الكلمات النافعة في المكفرات الواقعة
Beneficial Words Regarding Things that Necessitate Kufr in Our Era
Shaykh Abdullâh bin Muhammad bin Abd'il Wahhâb (1242 H)
Rahimahullâh
[Preface]In the name of Allâh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allâh. We praise Him, seek His help, seek His forgiveness, and repent to Him. We seek refuge in Allâh from the evil within ourselves and our evil deeds. Whoever Allâh guides, there is no one who can lead him astray, and whoever Allâh leads astray, then there is no one who can guide him.
I bear witness there is no -true- deity -worthy of worship- except Allâh, He is One and He has no partners. I also bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger whom He sent as a mercy to the world and a proof against the stubborn people, whom He perfected the religion with and sealed the prophets and messengers with. May Allâh send peace upon him, his family, his companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Recompense.
Foreword: These are chapters and words that I have quoted from the statements by the Mujtahid scholars consisting of the followers of the four Imâms who are the Imâms of the people of Sunnah and religion, in clarification of some deeds and statements that necessitate a Muslim to enter Kufr and exclude him from the fold of the religion, and also in clarification that a person pronouncing the two testimonies, ascribing himself to Islâm, and acting with some of the Shar'î rulings of the religion does not prevent Takfîr being declared upon him, him being killed, nor him joining the apostates.
What motivated me to prepare this treatise is that in our era, some of those who ascribe themselves to knowledge and jurisprudence have erred with an atrocious, disgraceful mistake and with a repulsive opposition, have opposed those who issued verdicts as such from the people of knowledge and religion. With regards to opposing this, they did not have genuine legal evidence from the speech of Allâh, the speech of His Messenger, or the speech of the Imâms of knowledge and religion apart from this being in opposition to their customs and predecessors. We seek refuge in Allâh from ignorance, betrayal, and fanaticism.
Here, I will mention what circumstances necessitate. Those who have erred from amongst those whom misery, ignorance, fanaticism, and betrayal have prevailed from those who affiliate themselves to knowledge in our era have erred. This is because they are naturally disposed to opposing the Book, the Sunnah, and the actions of the Salaf and the guided Imâms, loving leadership and the lusts of this world, and desiring what is in the hands of the people and the corrupt stubborn people.
We pray to Allâh that He grants us success to the deeds He is pleased with and keeps us away from mistakes that anger Him. Verily, Allâh does not let down those who have hope in Him and does not turn back the request of those who invoke Him. Thus, we say, and success lies with Allâh:
Know that these are amongst the most important matters a believer must devote his attention to. Thereby, he will not unknowingly commit one of these deeds and Islâm and Kufr will become clear for him so that for him, what is wrong will be clear from what is correct, he becomes upon insight regarding Allâh's religion, and he is not deceived by the people of ignorance and suspicion. Even though they are the majority in number, in terms of value, they are the minority in the presence of Allâh, His Messenger, and the believers.
May Allâh be pleased with them, the scholars have devoted their attention to this issue in their books and have opened chapters for it in the books of jurisprudence in every Madhhab from the four Madhâhib, and this chapter is the chapter on the ruling of the apostate. An apostate is a Muslim who enters Kufr after his Islâm. The scholars mentioned many types in this chapter, with every type, a Muslim enters Kufr and his blood and property become permissible to take.
Inshâ Allâhu Taâlâ, I will mention what is sufficient and curing for the one whom Allâhu Taâlâ has guided and gave his maturity. I will mention the statements by each group from the followers of the four Imâms -Abû Hanîfah, Mâlik, ash-Shâfi'î and Ahmad may Allâh be pleased with them- separately so that it is easy for those who want to examine them. We will begin with their statements regarding major Shirk and them declaring Takfîr upon some who lived in their era and ascribed themselves to Islâm and the Sunnah whom these things occurred from, since this is important. Thus, we say: