THE PROHIBITION OF ANNOUNCING ANY MUSLIM A KAFIR

Ta fir or the condemnation of a Muslim by another Muslim as a afir is strictly

prohibited in the Quran, the Hadith, and the writings of many eminent Muslim aut
horities.
THE HOLY QURAN
According to the Quran, if a person says assalamu alai um to us to indicate that
he is a Muslim, we cannot say to him ``you are not a believer.'' (4:94)
The second thing we learn from this verse is that if, from among a non-Muslim pe
ople, a person addresses us byassalamu alai um, that is sufficient proof that he
is a Muslim. When such incidents too place during the Holy Prophet's life-time
, sometimes it was suspected by some Muslims that such a person was not sincere.
But the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) would say to them: ``Did you tear open his heart
to see what was in it?'
'
Thirdly, the verse cited above goes on to say: ``You yourselves were li e this b
efore.'' That is, you too embraced Islam in this way, so what was sufficient for
you is sufficient for them.

THE HADITH
``Ibn Umar related that the Holy Prophet said: If a Muslim calls another afir,
then if he is a afir let it be so; otherwise, he [the caller] is himself a afi
r.''
(Abu Dawud, Boo of Sunna, edition published by Quran Mahal, Karachi, vol. iii,
p. 484)
``Abu Zarr reported that the Holy Prophet said: No man accuses another man of be
ing a sinner, or of being a afir, but it reflects bac on him if the other is n
ot as he called him.''
(Bu hari, Boo of Ethics; Boo 78, ch. 44)
The teaching contained in these hadith is meant to stop Muslims from dubbing eac
h other as sinners and afirs.
``Withhold [your tongues] from those who say `There is no god but Allah' --- do
not call them afir. Whoever calls a reciter of `There is no god but Allah' as a
afir, is nearer to being a afir himself.''
(Tabarani, reported from Ibn Umar)
``Call not the people of your Qibla [i.e. those who face the Ka`ba in Ma a for
prayer] as afir.''
(Al-Nihaya of Ibn Athir, vol. iv, p. 187)
``Nothing expels a man from faith except the denial of that by which he entered
into it [i.e. the Kalima].''
(Majma` az-Zawa'id, vol. i, p. 43)
``Three things are the basis of faith. [One is] to withhold from one who says `T
here is no god but Allah' --- do not call him afir for any sin, nor expel him f
rom Islam for any misconduct.''
(Abu Dawud, Boo of Jihad, 15:33)
There are many other hadith prohibiting that the ``people of the Qibla'' be dubb
ed as afir. Such a great sin is it that the Holy Prophet issued the warning:
``Whoever attributes ufr [unbelief] to a believer, he is li e his murderer.''
(Tirmizi, ch. Iman (Faith); see Arabic-Urdu edition cited earlier, vol. ii, p. 2
13. See also Bu hari, Boo of Ethics; Boo 78, ch. 44)
ISLAMIC JURISTS OF CLASSICAL TIMES

Ta fir of Muslims is also prohibited in the standard, classical wor s of Islamic

law (fiqh) and creed (`aqa'id) accepted by the Ahl as-Sunna.
``And among the doctrines of the Ahl as-Sunna is that none of the people of the
Qibla can be called afir.''
(Sharh `Aqa'id Nasfi, p. 121)
Regarding Imam Abu Hanifa, the founder of the Hanafi system of Islamic law, whic
h has more followers than any other system in Islam, it is written:
``He did not call as afir anyone from among the people of the Qibla.''
(Sharh Mawaqif, fifth part)
He said: ``Nothing expels a man from faith except the denial of that which made
him enter it.''
(Rad al-Mu htar, vol. iii, p. 310)
``It is extremely serious to expel a Muslim from the faith.''
(Sharh Shifa, vol. ii, p. 500)
``A ruling of ta fir against a Muslim should not be given if it is possible to i
nterpret his words in a favourable manner.''
(Rad al-Mu htar, Boo of Jihad, ch. on Apostasy)
``As for statements of ta fir found in boo s of rulings (fatwa), these are not p
roof if the authors are un nown and the arguments are missing, because in matter
s of faith, beliefs depend on conclusive proof, and the ta fir of a Muslim is at
tended with troubles of all sorts.''
(Sharh Fiqh A bar, by Mulla Ali Qari)
Allama Sayyid Jalal-ud-Din wrote:
``The ta fir of people of the Qibla is itself an act of unbelief.''
(Dala'il al-Masa'il)
Ibn Abu Hamra, a saint, wrote:
``It has already been stated that the rule of the Ahl Sunna is that they do not
call afir, or consider as going to hell eternally, anyone who is of the people
of the Qibla.''
``The Imams have made it clear that if there is any ground for not issuing ta fi
r, a ruling of ta fir should not be made, even if that ground is wea .''
(Raf al-ishtiba `an `ibarat al-ishtiba, p. 4, published in Egypt)
``Some prejudiced persons from the Asharis call the Hanbalis as afir, and some
Hanbalis call the Asharis as afir. But their calling each other afir is not ri
ght because the belief of the trustworthy Imams of the Hanafis, Shafi`is, Hanbal
is, and the Asharis, is that none of the people of the Qibla can be called a af
ir.''
(Miftah Dar as-Sa`ada wa Misba as-Sayyida, vol i, p. 46)
``The generality of the theologians and the jurists are agreed that none of the
people of the Qibla can be called a afir.''
(Al-Mawaqif, printed in Cairo, p. 600)
The famous eighteenth century saint of Delhi, Khawaja Mir Dard (d. 1785 C.E.), w
rote:
``We do not call afir anyone of the people of the Qibla, even though he may be
following falsehood or novel beliefs in most matters, because the acceptance of
the oneness of God, and the affirmation of the prophethood of Muhammad, and the
turning to the Qibla, do not expel them from faith as such. So he would be of th
ose who follow later inventions and falsehood from among the Muslims. The Holy P
rophet said: `Withhold in the matter of the people of the Qibla, that you do not
call them afir'.''
(`Ilm al-Kitab, p. 75)
EVEN 99 REASONS FOR `KUFR' OVERCOME BY 1 FOR ISLAM
Mulla Ali Qari in Sharh Fiqh A bar
``They say regarding the issue of ufr that if there are ninety-nine reasons for
considering someone as afir, and only one reason against it, the mufti and the
judge is bound to act according to that one reason for negating the ufr.''
(p. 146)
Sayyid Muhammad Abidin
``If there are many reasons in any matter for the application of ufr [consideri
ng someone as afir], and one reason for its negation, the judge must incline to
wards the reason which negates ta fir, giving the Muslim the benefit of the doub
t.''
(Sil al-Hisan al-Hindi, p. 45)
By the ``one reason'' out of a hundred, or a thousand, is meant the affirmation
of the Kalima by the person concerned, while the vast majority of his beliefs ma
y be tantamount to ufr.
Sayyid Abul Ala Maudoodi (d.1979)
He wrote in his well- nown journal Tarjuman al-Quran:
``The aim of these injunctions is that there should be as much caution in callin
g a Muslim afir as there is in pronouncing a death sentence against someone. In
fact, this matter is even more serious because by illing a person there is no
ris of one becoming a afir, but this ris does exist if one calls a Muslim afi
r if that man is not really a afir. Should there even be an iota of Islamic bel
ief in that man's heart, the slander of ufr shall reflect bac upon the accuser
. Hence, he who has fear of God in his heart, and has some realisation of the gr
eat danger of being involved in ufr, shall never dare call a Muslim afiruntil
he has carried out a thorough enquiry and fully ascertained that such a person w
as a afir. There is so much caution in this regard that if there is a man whose
conduct clearly shows insincerity, and whose condition is openly showing that h
e is not a Muslim at heart, if even he recites the Kalima with his tongue, it is
not allowed to call him afir and treat him as a afir.''
(Tarjuman al-Quran, issue for month of Jumadi al-Awwal,
1355 A.H., circa 1936, vol. viii,)