The Preventions of Takfeer

The Preventions of Making Takfeer

Be aware my dear Muslim Brothers and sisters, at-takfeer (declaring a person to be non-Muslim) is one of the most dangerous Ahkaam, but it is also one of the greatest because of its implications and effects. It makes the blood and wealth of a Muslim permissible, his wife no longer halaal for him, dismantles any form of inheritance from his blood relations and not to mention being belittled, boycotted and humiliated by Muslims due to his apostasy. This is why the messenger Muhammad (saw) conveyed divine rules warning us from declaring takfeer upon Muslims quickly and in a hurry, without to study and look deeply at the reality of a person; for the saying of Muhammad (saw) reported in Bukhari states: “Whosoever calls a Muslim kaafir, it is as if he killed him.”

In another narration Abdullah ibn ‘Umar narrated in Bukhari and Muslim, that the prophet (saw) said: “Any man who says to his brother ‘Oh kaafir’, one of them will be chased with it.” i.e. it will apply to one of them. However, if it is true the man will become an apostate, but if it is untrue and he said it just for the sake of it or out of desire, he will face severe punishment.

At-takfeer is not an easy matter, the Shari’ah takes all necessary precautions provided to us by the Qur’aan and Sunnah (with the understanding of the Sahaabah), and obliges upon us to verify before we accuse any Muslim of kufr or shirk in order not to violate the sanctity of his wealth and honour, just because of doubt or hawaa (desire). Allah (swt) says in the Qur’aan: “O you who believe! When you go (to fight) in the Cause of Allâh, verify (the truth), and say not to anyone who greets you (by giving salaam): "You are not a believer"; seeking the perishable goods of the worldly life.” [EMQ An-Nisaa’, 4: 94]

In this aayaat the legislator is warning the believers from hurrying in making takfeer and asked them to verify and not to be hasty towards those who have some sign of Islaam in a place where its people are not Muslim. The legislator instructs us to take all precautions on the issue of takfeer to the level where he (swt) obliges upon us to verify and be sure about the presence of what negates someone’s belief, and the absence of the preventions from calling him kaafir (murtad). Therefore it is not allowed to make takfeer on a particular person except after deep verification, far away from partisan and self desire.

There are 4 main preventions of takfeer which are:

Ignorance – Al-Jahl

Al-Jaahil is the one who doesn’t have knowledge, saying and believing in something without to know its prohibition i.e. the one who believes that salaah is not fard upon him, or that Allaah is not capable to gather all of mankind together etc. all of this is because of his ignorance of the obligation of salah, and the capability of Allaah (swt). It has been reported by Abu Hurairah that the Messenger (saw) said: “A man corrupted himself, and when he came to his deathbed he said to his children: ‘If I die take me and burn me then ground me and then blow me in the wind because by Allaah, if Allaah is able to catch me, he will punish me with a punishment that no person has ever tasted.’ When he died, they fulfilled his will. Then Allah ordered the earth to collect anything that was part of him, and the earth did so and he was raised again and was asked ‘what made you do what you did?’ he said: ‘Oh my Lord, I fear from you genuinely.’ So Allah forgave him.” [Bukhaari]

This man was doubting capability of Almighty Allaah, and thought that if he was burnt, made into ashes and thrown into the sea and the land, Allah will not able to put him together again. Though there is no doubt that doubting the capability of Allah is kufr and doubting the resurrection is kufr, but while he was ignorant Allah forgave him.

In the Sunan of Ibn Maajah, from Hudhaifah bin Yamaan (ra), Muhammad (saw) said: “Islaam will disappear the way the clothes will disappear, until no one knows what fasting is, or what praying is, or what a ritual act is or what charity is, and one night there will be ‘israa (travelling or journey) with the book (of Allaah) until it disappears, until no verse will remain in the earth from it, and there will remain some people such as old men and old women that will say to each other: ‘we found our parents saying the kalimah laa ilaaha illallaah and we say it too.’” A man called Sila said in response to this: ‘their laa ilaaha illallaah will never benefit them, if they do not know what fasting, salaah, ritual acts or charity is.’ Hudhaifah turned his back and rejected that saying three times and then said to him on the third time: ‘Oh Sila! Laa ilaaha illallaah will save them from hellfire, will save them from hellfire, will save them from hellfire.’”

They are those people whom Allaah prescribed for them to be saved, though they do not know anything from Islaam except the kalimah, and they are ignorant from anything else from the deen (what you believe in, live by and die for i.e. Islaam) or the pillars of the deen and its branches. Their ignorance of the deen was an excuse for them because of the kalimah that they used to pronounce. Therefore we should know that the excuse of ignorance will be accepted from a person in a particular place or particular situation where most of the people are unaware about the divine rules, the way if someone has grown up in a far away oasis or was a new Muslim. As for those who live between the Muslims, praying salaah and listening to the khutbahs etc. they are not ignorant of usool ud-deen (the foundations of the deen) or what is known from Islaam by necessity. They will never be excused by ignorance because they themselves cause the presence of ignorance and never removed it by seeking knowledge despite the fact that it is widely available, through books, leaflets, internet, lectures, da’wah etc.

2. Error and mistake

The error or mistake is when someone targets to do a certain thing, but achieved or crossed with something different that he did not know about, for example someone who is hunting a gazelle and shoots at it, but accidentally kills a person, or the one who wants to throw a book of kufr but by accident throws the book of Allah. Allah (swt) says: “And there is no sin on you if you make a mistake therein, except in regard to what your hearts deliberately intend. And Allaah is Ever Oft-­Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [EMQ Al-Ahzaab, 33: 5]

And there are numerous ahadeeth that speak about excusing error and mistake. It is reported in Ibn Maajah (Albaani declared it saheeh) that Muhammad (saw) said: “Allah excused my Ummah for mistakes, forgetfulness and what they do under duress.” This evidence instructs us to make general excuses for mistakes, but there is a specific evidence to indicate that there is no excuse in the area of kufr. It is reported in Muslim upon the authority of Anas bin Maalik that the prophet (saw) said: “Allah is more happy with the repentance of his servant when he repents sincerely, compared to the one who was over his camel in an open area and she runs away from him with his food and drink until he looses hope then sits and falls asleep near a tree thinking that she will not return. While he is like this he finds that she returns and stands next to him. He then takes her rope and says: ‘Oh Allah you are my servant and I am your Lord.’ And he made a mistake out of happiness.”

There is no doubt to address Allaah as your servant is kufr and heresy if it is intentional, but when it was said by this man by mistake he was excused.

3. Duress

Duress is to force others to do or say what he doesn’t want to do (usually life threatening), in this case the one under duress is free from what he does, responding to the one who is putting him under duress to prevent harm from coming to him or his family; that is a mercy from almighty Allaah upon his servant that he did not give them responsibility with hardship upon them. Allaah (swt) says: “Whosoever declares kufr in Allah after he believed, except the one who is under duress while his heart is full of eemaan in Allah. As for those whose hearts is satisfied with kufr, the anger of Allah will be upon them and His severe punishment.” [EMQ An-Nahl, 16: 106]

In order for people not to fall into the kufr and start committing what Allah forbids during presence of any duress, pressure or threat, the Ulamaa’ listed the conditions that must be established in order to consider that threat or pressure to be considered as legitimate duress, they are four points:

For the threat usually to be harm, such as, killing, mutilation, imprisonment etc.

For the one who is threatening with duress to be capable to carry the duress, because for any duress to be verified in reality it must be something that is capable to be accomplished

The one who is under duress must not be capable or able to defend himself, nor capable to run away or seek help or resist

The person under duress must have the least amount of doubt that the threat is genuine, and that if he does not fulfil what is asked of him, that they will carry the threat against him.

If these four conditions are met together the duress will be considered legitimate according to the Shari’ah.

4. Interpretation – Ta’weel

Taw’eel is a prevention of takfeer that is specific only for the people of ‘ilm and ijtihaad i.e. scholars, (except for any others who are speaking about the deen of Allah out of ignorance and desire) due to the fact that the mujtahid (the one who derives divine rulers from Qur’aan and Sunnah) may leave what is clear cut in the text in front of him by looking to another text stronger than the first. The way that a man made ta’weel about the permissibility of alcohol quoting the aayaah: “Those who believe and do righteous good deeds, there is no sin on them for what they ate (in the past), if they fear Allâh (by keeping away from His forbidden things), and believe and do righteous good deeds, and again fear Allâh and believe, and once again fear Allâh and do good deeds with Ihsân (perfection). And Allâh loves the good­ doers.” [EMQ Al-Maa-idah, 5: 93]

This Muslim made interpretation on this aayaah saying that it is allowed to drink alcohol as long as they fear Allah. This matter reached ‘Umar ibn Khattaab who consulted other great Sahaabah. ‘Ali ibn Abee Taalib, ‘Umar and a group of sahaabah agreed on how to judge him and said: ‘if he admits the prohibition of alcohol he will be lashed, and if he insists on saying that it is lawful he will be killed.’ He then admitted that it is haraam and was lashed.

We learn from this that the sahaabah did not hurry in making takfeer straight away because he made interpretation, though he did say that alcohol is halaal, which is istihlaal (legislating – act of apostasy) rather they agreed to explain to him and elaborate upon his mistake and incorrect interpretation. If he insisted after that he would have been killed, but when he established that his interpretation was wrong, he retracted his sayings and repented, hence he was lashed. Therefore, the legitimate interpretation is based on shari’ah and in its own correct Arabic language. As for interpretation not based on the divine evidences or on genuine linguistic arguments, it is an illegitimate interpretation like the interpretation of all the deviants and people of corruption.

Conclusion

This is in summary the preventions of takfeer, which are agreed upon amongst all Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, that indicates how much the Shari’ah is keen to secure the hukm of takfeer without to be abused the way the khawaarij abuse it – declaring takfeer on a Muslim who commits any prohibition without verification nor observing the preventions of takfeer. Nor should takfeer be ignored like those who dismantle it such as the murji-ah (those who separate eemaan from action) who say that eemaan is in the heart and will never be affected by any sayings or any actions, despite the fact that the kufr action and kufr saying negates eemaan. Rather Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah are between both parties, between the khawaarij and the murji-ah, listing the above divine prerequisite conditions of takfeer in order not to spill the blood of Muslims and not to violate the sanctity of the Muslim by accusation or doubt. Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah verify these divine prerequisite conditions and preventions which is a good lesson for those who practise takfeer without to consider the conditions of takfeer nor its preventions. However this does not mean that these preventions should strike fear in our hearts and prevent us from making takfeer upon those who Allaah and His Messenger (saw) declared to be kaafir, like the Jews, Christians and the Mushrikeen. Not to fear from making takfeer upon those who commit what negates there deen with the absence of the above preventions in order to please Allaah with that takfeer, and be closer to him by purifying the camp of Islaam and the Muslims from those who commit apostasy and turn their backs to Almighty Allah and His deen. And put them in the camp of kufr and Mushrikeen and deprive them from having the virtues and privileges that Allaah has granted to the Muslims exclusively not to the apostates and disbelievers.

Oh Allah make us live as Muslims and die as Muslims, and bring us on the day of Judgement as Muslims. Ameen.