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**Al Habeshi** · **Re: Is the Shahadah enough to be a Muslim? -** 02-21-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by WnbSlveOfAllah

Wa Rahmatullahi Ra Barakatuhu,

Its an Issue which is confusing me and my lack of knowledge doesn't help. We say that to be a Muslim one only needs to say "Ah-haduAllah Illahah Illallah, Wa ash-hadu Anna Mohammadan, Abduhu wa Rassuluhu" (We bear witness know one worthy of worship besides Allah(SAW) and Mohammad(SAW) is the last massenger.)

But time and time again I have heard brothers and sisters refer to other brothers and sisters as kaffirs. I refrain from saying someones a Kaffir, but admit many show acts of Kufr, and Know that when some one does a Kufr action then they are a kaffir for the duration of that action(May Allah(SWT) Guide us all). But even then we do not know the intentions of a person and the knowledge they have and Allah(SWT) knows best.

But its also true when you say the Shahadah we entail with it many other Beliefs (Belief in the the Authority of Qur'an as Allah(SWT) infallible words, The Sunnah, The last Massenger(SAW), previous prophets etc

Therefore is it ok to call someone a kaffir whos actions or beliefs directly contradict/oppose a verse of the Qur'an? What if it contradicts a Hadith (Sunnah)?

First, we need to know what the Shahada means, most people say it means 'There is no God but Allah...' but this is the translation not the MEANING.

The first part;

There is noone who has the right to be worshiped except Allah, and whatsoever is worshiped besides Allah then it is done so with falsehood.

Proof is 22:62 and 47:19

The second is;

There is noone rightfully worthy of being followed except the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and if anyone other than the messenger of Allah is followed in that which he has no evidence for, then verily this following is done so with falsehood.

Proof is 7:3, 4:65 and 33:36.

So someone should not contradict those if they are muslim.

Coming to whether you can call someone a kafir if they contradict the Qu'ran and Sunnah.

First we should know that there is a Minimum level of obligatory knowledge for everyone, this may vary from person to person, a person who is 7 or over it is obligatory for him to know the rulings on Prayer, since he has to pray and so on.

You might come to a person and say to him, 'You have to believe in the Torah' and he might say 'No thats for the Jews' now, would that be kufr? That depends on the person's knowledge, you see, if you show him the ayah, that he has to believe in the Messengers and Books and then you show him that Moses was a messenger and so forth, and someone explains this to him, then HE HAS TO BELIEVE IT, if he does not then that is kufr, but if he did not know, maybe he had not read that part of the Qu'ran, and he denies it BECAUSE he has not seen proof, then that is not kufr IN SOME MATTERS, there are matters which IGNORANCE IS NOT AN ESCUSE.

So the proof must be established and shown to the person first.

Also if you go past a place and you see someone making sujud to another person or at a grave, does this mean the person has commited kufr, well again maybe the person did not know the place was a grave yard, so I mean we should be careful on these matters.

And Allah knows best.