The Misreading’s of the Wayward Series
The rising trend of declaring
Muslims disbelievers
YOU
KAFIR!
issue
2
f
In the name of God, the Most Merciful, Most compassionate
All praise belongs to God, Lord of all the worlds, and greetings and
salutations be upon the most honorable of the Prophets and the Messengers,
our liege lord and Prophet, Muhammad, the truthful one, and all upon his
household and companions.
A Sudden Phenomenon
Deviance of thought
In recent times, the phenomenon of declaring other Muslims disbelievers
(Kafir) has spread among the Muslim community. Many people have
adopted a very lax approach concerning the declaration of disbelief, such
that hearing to the expression: “you disbeliever” has become the norm.
Such laxity has caused the spread of tribulation, the audacity to shed blood,
the violation of human dignity, disobedience towards parents and severing
of family ties. Many such people have even taken to fighting, on the
misconceived grounds that it is their obligation to correct ‘invalid’ Islamic
doctrine. Many Muslims have fallen prey to this bizarre notion, due to
widespread religious illiteracy, as well as tactful scheming by proponents
of such ideas.
Is it permissible for
a Muslim to say to
another Muslim “you
disbeliever”?
No,this is categorically not permitted.
The Prophet, , said:
●
●
‘Any person who says to his brother: “you
disbeliever”, then it refers to one of them. It is
either true or it returns back to the one who
said it’.
( al-Bukhārī and Muslim)
●
●
‘He who labels another a disbeliever or says: “you enemy
of God”, and it is not the case, then the claim returns upon
him’.
(al-Bukhārī and Muslim)
●
●
‘No one labels another a disbeliever except that it refers
to one of them; he (the labeled person) is either a disbeliever,
or (the labeler) has disbelieved due to his accusation ’.
(Ibn
Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ in the book of faith)
1
But, are there not among the Muslims those who are
deemed disbelievers due to their actions?
However, Allah says:
﴾And whosoever does not judge according
to what God has revealed, then they are the disbelievers
﴿.
Doesn’t this mean that every leader who does not implement the
Shari’ah (Sacred Law), and likewise all those are content with such
governance, are Kafir?
1 The words of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, were translated in meaning and not literally due to
the difficulty of understanding the literal meaning of his statement.
Everyone who testifies the testimony of faith, there is no deity save for
God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God, is pleased by good deeds
and dislikes bad deeds
is considered a believer
.
●
●
ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb said: “the Messenger of Allah, may peace
and blessings be upon him and his household, said: ‘One whose
good deeds please him, and bad deeds upset him, is a believer’.
I wish I would have known regarding the case in which someone
says to his brother “You disbeliever” - and this brother is someone
whose good deeds please him, and bad deeds upset him - why the
label of disbelief against him takes precedence over testifying to his
belief (iman).”
1
●
●
Abu Sufyān said: “I asked Jābir: did you ever used to call any
one from the people of the qibla a disbeliever? He replied: ‘
No.
’ ‘Or
a polytheist?’ I asked, to which he said: ‘
I seek refuge in God
, and
became alarmed.’”
Absolutely not.
This interpretation is entirely incorrect. The Prophet’s
Companions, their Successors and the vast majority of scholars
interpreted the meaning of disbelief [in the verse] here as a disbelief
lesser than absolute disbelief, meaning, that it is a grave sin, but
does
not remove its perpetrator from the fold of Islam.
An Erroneous Notion
2
Why are there many sheikhs and preachers then, who
repeatedly stress that ‘those who do not govern according to
what God has revealed are disbelievers’?
Who has said
that it means ‘a
disbelief lesser
than absolute
disbelief’?
Are there any Muslims
today who commit major
polytheism (al-Shirk al-
Akbar), removing them
from the fold of Islam?
This has been stated by Ibn ʿAbbās, Hudhayfah,
Ṭāwūs, Mujāhid, Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Ibn ʿAbd al-
Barr, and most of the Quranic commentators like
Ibn Jarīr, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, al-Baghawī, al-
Khāzin, al-Qurṭubī and others.
2
No.
There are no Muslims who
commit major polytheism, and thus
fall into disbelief.
2 This is mentioned in detail in part one of this series.
3 Al-MufḥimlimāʾUshkila min Talkhīs Muslim, By Abū al-Abbās Ahmad al-Qurtubi, 2/116.
The statement of the Prophet ﷺ as narrated by ‘Uqba b. ‘Amir: Indeed,
by God,
I do not fear for you that you will commit polytheism after me
,
however, I fear that you will compete with each other over worldly gain..’
(al-Bukhārī and Muslim)
Know that whoever spreads such an idea has adopted the creed of the
Khawārij (Seceders), and not of orthodox mainstream Ahl al-Sunnah.
Imam al-Qurṭubī states in his book al-Mufhim: The literal meaning of Allah’s,
Most Exalted, saying: ﴾
And whosoever does not judge according to what
God has revealed, then they are the disbelievers
﴿, is cited as evidence by
those who charge others with unbelief for the committing sins, they being
the Khawārij, yet they have no proof for their claim therein.
Al-Imāmal-Samʿānī said in his explanation of the Quran: ‘…and know that
the
khawārij
infer from this verse that whoever does not judge according to
what God has revealed is a disbeliever, whilst the
Ahl al-Sunnah
assert that
one does not fall into disbelief by abandoning the divine law.’
The Delusions of Some Preachers
What is the evidence for this?
3
Yes, the Prophet said that and the Hadith is authentic. However, the
Hadith does not end there, and this fact is often concealed by those who
cite it as evidence for accusing Muslims of polytheism. They don’t mention
this and it is just one example of how their deception and misinformation.
The mainstream scholarly community affirmed the general
understanding of the hadith, namely, that the Muslim community will
compete for worldly gain thus leading to its own decline. They negated
any fear that the community, in general, will fall into major polytheism
just as the Prophet, peace be upon him, informed.
The great scholar Ibn Abd al Barr confirms this in his book, al-Tamhid,
‘…and he who fears for the Muhammadan Community that which
their own Prophet did not fear, has undoubtedly come forth with a
clear
deviation
!’
4
The full Hadith is as follows:
Āʾishah said that she heard the Messenger of God ﷺ say: “‘A night and
day will not pass before al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā are worshipped.’ So I asked:
‘O Messenger of God, I assumed that when God revealed:
﴾It is He who
has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that it
may prevail over all [false] religion, however hateful this may be to the
polytheists.
﴿
5
, the matter was complete?’ He replied: ‘There will surely be
of this what Allah has decreed, then He will send a pleasant wind, and
everyone who has a mustard grain seed’s weight of belief in their heart
will die,
and there will remain only those who have no good within them,
and they will thus return to the religion of their forefathers.
’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
4 Al-Tamhīd li māfī al-Muwaṭṭaʾmin al-Maʿānīwa al-Asānīd. The chapter of the letter ‘Yāʾ’, p. 264.
5 (9:33)
Is this really possible? What does the Hadith go on to state?
How did the scholars understand this Hadith?
But did the Prophet not say in a hadith reported by al-Bukhārī
and Muslim: ‘a night and day will not pass before al-Lāt and al-
′Uzzā are worshipped?’
4
Aren’t grave worshippers, those who circumambulate around
graves (with the intention of worship, just as is performed
around the Ka
ʿbah) and revere them, polytheists?
The act of circumambulation around graves is Forbidden (Haram),
but not polytheism (Shirk). For it to constitute polytheism, the person
who is circumambulating the grave would have to intend worship
of the person in the grave. This, however, is not the case. People
who circumambulate graves intend drawing near to Allah through
their action. This is forbidden (Haram) in the Sharia, since Allah has
permitted us to circumambulate the Kaʿbah alone.
Al-Lat and al-Uzza are both idols that used to be worshipped during
the pre-Islamic period of ignorance (jahilliyah). The Prophet’s words
here make it clear that the worship of these idols will not return until
the souls of all the believers are taken at the end of time when the
major signs of the final hour appear. This has not happened in our
time since iman (faith) has not ceased to exist.
Not at all
; the difference between the two is huge. The polytheists clearly
admit that they worship the idols in order to draw near to God, however,
ignorant Muslims, who circumambulate graves,
do not
believe (nor do
they intend) that they are
worshipping
the dwellers of the graves.
Also, circumambulation around something does not necessitate the
worship of that thing. We circumambulate around the Kaʿbah, yet we
are not worshipping it. Circumambulation as a general action is only
considered worship of Allah (ʿibada) when it is performed around the
Kaʿbah and nothing else. In the same way, those who circumambulate
around graves are not worshipping the graves, but they are committing
Bidʿ a (innovation), since the act of circumambulation has only ever been
specified for the Kaʿbah.
6 (39:3)
Erroneous Belief Concerning the Muslims
Yes, but did the polytheists not make the same claim in the Quran, that
they worship idols to draw near to Allah?
﴾We worship them for no
other reason than that they bring us nearer to God.
﴿
6
Similarly, those
who circumambulate around graves desire to draw close to Allah?
5
Those who do this and have made it a norm are upon misguidance and
plain error. The Prophet ﷺ clearly warned us about such a thing 1400 years
ago. Hudhayfa said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘
Verily what I fear for you
is a man who
reads the Qurʾān until its splendor is seen on his face. He is a zealous
supporter of Islam, but then he changes the meaning of the Quran to
whatever God willed. Thus he becomes detached from it, casting it aside. He
then approaches his neighbor with a sword and
accuses him of polytheism
(shirk).
’” Ḥudhayfah continued: “I asked: O Prophet of Allah, which of
them is more fitting of (the accusation of) polytheism? The accused or the
accuser?” The Prophet replied: “Rather the accuser.”
8
Yet there are many sheikhs, preachers and ‘practicing’ Muslims who
label other Muslims Kafir and accuse them of shirk (polytheism). How
can this be the case?
Is there any other evidence that worshipping anything or anyone
other than Allah will never return amongst Muslims?
Yes, there are many proofs. From amongst them are the following two
Hadith of the Prophet :
●
●
On the authority of Jābir b. ʿAbd Allah: “I heard the Prophet
say: ‘The devil has despaired that worshippers (musallūn) will worship
him within the Arab peninsula. However, he will sow discord amongst
them.’
Reported by Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ.
●
●
On the authority of Ibn Masʿūd: “The Messenger of God ﷺ said:
‘Iblīs has despaired that idols will be worshipped in the lands of the
Arabs. However, he will be content with less than this from you, namely,
despicable deeds and these will be the cause of your destruction.’”
7
7 Reported by al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak, and authenticated and agreed with by al-Dhahabī.
8 Reported by Ibn Ḥibban (81), al-Bukhārī in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (2907), and al-Bazzār (2793).
6
If we are to accept that the all the bloodshed and mayhem perpetrated
by fanatical movements within many Muslim communities stems from
accusing other Muslims of shirk (polytheism), does that mean then that
scholars should remain quiet about violations of Sharia and the rise of
reprehensible innovations prevalent in some Muslim societies?
So the killings, murders and bloodshed that we see today
of those Muslims who are being accused of disbelief and
polytheism is all invalid?
The role of the scholars is to preserve the Sharia and propagate correct
practice. If innovations and violations prevail in a community then the
scholars have the obligation of correcting these. However, they must be
mindful of the following:
Absolutely. Whoever kills another Muslim for these reasons has fallen
into great danger and committed a major sin. His sin is like the sin of
one who kills all of mankind. Alla
said: ﴾
On account of [his deed], We
decreed to the Children of Israel that if anyone kills a person– unless in
retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land– it is as if he
kills all mankind, while if any saves a life it is as if he saves the lives of
all mankind. Our messengers came to them with clear signs, but many of
them continued to commit excesses in the land.
﴿
The Messenger of Allah said: ‘To insult a Muslim is a sin and to fight
him is
disbelief
.’
(al-Bukhārī and Muslim)
May Allah protect us from
the grave sin of charging other Muslims with
Kufr (disbelief)
and accusing them of Shirk (polytheism); and may He
relieve the Umma of all its tribulations, the manifest and the hidden.
The correct method of dealing with the
faults of fellow Muslims
7
●
●
The process of correcting wrongs must be conducted
with
gentleness, kindness and love
. This was the example of our Prophet,
peace be and blessings be upon him.
●
●
The Muslim community in general is
protected from falling into
disbelief or polytheism
. Any Hadith that indicate the contrary have a
particular context and a very specific purport, and do not apply to our
situation today.
●
●
One who seeks to correct the wrongs and shortcomings of others
must
remove any trace of bad opinion
, or ill feeling towards the person
they are addressing, and his/her actions and beliefs. They must also be
aware that committing a wrong act
does not authorize them to charge
a person with kufr (disbelief) or shirk (polytheism)
. If not, then any
advice and attempt to correct wrongs will be of no avail and will never
produce the intended results.
●
●
A scholar is obliged to respect the standards laid out by Islamic
scholarship. One of these is to appreciate and respect specialisation in
the domain of the Islamic sciences. A specialist in Hadith is not allowed
to issue legal verdicts (Fatwa) if he is not a mufti; likewise the mufti is
not allowed to undertake more advanced forms of Ijitihad (independent
legal reasoning) if he is not qualified to do so.
●
●
Though religious preachers and speakers who have no
qualifications or licences ( ijaza) in Islamic law ( fiqh) are required to
guide and encourage the masses, but they are not allowed to issue legal
opinions on what is right or wrong. Not everyone who speaks on Islam
is a qualified scholar.
●
●
Declaring someone a disbeliever requires a legal judgment from a
court, due to the gravity of the matter. Historically, it has never been
allowed for ordinary Muslims to take it upon themselves to dispense
such a duty. Any Muslim who cares about their religion should be
careful of committing such a serious sin.
8
Introducing the misrepresentation and
distortion series
The Messenger of God, May the peace and blessings of God be
upon him and his household, said:
‘This knowledge will be transmitted from every generation by
its upright; they negate from it the distortions of the extreme, the
false claims of the falsifiers, and interpretations of the ignorant.’
Some of those that possess misapprehensions have understood
the discourse of God in a manner which does not agree with the
academic methodology inherited from the pious predecessors
(al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ), and does not harmonize with the objectives
and greater values of the divine revelation…
They have taken some verses of the noble Qurʾān which
were revealed in regard to the non-Muslims, and made them
applicable to the Muslims…
They have adopted verses which came as exceptions and applied
to them general rulings…
They have distorted the meanings of the words of God in a
manner that has led to the establishment or formation of grave
erroneous concepts within the minds of the general Muslim
populace, a result of which are mannerisms and actions that
have no correlation with the true intrinsic religion of Islam…
We shall become acquainted through the parts of this continuous
series about the distortions of the meanings of the verses of
the Noble Qurʾān and the Prophetic traditions (hadith) which
the adherents of these distorted ideas have fallen within, their
misguidance concerning legal rulings, and their embracing of
wrong conceptions. All of which distanced them from God’s
intended meanings, as well as His Prophet’s and the righteous
predecessors (salaf al-ṣālih) that followed.
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