Is It Permissible to Declare a Specific Person a Disbeliever if They Do an Excommunicable Act?

August 23, 2024 Salafi Knowledge Apostasy, Conditions of Takfir, Mawani', Murtad, Shurut Takfir, Takfir, Takfir Mu'ayyan, Takfir of a specific person, Takfir of the Individual, Uthaymeen, Uthaymin

Sh. Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said, “If the pre-requisites of excommunication are fulfilled with respect to him, it is permissible to declare disbelief on him specifically, and if we did not do that, the description of apostasy would never be applied to anyone. Thus, he is treated as an apostate in this world with respect to the rulings of this worldly life. As for the rulings of the Hereafter, they are mentioned in a general sense and not specifically, this is why Ahl al-Sunnah say,

‘We do not testify for anyone [as being in] Paradise nor the Fire except for the one whom the Prophet ﷺ testified.’

Likewise, we say, whoever fasts Ramaḍān out of faith and expectation, his coming and previous sins are forgiven, however we do not declare this for a specific person. This is because the ruling connected to the descriptions are not applied to individuals except when the pre-requisites of its application are fulfilled and its preventative factors are removed.”

Source: Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Rasāʾil Faḍīlat al-Shaykh Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn, 2:125, no. 219.

Is It Permissible to Declare a Person Specifically as Being a Disbeliever?

August 23, 2024 Salafi Knowledge Conditions of Takfir, Excommunication, Fatawa, Kafir, Shurut Takfir, Takfir, Takfir Mu'ayyan, Takfir of a specific person, Takfir of the Individual, Uthaymin

Sh. Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said, “Yes, it is permissible for us to declare a specific person to be a disbeliever if the causes of disbelief are confirmed. Hence, if we see a man rejecting messenger-ship (al-risālah), or a man who permits seeking judgement from a false deity (ṭāghūt), or a man who permits ruling by other than what Allāh revealed, and he says it is better than the ruling of Allāh after the proof has been established against him, then we judge him to be a disbeliever. Thus, if we find the causes of disbelief, and the pre-requisites are confirmed, and the preventative factors are removed, then we excommunicate the person specifically, and we make it binding on him to return to Islām, or he is executed.”

Source: Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Rasāʾil Faḍīlat al-Shaykh Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn, 2: 124-125, no. 218.

What Are the Conditions of Takfir? And What is the Ruling on One Who Does an Excommunicable Act Jokingly?

August 23, 2024 Salafi Knowledge Conditions of Takfir, Establishing the proof, Excommunication, Excuse of Ignorance, Iqamatul hujjah, Istihzaa, Joking, Joking about Islam, Laziness in Learning, Mocking Islam, Shurut Takfir, Takfeer, Takfir

Sh. Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said, “Excommunication of a Muslim as a ruling has two prerequisites:

[1] Establishing the proof of that thing being excommunicable.

[2] Application of the ruling on one who does that, such that he is knowledgeable of it and intended it. If he was ignorant, he is not excommunicated. This is based on His, Exalted be He’s statement:

وَمَن يُشَاقِقِ ٱلرَّسُولَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِۦ مَا تَوَلَّىٰ وَنُصْلِهِۦ جَهَنَّمَ ۖ وَسَآءَتْ مَصِيرًا ۝١

{And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers, We shall leave him on his chosen path and burn him in Hell – what an evil destination} [al-Nisāʾ (4): 115].

And His statement:

وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيُضِلَّ قَوْمًۢا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَىٰهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يُبَيِّنَ لَهُم مَّا يَتَّقُونَ

{And Allāh would not let a people stray after He has guided them until He makes clear to them what they should avoid. Indeed, Allāh is Knowing of all things} [al-Tawbah (9): 115].

And His statement:

وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّىٰ نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًۭا

{And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger} [al-Isrāʾ (17): 15].

However, if he is negligent by abandoning learning and seeking clarification then he is not excused. For example: it reaches him that this action of his is disbelief, but then he does not verify it, nor research it, in that case he is not excused.

If he did not intend to do the excommunicable act, then he is not excommunicated for that. For example: if he is forced to do [an act of] disbelief while his heart is sure with faith, or his mind was overcome and he did not know what he was saying due to extreme joy or its like, like the owner of the camel which wandered off, so he lay down under a tree awaiting death, then he finds it standing before him so he takes hold of its nose-string and says ‘O Allāh, You are my slave, and I am Your Lord’ – he makes a mistake due to extreme joy.

However, whoever does an excommunicable act jokingly, he disbelieves because he intended that as the scholars have determined.”

Source: Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Rasāʾil Faḍīlat al-Shaykh Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn, 2: 125 – 126, no. 220.