every Muslim ruler on earth today to be a disbeliever. This is because this ruling issued by them is based on two non-Shari'ah principles. The first principle is: failing to distinguish between creedal disbelief and practical disbelief. The second principle is: it is not permissible to declare any Muslim a disbeliever, whether he is a leader or a follower, a ruler or a subject, except after establishing the proof by which he will be judged before Allah on the Day of Resurrection. We undoubtedly affirm and assert the saying of Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—: , , , according to the Salafi interpretation of disbelief. First, this verse: was revealed regarding the Jews who accepted the judgment of the Messenger against some of their enemies from among their own Jewish people if the judgment was in their favor, but if it was not in their favor, they rejected it. For that reason, Allah—Mighty and Majestic—revealed this verse: . For this reason, it is authentically reported from the interpreter of the Qur'an and the most famous of the noble Companions in interpreting the Qur'an, namely 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), that he said: "The matter is not as they think; rather, it is a disbelief less than disbelief." Accordingly, if a person adopts one ruling as sufficient for him, knowing that it contradicts Islam, and believes that the ruling contradicting Islam is the one that should be adopted and judged by, rather than the divine ruling, this is a creed, and he is a disbeliever. As for the one who believes that this ruling he has adopted, which contradicts the Shari'ah, is an error, and that the divine ruling is the correct one, but nevertheless he does not judge by it—like any judge who judges by the Shari'ah, but in a certain government, out of fear, for a bribe, or for some interest—he judges by other than what Allah has revealed. It is not permissible to declare him a disbeliever; judging him as misguided is sufficient for him. As for declaring him a disbeliever when he believes, how can we declare him a disbeliever? When we make this statement and issue this ruling, we recall the saying of Allah—Mighty and Majestic—: , meaning that we realize in reality that it is possible for faith and disbelief to coexist in a Muslim. But just as faith is a matter of the heart, so too is disbelief a matter of the heart. If we want to say or apply this noble verse to an individual among people: ; that is, they believe in one aspect and associate partners with Allah in their hearts in another aspect. Otherwise, as for verbal shirk: I do not think you know with me that a Muslim is not declared a disbeliever for it. Perhaps you remember the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), which Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon to the people one day, and a man stood up to say to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him, with the strongest disapproval: . He made the Messenger of Allah an equal to Allah in words, not in heart, because when this man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "What Allah wills and what you will," although this phrase is shirk, he did not say it except to make the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) feel that obedience to the Prophet is obedience to Allah—Mighty and Majestic. Therefore, he equated his (peace and blessings be upon him) will with the will of Allah. But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who did not leave anything that benefits the Muslims without teaching it to them, as came in the authentic hadith: , whether this or that is a creed, a statement, or an action. This Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he heard this man say: , was moved by jealousy for the oneness of Allah, and he said to him: . But he did not rule that what he said was disbelief, saying "You have become a disbeliever, so renew your faith and renew your marriage contract with your wife" or the like. Rather, he drew his attention to the fact that a Muslim should not express himself in this way. So, if the Muslim understands this distinction correctly, he will not dare to declare every ruler who rules by a system or law he received from the disbeliever colonial ruler in the past a disbeliever, unless it becomes clear to him that he has adopted it as a system and a creed, and not that he may be excusing himself with an excuse we naturally do not accept, such as saying, "By Allah, Islam is the true system that should be ruled by," and so on. But this requires things and preparations and the like. And from another aspect, he prays, fasts, and participates with Muslims in many acts of worship. Here comes his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . Therefore, we must always and forever keep in mind the distinction between creedal disbelief and practical disbelief.