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Faizah · **Re: A Critical Analysis of Shirk -** 06-21-2007

What is the Ruling on the Person Who Commits Shirk

Here we have to differentiate between someone who claims ‘Laa Ilaaha illallaah Muhammad ar-Rasulullah’ (i.e. someone who claims he is a Muslim), and someone who does not claim to be a Muslim. Someone who claims to be a Jew, or a Christian or an Atheist, you don’t need to dwell on this, he is a Kaafir and he admits it. So there is no problem then. When a person says ‘I am a Christian’, the person in question has admitted to the takfeer, and has admitted to being outside the fold of Islam.

The problem arises when someone says, ‘I am a Muslim, Laa ilaaha illallaah Muhammad ar-Rasulullah’, and then you find him committing acts of Shirk or Kufr, e.g. making du’a to the graves, making sajdah to the graves, calling out to other than Allah – like saying, “Ya ‘Ali!” or “Ya Muhammad!”; calling out to other than Allah is major Shirk. To find out the ruling on this person can be a very tricky and problematic issue. The reason being that pronouncing takfeer on a Muslim is a very serious issue. If you say that ‘So-and-so is a Kaafir’, you are saying that they will remain in the fire of Hell forever. You are saying that when he dies his relatives will not be able to inherit from him. You are saying that when he dies, he will not be given a ghusl, and the Muslims will not pray for him. You are saying that when he dies he will not be buried in a Muslim graveyard. And even when he is alive, he does not receive the rights of the Muslims, such as the salutations of peace when you meet him, visiting when sick etc. So you are breaking of the rights of Islam when you say ‘So-and-so is a Kaafir’. It’s a very immense thing, however this all too common in our times. We find people saying, ‘Fulaan is a Kaafir’, ‘this group are Kuffar’, etc. And the fundamental rule here is that pronouncing takfeer is not something the average layman should do. He is not responsible for this, so leave it to the ‘Ullemaa. Stay away from it, as the dangers of takfeer are too much. The Prophet SalAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said;

‘If a man says to his brother, “O Kaafir!” Then surely one of them is such (i.e., a Kaafir).’
[Saheeh Bukhari, Vol. 8, Book 73, No. 125]

In other words, if you call someone a Kaafir who is not a Kaafir, that curse will come back to you. Therefore, it is a major sin to call another Muslim a Kaafir. So it is not something trivial or meaningless that we should play around with. So therefore it is clear, that it is imperative that we differentiate between someone who admits that they are not Muslim, e.g. John, or Matthew who profess they are Christians, and someone who claims to be Muslim, e.g. Zayd, Ahmad or Mustafa and says ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah’, yet commits major Shirk. And many of us cannot distinguish between bid’ah, kufr and Shirk in its practical form. Something that is bid’ah is not necessarily Shirk or kufr, and neither is something that is kufr necessarily Shirk, though none of these things are trivial matters. Therefore, when we cannot even distinguish between these things, it is better and safer to remain quiet, and say ‘Laa adree, - I don’t know’. The same applies when we go to countries where Shirk is rampant. We must not pronounce takfeer upon the people who are involved in this, as there is an ikhtilaaf amongst the major ‘Ullemaa whether ignorance is an excuse for committing major Shirk. And most of the Muslims who commit major Shirk do not know that they are committing major Shirk. They are simply blindly following their grand ‘Ullemaa and muftis. So whichever is the correct opinion, it is not the job of the layman to pronounce takfeer on those who claim to be Muslims. Leave it, just call them to Tawheed. Don’t worry about the labels on their bodies, as that is between them and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. Allah will judge them; it is simply our responsibility to call those around us to Tawheed.

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Faizah Min Ahlil Hadeeth Status: Offline Posts: 7,291 Reputation: 28719 Rep Power: 62 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: ~ Daar as-Sa'aadah ~ Gender: Way of Life: Muslim	Re: A Critical Analysis of Shirk - 06-21-2007 What is the Ruling on the Person Who Commits Shirk Here we have to differentiate between someone who claims ‘Laa Ilaaha illallaah Muhammad ar-Rasulullah’ (i.e. someone who claims he is a Muslim), and someone who does not claim to be a Muslim. Someone who claims to be a Jew, or a Christian or an Atheist, you don’t need to dwell on this, he is a Kaafir and he admits it. So there is no problem then. When a person says ‘I am a Christian’, the person in question has admitted to the takfeer, and has admitted to being outside the fold of Islam. The problem arises when someone says, ‘I am a Muslim, Laa ilaaha illallaah Muhammad ar-Rasulullah’, and then you find him committing acts of Shirk or Kufr, e.g. making du’a to the graves, making sajdah to the graves, calling out to other than Allah – like saying, “Ya ‘Ali!” or “Ya Muhammad!”; calling out to other than Allah is major Shirk. To find out the ruling on this person can be a very tricky and problematic issue. The reason being that pronouncing takfeer on a Muslim is a very serious issue. If you say that ‘So-and-so is a Kaafir’, you are saying that they will remain in the fire of Hell forever. You are saying that when he dies his relatives will not be able to inherit from him. You are saying that when he dies, he will not be given a ghusl, and the Muslims will not pray for him. You are saying that when he dies he will not be buried in a Muslim graveyard. And even when he is alive, he does not receive the rights of the Muslims, such as the salutations of peace when you meet him, visiting when sick etc. So you are breaking of the rights of Islam when you say ‘So-and-so is a Kaafir’. It’s a very immense thing, however this all too common in our times. We find people saying, ‘Fulaan is a Kaafir’, ‘this group are Kuffar’, etc. And the fundamental rule here is that pronouncing takfeer is not something the average layman should do. He is not responsible for this, so leave it to the ‘Ullemaa. Stay away from it, as the dangers of takfeer are too much. The Prophet SalAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said; ‘If a man says to his brother, “O Kaafir!” Then surely one of them is such (i.e., a Kaafir).’ [Saheeh Bukhari, Vol. 8, Book 73, No. 125] In other words, if you call someone a Kaafir who is not a Kaafir, that curse will come back to you. Therefore, it is a major sin to call another Muslim a Kaafir. So it is not something trivial or meaningless that we should play around with. So therefore it is clear, that it is imperative that we differentiate between someone who admits that they are not Muslim, e.g. John, or Matthew who profess they are Christians, and someone who claims to be Muslim, e.g. Zayd, Ahmad or Mustafa and says ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah’, yet commits major Shirk. And many of us cannot distinguish between bid’ah, kufr and Shirk in its practical form. Something that is bid’ah is not necessarily Shirk or kufr, and neither is something that is kufr necessarily Shirk, though none of these things are trivial matters. Therefore, when we cannot even distinguish between these things, it is better and safer to remain quiet, and say ‘Laa adree, - I don’t know’. The same applies when we go to countries where Shirk is rampant. We must not pronounce takfeer upon the people who are involved in this, as there is an ikhtilaaf amongst the major ‘Ullemaa whether ignorance is an excuse for committing major Shirk. And most of the Muslims who commit major Shirk do not know that they are committing major Shirk. They are simply blindly following their grand ‘Ullemaa and muftis. So whichever is the correct opinion, it is not the job of the layman to pronounce takfeer on those who claim to be Muslims. Leave it, just call them to Tawheed. Don’t worry about the labels on their bodies, as that is between them and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. Allah will judge them; it is simply our responsibility to call those around us to Tawheed.