The Requirements of The Declaration of Faith (2/4)

[1] The Shaykh, hafidhahullaah, further explained in al-Muntaqaa min Fataawaa (1/9-10)

“Whoever utters the testification of laa ilaaha illAllah muhammadur-rasoolallah, the  ruling  of  him  being  a  Muslim starts there and then and his blood is sacred. If he acts upon the requirements inwardly and outwardly, he is a true Muslim, and for him are good-tidings, both in this world and in the Hereafter. If he acts upon the requirements, but does so only outwardly, then  he  is  judged  to  be  a  Muslim  based  upon  his  outward conduct and he is treated as a Muslim, even though inwardly he is a hypocrite (munaafiq) whose affair is left to Allah. If he does not act upon the requirements of laa ilaaha illAllah, but satisfies himself with merely pronouncing it, or he acts in opposition to it, then the ruling of apostasy will be applied to him, and he will be treated as an apostate. If he acts upon some of its requirements without acting upon others, then it will have to be seen: If the requirements that he has left constitute apostasy, then he will be judged  as  an  apostate;  such  as  intentionally abandoning the Prayer, or directing any form of worship to other than Allah. If, however, that which he has left does not constitute apostasy, then he will be considered a believer whose faith (iman) is deficient in proportion to what he has left; such as those who commit sins that are of a lesser degree than [the major acts of] shirk.”

[2] Hasan: Reported with this wording by al-Bayhaqee in as- Sunanul-Kubraa (10/116) and lbn Taymiyyah declared it to he hasan in Majmoo Fataawaa (7/67). It has also been reported by at Tirmidhee (no. 3094) with a slightly different wording.

[3] Fathul-Majeed (2/653).

Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, rahimahullaah, clarified this point in more detail in Majmoo’ Fatawaa (7/70-71), stating:

“Those that take their rabbis and priests as lords obeying them in their making lawful what Allah has declared to be unlawful and their making lawful what Allah has declared to be lawful, occurs in one of two ways:-

Firstly: that they know that they [i.e. the rabbis and priests] have changed the Religion of Allah, yet follow them in this act of changing (tabdeel). They thus believe to be lawful that which Alllaah has made unlawful; and unlawful that which Allah Ins made lawful following their leaders in this, along with knowing that they have opposed the Religion of the Messengers of Allah. This is unbelief (kufr), which Allah and His Messenger consider to he shirk – even if they do not actually pray or prostrate to them.

Secondly: that their belief and faith in what is [truly] lawful and unlawful is established. But if they follow them in disobedience to Allah, then their case is just like a Muslim who commits an act of disobedience, which he believes to be an act of disobedience. The  likes  of  such people have the  same ruling as  the  sinful Muslims  ...  Also,  this  making  unlawful  what  is  lawful,  and making lawful what is unlawful, if it occurs from a scholar whose intention is to follow the Messenger, but the truth. [in this matter] was not clear to him, but he feared Allah as much as he was able,  then  Allah  will  not  take  him  to  task  for  his  mistake. Rather, lie will be rewarded for the scholarly striving (ijtihad) be undertaken in obedience to his Lord. However, whosoever knows that this is a mistake, yet still follows his mistake, turning away from the saying of the Messenger, then such a person has a share of this shirk that Allah has condemned, especially if the person is following his whims and desires in this, supporting it with his tongue and hand, along with having knowledge that this opposes the Messenger. This is shirk, the doer of which is deserving of punishment.”