and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers.” 1.

The tenth is turning away from the religion of Allah, neither learning it nor acting upon it. The evidence is the saying of Allah Most High: “Who does more wrong than one who is reminded of the signs of his Lord and then turns away from them? We shall surely exact retribution from the evildoers.” 2.

These, then, are ten matters that nullify the declaration of monotheism, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.” Whoever falls into any one of them—Allah forbid—has nullified his monotheism, demolished his faith, and will derive no benefit from saying, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.” The scholars have expressly stated that, with regard to all these nullifiers, there is no distinction between one who is joking, one who is serious, or one who acts out of fear—except one who is compelled. All these nullifiers are among the gravest of dangers and the most frequent in occurrence. A Muslim should therefore beware of them and fear falling into them himself. We seek refuge in Allah from all that incurs His wrath and His painful punishment, and we ask Him, Glorified is He, to grant us all success in doing what pleases Him and to guide us and all Muslims to His straight path. He is indeed All-Hearing, Responsive, and Near.