Nine Rules Concerning Kufr and Takfir
All praise is due to Allaah and prayers and peace be upon Allaah’s Messenger,
MNJ090006
1
MNJ090006 @ WWW.SALAFIPUBLICATIONS.COM
Version 1.0
Nine Rules Concerning Kufr and Takfir
Compiled by SP Editorial.
All praise is due to Allaah and prayers and peace be upon Allaah’s Messenger,
to proceed:
- The Origin, Basis with People Who Manife
st Islaam is Affirmation of
Islaam for Them
The basic principle with anyone who outwardly manifests Islaam, is that he is
treated as a Muslim. Since whoever’s Islaam is affirmed with yaqeen, it is not
rejected with mere doubts. Shaikh ul
Islaam Ibn Taimiyy
ah said, “Whoever’s
Islaam was affirmed with certainty, then it cannot be removed from him with
doubt. Rather, his Islaam will never cease until after the proof has been
established against him and any doubt [concerning his case] has been removed”
(Majmoo
al
Fataawaaa 12/467). And this opposes what some of the
Ignoramuses from the likes of Jamaa’at ut
Takfeer and many of those affected
by their ideology are upon today, and who say “I do not know whether so and
so is actually a Muslim”, or “I can’t affirm or
deny Islaam for him” and what is
similar to this. And they mean here not an original kaafir, but a person whose
ascription to Islaam is openly known and who outwardly manifests it and
proclaims it. And at the same time they are not able to prove with cert
ainty that
this person has brought something which cannot be anything but major kufr,
and that all the conditions for takfir have been met and all the barriers
removed, and the proof established upon him. Thus upon mere doubts, they
do not affirm or deny a
person’s Islaam. And this is misguidance, and is the
innovation of the people of “tawaqquf” from amongst the Takfeeris and those
affected by their thought
those who withhold and do not confirm Islaam for
those who actually proclaim it and manifest it.
- Kufr Occurs with Belief, Speech, Action and Doubt
Kufr occurs by way of i’tiqaad (the hearts speech and action), qawl (the speech
of the tongue) and fi’l (the actions of the limbs) and shakk (doubt). Shaikh
‘Abdur
Rahman bin Nasir as
Sa’dee said, “Chapt
er: The Ruling upon the
Apostate. “The apostate, murtad, is the one who exits from Islaam and enters
into disbelief on account of an action, statement, a belief (i’tiqad) or doubt
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(shakk).” Manhaj us
Saalikeen (p.112). This has been called al
kufr al
akbar
(the
major disbelief) and by some scholars as al
kufr al
i’tiqaadee (the kufr of belief).
Ibn al
Qayyim said, “And likewise, the branches of kufr (amongst them are)
those which are statements and those which are actions. And just like a person
can fall
into disbelief (that expels from the religion) by wilfully saying a word
constituting disbelief, and which is a branch of disbelief, then likewise, he can
fall into disbelief (that expels from the religion) by doing an act of kufr, from
amongst its branche
s that are actions, such as prostrating to an idol, belittling
the mus
haf. So this is a principle”. (As
Salaat pp.53
Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen said, “And whoever Allaah and His Messenger declares
to be a disbeliever, then he is a disbeliever, regardless o
f whether that is by way
of an action (he committed), or a belief (that he held) or a statement that he
uttered. And whoever Allaah and His Messenger have not declared to be a
disbeliever, and he ascribes himself to Islaam, then he is a believer and it is
not
lawful for us to declare him a disbeliever.” (Cassette: Questions and Answers
from Qatar, 30th April, 2000)
- The Major Kufr That Expels From the Religion
There are those matters that are the kufr that expel from the religion. These are
affairs are i
ndependent kufr, i.e. kufr on their own. These include affairs like
prostrating to an idol, kicking the qu’ran, mocking Allaah, or the Messenger or
the deen, or juhood (rejection, in part or whole), istihlaal (declaring something
unlawful to be lawful), is
tikbaar (arrogance), believing that from the creation
are those who know the unseen, takdheeb (rejection, disbelief, in part or
whole), nifaaq (hypocrisy of belief), kurh (hatred of the religion), practising
magic, sacrificing to other than Allaah, or not
believing in the Jinn or the
Angels and so on. These are just by way of example. These are affairs that
cannot be anything but major kufr. These affairs are kufr on their own, and do
not require istihlaal (declaring them to be lawful) for them to be consid
ered to
be kufr that expels from the religion.
Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan said, “And kufr occurs by takhdheeb (rejection of the
heart)… and kufr also occurs by the speech with the tongue… and it occurs by
mocking Allaah, His Messenger and His Book… and it oc
curs by istikbaar
(arrogance) and imtinaa’ (refraining, holding back) from obedience to Allaah,
as Allaah the Most High said about Iblees, “He refused (to prostrate), and
became arrogant and became from the Disbelievers” (al
Baqarah 2:34), and it
occurs by
turning away from the deen of Allaah, not learning it and nor acting
upon it… and it occurs by action, such as sacrificing to other than Allaah, or
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prostrating to an idol, or working magic and learning it and teaching it…”
(from ad
Da’wah no. 1648, 8
th
Ra
bee ul
Awwal 1419H).
- Actions Labelled as Kufr But Do Not Expel From the Religion
Amongst the actions are those which have been labelled as kufr but are not
from the kufr that expels from the religion, such as reviling the geneology,
wailing over the de
ad, fighting a Muslim, entering a woman through her anus,
ruling by other than what Allaah has revealed and similar affairs. These affairs
are not independent kufr. This has been called al
kufr al
asghar (the minor
disbelief) or al
kufr al
’amali (the disb
elief of action [that does not expel from
the religion]). And thus, no one exits from the religion by way of this, unless he
brings something additional to this indicating that he has declared it lawful, or
he has rejected it (made juhood of it) and what i
s similar to this that would
necessitate major kufr.
Al
Qaasimee says in his Tafseer: “When there occurs in a hadeeth: `He who
does so and so has committed Shirk or Kufr’
then what is not meant, is the
Kufr which takes a person out of the Deen, nor the
Greater Shirk which takes a
person outside Islaam and causes the rulings of apostasy to apply
and we seek
Allaah
the Most High’s
refuge. And al
Bukhaaree said: `Chapter: Kufr
towards the spouse, and Kufr less than Kufr.’” (Mahaasinut
Ta.weel 5/1307).
Ibn al
Qayyim (rahimahullaah) aid: “…And this distinction (tafseel) is the saying
of the Sahaabah who were the most knowledgeable of the Ummah about
Allaah’s Book and about Islaam and Kufr and their essentials
and these
matters are not to be taken exce
pt from them. Whereas the later people did not
understand the meaning of this and so split into two groups: A group who
expel people from the Deen due to commission of major sins and judge them
to be eternally in the Hellfire, and a group who declare them
to be Believers
having complete and perfect Eemaan. So one has gone to one extreme and the
other to the other extreme. And Allaah guided Ahlus
Sunnah to the correct
saying and the middle way
which is amongst all its sayings just as Islaam is
amongst all
the religions. So what we have here is Kufr less than Kufr, and
Nifaaq less than Nifaaq, and Shirk less than Shirk, and Fusooq less that
Fusooq, and Dhulm less than Dhulm.” (Kitaabus
Salaah, p.26)
- Differentiating Between Indicating Something to be Kuf
r and Between
Declaring a Person to be Kaafir
Shaikh Ibn Ibraaheem said, “…So we know from this that takfeer cannot be
performed upon anyone except after the proof has been established against
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him…Then there are two other matters: The first, the ruli
ng about this
particular thing that it constitutes disbelief. The second, the ruling upon the
individual himself, this is something else, and then the takfeer of a whole
group, such as the Jahmiyyah, this is (yet) another thing.” ‘Fataawaa’ (12/190
T
here is a difference between making takfir upon the act (known as takfir bil
wasf, or takfir bin
naw) and making takfir of a person (takfir bil
ayn). So an
example of the first is when it is said, “whoever kicks the Quran has
disbelieved” or “whoever mocks
Allaah has disbelieved”. This is a general
statement by which it is being explained or indicated that the act is mukaffir
(i.e. expels from the religion). And the example of the second is when we say
“so and so (i.e. a specific named person) is a kaafir,
because he did such and
such”. In short, we make a difference between declaring the act to be kufr, and
passing a judgement upon the one who falls into it of being a kaafir. It does not
follow that just because someone has fallen into kufr that he is judge
d a kaafir.
Rather, when someone falls into that which is kufr, then the Sharee’ah
guidelines to takfir are adhered to, which are explained below.
- Adhering to the Sharee’ah Guidelines in Arriving at Takfir of a Person
Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen said, “So th
e judgement of takfir of a specific
individual requires two matters: a) Establishing that this characteristic that he
brought is what necessitates kufr (i.e. the kufr that expels from the religion). b)
Applying the conditions of takfir to him…” (Al
Qawl
ul
Mufeed Alaa Kitaab it
Tawheed p. 2/271).
And Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen was also asked, “The conditions for the
judgement of takfir of a Muslim? And the judgement upon the one who did
any action that is mukaffir (i.e. expels from the religion) but only in je
st (not
seriously)?” The Shaykh replied by saying, “For the judgement of the takfir of a
Muslim, there are two conditions: The first, that the evidence that this matter
is something that expels from the religion is established. The second, the
application
of the ruling upon the one who does that, in that he has knowledge
of it and that he intends it (aaliman bidhaalik qaasidan lahu).” Majmoo al
Fataawaa, 2/125
126
When a person brings that which is major disbelief (which is either those
things that are ind
ependent kufr, i.e. what is major kufr, or when he makes
istihlaal of what is minor kufr or any sin that is less than major kufr, or he
makes juhood of it and what is similar to this, then the conditions for his takfir
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must be present and any barriers must
be removed. On the one hand we have
the conditions, which are a) ilm, knowledge and b) qasd, intent or ikhtiyaar,
wilful choice. And opposing this, are the barriers to takfir, which are a) jahl,
ignorance that opposes knowledge b) ikraah, compulsion that
opposes wilful
choice, or intent c) ta’weel, which is a faulty interpretation, again which
opposes wilful choice and deliberate intent d) shubhah, which is a
misconception, or doubt that one is under, e) dhuhool, unmindfulness, that is
when one is not awar
e of what one is doing. So these are barriers, which
prevent the conditions from being fulfilled.
Once the conditions have been fulfilled however, the proof has been
established (iqaamat ul
hujjah), and the person is asked to repent. If not, then
he is an
apostate.
- An Important Note About the Difference Between the Intent (Qasd) for
an Act of Disbelief and the Reason, Motive for the Act
There is a difference between the qasd (intent) for committing an action, and
between the reason and motive for the
action. Not differentiating between
these has led some people astray. To give an example. A person is an actor and
he is asked to revile the Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) as part of a play.
If he wilfully performs this act, intending to perform i
t, then his qasd (intent)
for the action is established. From this point onwards, what his reason or
motive for the act is irrelevant. Thus, he might have done this to earn some
money, or he might have done it for a joke, or he could have done it to please
the kuffar, or because he hated the deen. So all of these are different reasons.
But these are irrelevant. As long as his qasd, intent for the action was there,
then he becomes a disbeliever, after the establishment of the proof.
Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan
said, “And as for kufr, it is refraining from entering
into Islaam or exiting from it and choosing a religion other than the religion of
Allaah, due to arrogance or wilful opposition (takabbur, inaad), or due to
preserving the ways of ones ancestors, or d
ue to seeking some portion of this
worldly life, such wealth, honour, or position…” And the Shaykh also said,
“…And he can also be a kaafir with the kufr of apostasy when he enters into
Islaam and then falls into one of the nullifiers which are from th
e types of kufr,
regardless of whether he did it seriously, or jokingly, or seeking any of the
affairs of the world, such as obtaing, wealth, honour, or position…” (from ad
Da’wah no. 1648, 8
th
Rabee ul
Awwal 1419H).
On the other hand, a person might fa
ll into an act or statement of kufr, out of
extreme joy, or intoxication, or unmindfulness, or compulsion (when under
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threat of harm etc.). In this situation, the issue of whether he did it as a joke, or
for serious, or for the world or whatever, does not
even come into play, since
his qasd, intent, for the action was not present to begin with. Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan said, “And it is necessary that every action (of kufr) be accompanied
with qasd (intent). Hence, the action of a person who forgets, or is as
leep, or
who is young, or is possessed, or is compelled, then it is not to be counted due
to the absence of qasd (intent). And I advise those that they learn before they
speak, because speaking in the likes of these affairs is dangerous, and it requires
kn
owledge.” (Al
Muntaqaa 2/9
10).”
To differentiate between this is important, and unfortunately, some people,
failing to understand this, have accused Ahl us
Sunnah with Irjaa’ when they
specified qasd, intent, for the act or statement as a requirement for
takfir, and
they unfortunately confused it with the reason, motive for the act, and so they
thought that Ahl us
Sunnah say that if a person did it for the world, or for
money or as a joke etc. that he does not disbelieve. So in their not
understanding thi
s affair, they accused others wrongly or mistakenly, by not
differentiating between this and that.
- On Those Who Make the Judgement of Takfir
The judgment for takfir is only for the scholars, the rulers, the qaadees and
their likes, as this is a very da
ngerous matter. Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan said,
“The judgement of apostasy and expelling someone from the religion is only
appropriate for the people of knowledge who are firmly grounded in
knowledge, and they are the judges in the various Sharee’ah law cour
ts, and
those who are able of giving legal verdicts. And this is just like the other
matters, and it is not the right of every person, or from the right of those who
are learning, or those who ascribe themselves to knowledge, but who have
deficiency in und
erstanding. It is not appropriate for them to make judgements
of apostasy (upon others). Since, mischief will arise from this, and sometimes a
Muslim might be judged as an apostate but he is not actually so.”
(MNJ090004). And Shaykh Abdul
Azeez Aal ash
Sha
ykh said, “And I love that
I advise my brother Muslims and students of knowledge specifically that they
are cautious of falling into this matter (i.e. making takfir) since it causes errors,
and causes the minds to go astray, and let them entrust the affair
s to those who
are worthy of them.” (From Majallut
ad
Da’wah, no. 1797, 21st June 2001,
p.40)
- On Those Who Establish the Hadd Punishment
The establishment of the hadd is only for those in authority and not the
common folk. Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan said
, “Meting out the punishments is
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only appropriate for the leader of the Muslims and it is not for every person to
establish the punishment, since confusion, and corruption necessarily follows
from this, and also the cutting off of the society, tribulations
and provocations
occur. Establishing the punishments is appropriate (i.e. befits only) to the
Muslim leader. …So what has been said is that establishing the punishments
(i.e. meting them out) is from the rights of the Sultaan, and when the Muslims
do no
t have a Sultaan amongst them, then they should just suffice with
commanding the good and forbidding the evil, and calling to Allaah, the Might
and Majestic, with wisdom, good admonition and arguing with that which is
best. And it is not permissible for in
dividuals (in the society) to establish the
hudood, since that, as we have mentioned, will bring about chaos, and also
provocations, and tribulations will arise, and this contains greater corruption
than it contains rectification…” (MNJ090004)
And may t
he prayers and peace be upon Allaah’s Messenger, his family and
companions and whoever follows his guidance.
Nine
Rules Concerning Kufr and Takfir
MNJ090006
1
MNJ090006 @ WWW.SALAFIPUBLICATIONS.COM
Version 1.0
Nine Rules Concerning Kufr and Takfir
Compiled by SP Editorial.
All praise is due to Allaah and prayers and peace be upon Allaah’s Messenger,
to proceed:
- The Origin, Basis with People Who Manife
st Islaam is Affirmation of
Islaam for Them
The basic principle with anyone who outwardly manifests Islaam, is that he is
treated as a Muslim. Since whoever’s Islaam is affirmed with yaqeen, it is not
rejected with mere doubts. Shaikh ul
Islaam Ibn Taimiyy
ah said, “Whoever’s
Islaam was affirmed with certainty, then it cannot be removed from him with
doubt. Rather, his Islaam will never cease until after the proof has been
established against him and any doubt [concerning his case] has been removed”
(Majmoo
al
Fataawaaa 12/467). And this opposes what some of the
Ignoramuses from the likes of Jamaa’at ut
Takfeer and many of those affected
by their ideology are upon today, and who say “I do not know whether so and
so is actually a Muslim”, or “I can’t affirm or
deny Islaam for him” and what is
similar to this. And they mean here not an original kaafir, but a person whose
ascription to Islaam is openly known and who outwardly manifests it and
proclaims it. And at the same time they are not able to prove with cert
ainty that
this person has brought something which cannot be anything but major kufr,
and that all the conditions for takfir have been met and all the barriers
removed, and the proof established upon him. Thus upon mere doubts, they
do not affirm or deny a
person’s Islaam. And this is misguidance, and is the
innovation of the people of “tawaqquf” from amongst the Takfeeris and those
affected by their thought
those who withhold and do not confirm Islaam for
those who actually proclaim it and manifest it.
- Kufr Occurs with Belief, Speech, Action and Doubt
Kufr occurs by way of i’tiqaad (the hearts speech and action), qawl (the speech
of the tongue) and fi’l (the actions of the limbs) and shakk (doubt). Shaikh
‘Abdur
Rahman bin Nasir as
Sa’dee said, “Chapt
er: The Ruling upon the
Apostate. “The apostate, murtad, is the one who exits from Islaam and enters
into disbelief on account of an action, statement, a belief (i’tiqad) or doubt
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(shakk).” Manhaj us
Saalikeen (p.112). This has been called al
kufr al
akbar
(the
major disbelief) and by some scholars as al
kufr al
i’tiqaadee (the kufr of belief).
Ibn al
Qayyim said, “And likewise, the branches of kufr (amongst them are)
those which are statements and those which are actions. And just like a person
can fall
into disbelief (that expels from the religion) by wilfully saying a word
constituting disbelief, and which is a branch of disbelief, then likewise, he can
fall into disbelief (that expels from the religion) by doing an act of kufr, from
amongst its branche
s that are actions, such as prostrating to an idol, belittling
the mus
haf. So this is a principle”. (As
Salaat pp.53
Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen said, “And whoever Allaah and His Messenger declares
to be a disbeliever, then he is a disbeliever, regardless o
f whether that is by way
of an action (he committed), or a belief (that he held) or a statement that he
uttered. And whoever Allaah and His Messenger have not declared to be a
disbeliever, and he ascribes himself to Islaam, then he is a believer and it is
not
lawful for us to declare him a disbeliever.” (Cassette: Questions and Answers
from Qatar, 30th April, 2000)
- The Major Kufr That Expels From the Religion
There are those matters that are the kufr that expel from the religion. These are
affairs are i
ndependent kufr, i.e. kufr on their own. These include affairs like
prostrating to an idol, kicking the qu’ran, mocking Allaah, or the Messenger or
the deen, or juhood (rejection, in part or whole), istihlaal (declaring something
unlawful to be lawful), is
tikbaar (arrogance), believing that from the creation
are those who know the unseen, takdheeb (rejection, disbelief, in part or
whole), nifaaq (hypocrisy of belief), kurh (hatred of the religion), practising
magic, sacrificing to other than Allaah, or not
believing in the Jinn or the
Angels and so on. These are just by way of example. These are affairs that
cannot be anything but major kufr. These affairs are kufr on their own, and do
not require istihlaal (declaring them to be lawful) for them to be consid
ered to
be kufr that expels from the religion.
Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan said, “And kufr occurs by takhdheeb (rejection of the
heart)… and kufr also occurs by the speech with the tongue… and it occurs by
mocking Allaah, His Messenger and His Book… and it oc
curs by istikbaar
(arrogance) and imtinaa’ (refraining, holding back) from obedience to Allaah,
as Allaah the Most High said about Iblees, “He refused (to prostrate), and
became arrogant and became from the Disbelievers” (al
Baqarah 2:34), and it
occurs by
turning away from the deen of Allaah, not learning it and nor acting
upon it… and it occurs by action, such as sacrificing to other than Allaah, or
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prostrating to an idol, or working magic and learning it and teaching it…”
(from ad
Da’wah no. 1648, 8
th
Ra
bee ul
Awwal 1419H).
- Actions Labelled as Kufr But Do Not Expel From the Religion
Amongst the actions are those which have been labelled as kufr but are not
from the kufr that expels from the religion, such as reviling the geneology,
wailing over the de
ad, fighting a Muslim, entering a woman through her anus,
ruling by other than what Allaah has revealed and similar affairs. These affairs
are not independent kufr. This has been called al
kufr al
asghar (the minor
disbelief) or al
kufr al
’amali (the disb
elief of action [that does not expel from
the religion]). And thus, no one exits from the religion by way of this, unless he
brings something additional to this indicating that he has declared it lawful, or
he has rejected it (made juhood of it) and what i
s similar to this that would
necessitate major kufr.
Al
Qaasimee says in his Tafseer: “When there occurs in a hadeeth: `He who
does so and so has committed Shirk or Kufr’
then what is not meant, is the
Kufr which takes a person out of the Deen, nor the
Greater Shirk which takes a
person outside Islaam and causes the rulings of apostasy to apply
and we seek
Allaah
the Most High’s
refuge. And al
Bukhaaree said: `Chapter: Kufr
towards the spouse, and Kufr less than Kufr.’” (Mahaasinut
Ta.weel 5/1307).
Ibn al
Qayyim (rahimahullaah) aid: “…And this distinction (tafseel) is the saying
of the Sahaabah who were the most knowledgeable of the Ummah about
Allaah’s Book and about Islaam and Kufr and their essentials
and these
matters are not to be taken exce
pt from them. Whereas the later people did not
understand the meaning of this and so split into two groups: A group who
expel people from the Deen due to commission of major sins and judge them
to be eternally in the Hellfire, and a group who declare them
to be Believers
having complete and perfect Eemaan. So one has gone to one extreme and the
other to the other extreme. And Allaah guided Ahlus
Sunnah to the correct
saying and the middle way
which is amongst all its sayings just as Islaam is
amongst all
the religions. So what we have here is Kufr less than Kufr, and
Nifaaq less than Nifaaq, and Shirk less than Shirk, and Fusooq less that
Fusooq, and Dhulm less than Dhulm.” (Kitaabus
Salaah, p.26)
- Differentiating Between Indicating Something to be Kuf
r and Between
Declaring a Person to be Kaafir
Shaikh Ibn Ibraaheem said, “…So we know from this that takfeer cannot be
performed upon anyone except after the proof has been established against
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him…Then there are two other matters: The first, the ruli
ng about this
particular thing that it constitutes disbelief. The second, the ruling upon the
individual himself, this is something else, and then the takfeer of a whole
group, such as the Jahmiyyah, this is (yet) another thing.” ‘Fataawaa’ (12/190
T
here is a difference between making takfir upon the act (known as takfir bil
wasf, or takfir bin
naw) and making takfir of a person (takfir bil
ayn). So an
example of the first is when it is said, “whoever kicks the Quran has
disbelieved” or “whoever mocks
Allaah has disbelieved”. This is a general
statement by which it is being explained or indicated that the act is mukaffir
(i.e. expels from the religion). And the example of the second is when we say
“so and so (i.e. a specific named person) is a kaafir,
because he did such and
such”. In short, we make a difference between declaring the act to be kufr, and
passing a judgement upon the one who falls into it of being a kaafir. It does not
follow that just because someone has fallen into kufr that he is judge
d a kaafir.
Rather, when someone falls into that which is kufr, then the Sharee’ah
guidelines to takfir are adhered to, which are explained below.
- Adhering to the Sharee’ah Guidelines in Arriving at Takfir of a Person
Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen said, “So th
e judgement of takfir of a specific
individual requires two matters: a) Establishing that this characteristic that he
brought is what necessitates kufr (i.e. the kufr that expels from the religion). b)
Applying the conditions of takfir to him…” (Al
Qawl
ul
Mufeed Alaa Kitaab it
Tawheed p. 2/271).
And Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen was also asked, “The conditions for the
judgement of takfir of a Muslim? And the judgement upon the one who did
any action that is mukaffir (i.e. expels from the religion) but only in je
st (not
seriously)?” The Shaykh replied by saying, “For the judgement of the takfir of a
Muslim, there are two conditions: The first, that the evidence that this matter
is something that expels from the religion is established. The second, the
application
of the ruling upon the one who does that, in that he has knowledge
of it and that he intends it (aaliman bidhaalik qaasidan lahu).” Majmoo al
Fataawaa, 2/125
126
When a person brings that which is major disbelief (which is either those
things that are ind
ependent kufr, i.e. what is major kufr, or when he makes
istihlaal of what is minor kufr or any sin that is less than major kufr, or he
makes juhood of it and what is similar to this, then the conditions for his takfir
Nine
Rules Concerning Kufr and Takfir
MNJ090006
5
must be present and any barriers must
be removed. On the one hand we have
the conditions, which are a) ilm, knowledge and b) qasd, intent or ikhtiyaar,
wilful choice. And opposing this, are the barriers to takfir, which are a) jahl,
ignorance that opposes knowledge b) ikraah, compulsion that
opposes wilful
choice, or intent c) ta’weel, which is a faulty interpretation, again which
opposes wilful choice and deliberate intent d) shubhah, which is a
misconception, or doubt that one is under, e) dhuhool, unmindfulness, that is
when one is not awar
e of what one is doing. So these are barriers, which
prevent the conditions from being fulfilled.
Once the conditions have been fulfilled however, the proof has been
established (iqaamat ul
hujjah), and the person is asked to repent. If not, then
he is an
apostate.
- An Important Note About the Difference Between the Intent (Qasd) for
an Act of Disbelief and the Reason, Motive for the Act
There is a difference between the qasd (intent) for committing an action, and
between the reason and motive for the
action. Not differentiating between
these has led some people astray. To give an example. A person is an actor and
he is asked to revile the Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) as part of a play.
If he wilfully performs this act, intending to perform i
t, then his qasd (intent)
for the action is established. From this point onwards, what his reason or
motive for the act is irrelevant. Thus, he might have done this to earn some
money, or he might have done it for a joke, or he could have done it to please
the kuffar, or because he hated the deen. So all of these are different reasons.
But these are irrelevant. As long as his qasd, intent for the action was there,
then he becomes a disbeliever, after the establishment of the proof.
Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan
said, “And as for kufr, it is refraining from entering
into Islaam or exiting from it and choosing a religion other than the religion of
Allaah, due to arrogance or wilful opposition (takabbur, inaad), or due to
preserving the ways of ones ancestors, or d
ue to seeking some portion of this
worldly life, such wealth, honour, or position…” And the Shaykh also said,
“…And he can also be a kaafir with the kufr of apostasy when he enters into
Islaam and then falls into one of the nullifiers which are from th
e types of kufr,
regardless of whether he did it seriously, or jokingly, or seeking any of the
affairs of the world, such as obtaing, wealth, honour, or position…” (from ad
Da’wah no. 1648, 8
th
Rabee ul
Awwal 1419H).
On the other hand, a person might fa
ll into an act or statement of kufr, out of
extreme joy, or intoxication, or unmindfulness, or compulsion (when under
Nine
Rules Concerning Kufr and Takfir
MNJ090006
6
threat of harm etc.). In this situation, the issue of whether he did it as a joke, or
for serious, or for the world or whatever, does not
even come into play, since
his qasd, intent, for the action was not present to begin with. Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan said, “And it is necessary that every action (of kufr) be accompanied
with qasd (intent). Hence, the action of a person who forgets, or is as
leep, or
who is young, or is possessed, or is compelled, then it is not to be counted due
to the absence of qasd (intent). And I advise those that they learn before they
speak, because speaking in the likes of these affairs is dangerous, and it requires
kn
owledge.” (Al
Muntaqaa 2/9
10).”
To differentiate between this is important, and unfortunately, some people,
failing to understand this, have accused Ahl us
Sunnah with Irjaa’ when they
specified qasd, intent, for the act or statement as a requirement for
takfir, and
they unfortunately confused it with the reason, motive for the act, and so they
thought that Ahl us
Sunnah say that if a person did it for the world, or for
money or as a joke etc. that he does not disbelieve. So in their not
understanding thi
s affair, they accused others wrongly or mistakenly, by not
differentiating between this and that.
- On Those Who Make the Judgement of Takfir
The judgment for takfir is only for the scholars, the rulers, the qaadees and
their likes, as this is a very da
ngerous matter. Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan said,
“The judgement of apostasy and expelling someone from the religion is only
appropriate for the people of knowledge who are firmly grounded in
knowledge, and they are the judges in the various Sharee’ah law cour
ts, and
those who are able of giving legal verdicts. And this is just like the other
matters, and it is not the right of every person, or from the right of those who
are learning, or those who ascribe themselves to knowledge, but who have
deficiency in und
erstanding. It is not appropriate for them to make judgements
of apostasy (upon others). Since, mischief will arise from this, and sometimes a
Muslim might be judged as an apostate but he is not actually so.”
(MNJ090004). And Shaykh Abdul
Azeez Aal ash
Sha
ykh said, “And I love that
I advise my brother Muslims and students of knowledge specifically that they
are cautious of falling into this matter (i.e. making takfir) since it causes errors,
and causes the minds to go astray, and let them entrust the affair
s to those who
are worthy of them.” (From Majallut
ad
Da’wah, no. 1797, 21st June 2001,
p.40)
- On Those Who Establish the Hadd Punishment
The establishment of the hadd is only for those in authority and not the
common folk. Shaykh Salih al
Fawzaan said
, “Meting out the punishments is
Nine
Rules Concerning Kufr and Takfir
MNJ090006
7
only appropriate for the leader of the Muslims and it is not for every person to
establish the punishment, since confusion, and corruption necessarily follows
from this, and also the cutting off of the society, tribulations
and provocations
occur. Establishing the punishments is appropriate (i.e. befits only) to the
Muslim leader. …So what has been said is that establishing the punishments
(i.e. meting them out) is from the rights of the Sultaan, and when the Muslims
do no
t have a Sultaan amongst them, then they should just suffice with
commanding the good and forbidding the evil, and calling to Allaah, the Might
and Majestic, with wisdom, good admonition and arguing with that which is
best. And it is not permissible for in
dividuals (in the society) to establish the
hudood, since that, as we have mentioned, will bring about chaos, and also
provocations, and tribulations will arise, and this contains greater corruption
than it contains rectification…” (MNJ090004)
And may t
he prayers and peace be upon Allaah’s Messenger, his family and
companions and whoever follows his guidance.
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