The Ruling on One Who Does Not Declare a Disbeliever a Disbeliever or Doubts His Disbelief
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Question:
The first message in this episode is from Libya. The sender is a listener there, named (Munthir A. A). Our brother Munthir says: I recently heard that whoever does not declare a disbeliever a disbeliever, or doubts his disbelief, is himself a disbeliever. Similarly, I heard that whoever doubts the disbelief of one who abandons prayer or mocks any of the limits of Allah is a disbeliever. Is this correct?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
To proceed: The evidences from the Book and the Sunnah indicate the obligation of disavowing the polytheists and believing in their disbelief, once the believer knows this and their disbelief and misguidance become clear to him, as Allah the Exalted said in His great Book: [al-Zukhruf: 26-28], meaning: perhaps they will return to it in declaring the polytheists disbelievers and disavowing them, and believing that Allah is the one worshipped in truth , and He said : [al-Mumtahanah: 4], so this is the religion of Ibrahim and the way of Ibrahim and all the prophets, disavowing the worship of other than Allah and believing in their disbelief and misguidance, until they believe in Allah alone .
So it is obligatory for the Muslim to disavow the worship of other than Allah, and to believe in their disbelief and misguidance, until they believe in Allah alone , as Allah related about Ibrahim and all the prophets, and likewise His saying : [al-Baqarah: 256], and disbelief in the taghut means disavowing the worship of other than Allah and believing in its invalidity, and that it is obligatory for every person of legal capacity to worship Allah alone, and to believe in Him, and to hold that He, the Exalted, is the one worthy of worship, and that what people worship other than Allah, whether idols, trees, stones, the dead, jinn, angels, stars, or otherwise, is worshipped in falsehood. Allah the Exalted said: [al-Hajj: 62], the verse from Surat al-Hajj.
So when the believer knows that so-and-so worships other than Allah, it is obligatory for him to disavow him, and to believe in the invalidity of what he is upon, and to declare him a disbeliever on account of that, if he is among those to whom the proof has reached, among those who are among the Muslims, or if it is known that the proof has reached him, as Allah the Exalted said: : [al-An'am: 19], and He the Exalted said: [Ibrahim: 52], so Allah revealed the Qur'an to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and made it a message to the people, so whoever the Qur'an or the Sunnah reaches, and he does not turn back from his disbelief and misguidance, it is obligatory to believe in the invalidity of what he is upon and his disbelief.
And from this is the authentic hadith where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 153. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that whenever what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent with reaches him, and then he dies without believing in it, he becomes one of the people of the Fire, meaning: he becomes a disbeliever from the people of the Fire, because he did not respond to what reached him from Allah and His Messenger.
And this is the meaning of His saying, the Exalted: [al-An'am: 19], and His saying, the Exalted: [Ibrahim: 52].
And in the authentic - Sahih Muslim - from Tariq ibn Ashim (may Allah have mercy on him) , from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Sahih Muslim 23a, and in another wording: Sahih Muslim 23a, so he made the prohibition of blood and wealth tied to the saying: La ilaha illa Allah, and to making Allah one, and to his disbelief in the taghut, so his wealth and blood are not made inviolable until he makes Allah one, and until he disbelieves in the taghut, meaning: until he disbelieves in the worship of other than Allah. The taghut is everything worshipped other than Allah, meaning: until he disbelieves in the worship of other than Allah, and disavows it, and believes in its invalidity.
And this is the meaning of the noble verse mentioned above: [al-Baqarah: 256], and the one who knows the disbeliever and what he is upon of falsehood, and then does not declare him a disbeliever, or doubts his disbelief, the meaning of that is that he is a denier of Allah and His Messenger, not believing in what Allah has ruled upon him of disbelief, so the Jews and the Christians are disbelievers by the text of the Qur'an and the text of the Sunnah.
So it is obligatory for those of legal capacity—among the Muslims—to believe in their disbelief and misguidance. And whoever does not declare them disbelievers, or doubts their disbelief, becomes like them; because he is denying Allah and His Messenger, and doubting what Allah and His Messenger informed about.
And so is the one who doubts the Hereafter, who does not know: is there Paradise here or not? Is there Hellfire here or not? Is there resurrection or not...? Meaning: he has doubt: is there resurrection and rising? Will Allah resurrect the dead? Is there Paradise? Is there Hellfire? He does not have certain faith; he has doubt. This person becomes a disbeliever, until he believes in the resurrection and rising, and in Paradise and Hellfire, and that Allah prepared Paradise for the pious believers, and prepared Hellfire for the disbelievers. It is necessary to believe in this, by the consensus of the Muslims.
And so is the one who doubts that Allah is worthy of worship; he becomes a disbeliever in Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). For Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) says: [Surah al-Hajj: 62], and He the Exalted says: [Surah al-Isra: 23]... [Surah al-Fatihah: 5]... [Surah al-Bayyinah: 5], and the verses on this are many.
And so is the one who doubts the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and says: I do not know that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, or that he is not the Messenger of Allah, I... have no doubt; his ruling is the ruling of one who denies his messagehood or lies about it; he becomes a disbeliever until he believes with certainty that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And so are the messengers whom Allah sent: like Nuh, Hud, Salih, Musa, Isa, Ibrahim, and others. Whoever doubts their messagehood or lies about it becomes a disbeliever. We ask Allah for safety.
And likewise, whoever mocks the religion, whether he insults the religion or mocks the religion, he becomes a disbeliever, as Allah the Exalted said: [al-Tawbah: 65-66], and the one who insults the religion and insults the Messenger is like the mocker or worse and more disbelieving.
As for the one who abandons prayer but does not deny its obligation, there is disagreement among the scholars: some of them see that he is declared a disbeliever—and this is the correct view—on account of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan Ibn Majah 1079Sahih (Darussalam), and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
And others among the scholars said: he is not declared a disbeliever on account of that, if he does not deny its obligation, but rather he is a sinner, and he is a disbeliever with a disbelief less than disbelief, and a shirk less than shirk, but he is not a disbeliever with major shirk. This was said by a group of scholars. And whoever doubts the disbelief of this person does not become a disbeliever; because of the disagreement in it. Whoever doubts the disbelief of one who abandons prayer and does not deny its obligation does not become a disbeliever, but rather this is a place of ijtihad, a place of ijtihad among the scholars. So whoever knows by the evidences of the Shari'ah that he is a disbeliever, it is obligatory for him to declare him a disbeliever. And whoever doubts that and the evidences do not become clear to him, and he sees that he is not a disbeliever with major shirk but with minor shirk; this person is excused in his ijtihad, and he does not become a disbeliever on account of that. As for the one who denies its obligation and says: prayer is not obligatory; this person is a disbeliever according to all of them; and whoever doubts his disbelief is a disbeliever. We seek refuge in Allah.
And so is the one who says: zakah is not obligatory and denies its obligation, or denies the obligation of fasting Ramadan, or says: Hajj with the ability is not obligatory; this person is declared a disbeliever on account of that; because he is denying Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and denying the consensus of the Muslims; so he becomes a disbeliever. And whoever doubts his disbelief is a disbeliever, after the evidence is clarified to him and the matter is made clear to him, he becomes a disbeliever on account of that; because he lied to Allah and His Messenger, and lied to the consensus of the Muslims.
And these are great matters in which the student of knowledge must be careful and not be hasty; so that he is on clear evidence and insight. And so is the general public: it is obligatory for them to be careful, and not to proceed with anything until they ask the people of knowledge and until they look into it; because these are great issues, issues of takfir are not light issues, but rather great issues.
So it is obligatory for the people of knowledge and the students of knowledge to clarify them to the people with the evidences of the Shari'ah. And it is obligatory for the one who is confused by something not to be hasty, and to look into the evidences, and to ask the people of knowledge; so that he is on insight and clear evidence in that. May Allah grant everyone success, guidance, beneficial knowledge, and righteous deeds.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
The first message in this episode is from Libya. The sender is a listener there, named (Munthir A. A). Our brother Munthir says: I recently heard that whoever does not declare a disbeliever a disbeliever, or doubts his disbelief, is himself a disbeliever. Similarly, I heard that whoever doubts the disbelief of one who abandons prayer or mocks any of the limits of Allah is a disbeliever. Is this correct?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
To proceed: The evidences from the Book and the Sunnah indicate the obligation of disavowing the polytheists and believing in their disbelief, once the believer knows this and their disbelief and misguidance become clear to him, as Allah the Exalted said in His great Book:
(26) And [mention, O Muhammad], when Abraham said to his father and his people, "Indeed, I am disassociated from that which you worship (27) Except for He who created me; and indeed, He will guide me." (28) And he made it a word remaining among his descendants that they might return [to it].
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ لِأَبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِ إِنَّنِي بَرَاءٌ مِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا الَّذِي فَطَرَنِي فَإِنَّهُ سَيَهْدِينِ وَجَعَلَهَا كَلِمَةً بَاقِيَةً فِي عَقِبِهِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَThere has already been for you an excellent pattern in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people, "Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah. We have denied you, and there has appeared between us and you animosity and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone
قَدْ كَانَتْ لَكُمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ فِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ إِذْ قَالُوا لِقَوْمِهِمْ إِنَّا بُرَآءُ مِنْكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ وَبَدَا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةُ وَالْبَغْضَاءُ أَبَدًا حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُSo it is obligatory for the Muslim to disavow the worship of other than Allah, and to believe in their disbelief and misguidance, until they believe in Allah alone , as Allah related about Ibrahim and all the prophets, and likewise His saying :
So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى لا انفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌThat is because Allah is the Truth, and that which they call upon other than Him is falsehood
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُSo when the believer knows that so-and-so worships other than Allah, it is obligatory for him to disavow him, and to believe in the invalidity of what he is upon, and to declare him a disbeliever on account of that, if he is among those to whom the proof has reached, among those who are among the Muslims, or if it is known that the proof has reached him, as Allah the Exalted said: :
And this Qur'an was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches.
وَأُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ لِأُنذِرَكُمْ بِهِ وَمَنْ بَلَغَThis [Qur'an] is notification for the people that they may be warned thereby
هَذَا بَلاغٌ لِلنَّاسِ وَلِيُنذَرُوا بِهِAnd from this is the authentic hadith where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears about me, but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state (of disbelief), he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire.
والذي نفسي بيده لا يسمع بي أحد من هذه الأمة: يهودي ولا نصراني، ثم يموت ولم يؤمن بالذي أرسلت به؛ إلا كان من أهل النارAnd this is the meaning of His saying, the Exalted:
And this Qur'an was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches.
وَأُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ لِأُنذِرَكُمْ بِهِ وَمَنْ بَلَغَThis [Qur'an] is notification for the people that they may be warned thereby
هَذَا بَلاغٌ لِلنَّاسِ وَلِيُنذَرُوا بِهِAnd in the authentic - Sahih Muslim - from Tariq ibn Ashim (may Allah have mercy on him) , from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
He who professed that there is no god but Allah and made a denial of everything which the people worship beside Allah, his property and blood became inviolable
من قال: لا إله إلا الله، وكفر بما يعبد من دون الله؛ حرم ماله ودمهHe who professed that there is no god but Allah and made a denial of everything which the people worship beside Allah, his property and blood became inviolable
من وحد الله، وكفر بما يعبد من دون الله؛ حرم ماله ودمهAnd this is the meaning of the noble verse mentioned above:
So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى لا انفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌSo it is obligatory for those of legal capacity—among the Muslims—to believe in their disbelief and misguidance. And whoever does not declare them disbelievers, or doubts their disbelief, becomes like them; because he is denying Allah and His Messenger, and doubting what Allah and His Messenger informed about.
And so is the one who doubts the Hereafter, who does not know: is there Paradise here or not? Is there Hellfire here or not? Is there resurrection or not...? Meaning: he has doubt: is there resurrection and rising? Will Allah resurrect the dead? Is there Paradise? Is there Hellfire? He does not have certain faith; he has doubt. This person becomes a disbeliever, until he believes in the resurrection and rising, and in Paradise and Hellfire, and that Allah prepared Paradise for the pious believers, and prepared Hellfire for the disbelievers. It is necessary to believe in this, by the consensus of the Muslims.
And so is the one who doubts that Allah is worthy of worship; he becomes a disbeliever in Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). For Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) says:
That is because Allah is the Truth, and that which they call upon other than Him is falsehood
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُAnd your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him
وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُIt is You we worship and You we ask for help.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُAnd they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth
وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَAnd so is the one who doubts the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and says: I do not know that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, or that he is not the Messenger of Allah, I... have no doubt; his ruling is the ruling of one who denies his messagehood or lies about it; he becomes a disbeliever until he believes with certainty that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And so are the messengers whom Allah sent: like Nuh, Hud, Salih, Musa, Isa, Ibrahim, and others. Whoever doubts their messagehood or lies about it becomes a disbeliever. We ask Allah for safety.
And likewise, whoever mocks the religion, whether he insults the religion or mocks the religion, he becomes a disbeliever, as Allah the Exalted said:
(65) And if you ask them, they will surely say, "We were only conversing and playing." Say, "Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?" (66) Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you - We will punish another faction because they were criminals.
قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ لا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْAs for the one who abandons prayer but does not deny its obligation, there is disagreement among the scholars: some of them see that he is declared a disbeliever—and this is the correct view—on account of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is prayer; so whoever leaves it, he has committed Kufr.
العهد الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاة؛ فمن تركها فقد كفرBetween a man and disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah) is the abandonment of prayer.
بين الرجل وبين الكفر والشرك ترك الصلاةAnd others among the scholars said: he is not declared a disbeliever on account of that, if he does not deny its obligation, but rather he is a sinner, and he is a disbeliever with a disbelief less than disbelief, and a shirk less than shirk, but he is not a disbeliever with major shirk. This was said by a group of scholars. And whoever doubts the disbelief of this person does not become a disbeliever; because of the disagreement in it. Whoever doubts the disbelief of one who abandons prayer and does not deny its obligation does not become a disbeliever, but rather this is a place of ijtihad, a place of ijtihad among the scholars. So whoever knows by the evidences of the Shari'ah that he is a disbeliever, it is obligatory for him to declare him a disbeliever. And whoever doubts that and the evidences do not become clear to him, and he sees that he is not a disbeliever with major shirk but with minor shirk; this person is excused in his ijtihad, and he does not become a disbeliever on account of that. As for the one who denies its obligation and says: prayer is not obligatory; this person is a disbeliever according to all of them; and whoever doubts his disbelief is a disbeliever. We seek refuge in Allah.
And so is the one who says: zakah is not obligatory and denies its obligation, or denies the obligation of fasting Ramadan, or says: Hajj with the ability is not obligatory; this person is declared a disbeliever on account of that; because he is denying Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and denying the consensus of the Muslims; so he becomes a disbeliever. And whoever doubts his disbelief is a disbeliever, after the evidence is clarified to him and the matter is made clear to him, he becomes a disbeliever on account of that; because he lied to Allah and His Messenger, and lied to the consensus of the Muslims.
And these are great matters in which the student of knowledge must be careful and not be hasty; so that he is on clear evidence and insight. And so is the general public: it is obligatory for them to be careful, and not to proceed with anything until they ask the people of knowledge and until they look into it; because these are great issues, issues of takfir are not light issues, but rather great issues.
So it is obligatory for the people of knowledge and the students of knowledge to clarify them to the people with the evidences of the Shari'ah. And it is obligatory for the one who is confused by something not to be hasty, and to look into the evidences, and to ask the people of knowledge; so that he is on insight and clear evidence in that. May Allah grant everyone success, guidance, beneficial knowledge, and righteous deeds.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.