Labelling a Muslim as a Disbeliever

22-11-2022 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu AlaykumI urge you to answer my questions as soon as possible.Judgment when a Muslim is called or hukum as a Kafir Munafik Shaitan? Will people who call or hukum lose their religion?
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

A Muslim does not become a disbeliever and is not considered out of the fold of Islam if he makes a mistake by declaring his fellow Muslim a disbeliever. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “Whenever one calls his Muslim brother ‘O Kafir (disbeliever),’ it would return (bounce back) to one of them.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] He sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) also said: “Whenever one calls his Muslim brother ‘O Kafir (disbeliever),’ it would return to one of them. If he is not Kafir, it would return (bounce back) to the one who said it.” [Muslim] The Hadeeths aim to stress the gravity of Takfeer and labelling Muslims as disbelievers.

However, they do not mean that whoever labels a Muslim as a disbeliever has committed an act of major Kufr (disbelief) that takes the doer out of the fold of Islam if the accused person is not a disbeliever.

Allah knows best.

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