The shaykh concludes his discussion of these nullifiers by stressing that there is no difference, with respect to them, between one who is serious and one who is joking. Whoever commits any of these deeds—even in jest, as was noted earlier under mockery (1)—or does so out of fear, is deemed a disbeliever, except the person who is coerced. Allah the Exalted says: “Whoever disbelieves in Allah after having believed—except the one who is forced while his heart is at peace with faith—but whoever opens his breast to disbelief, upon them is the wrath of Allah and theirs will be a tremendous punishment” (106) [al-Nahl]. Thus, if someone is threatened with death or severe beating unless he says, for example, “The Messenger is a liar,” and he utters the words with his tongue only to escape that ordeal while his heart remains tranquil in faith, he is not a disbeliever.

No one can gain control over another person’s heart or compel him to abandon what it contains of belief. For that reason, worldly rulings are issued on the basis of outward conduct. A hypocrite may live among the Muslims as a hypocrite while his heart harbors disbelief, and a believer surrounded by disbelievers from whose tyranny he cannot escape may remain a believer in Allah even while outwardly appearing to be a disbeliever. In certain lands of unbelief the authorities have forbidden Muslims to display Islam openly—such as under Communist rule, where anyone found carrying a Qur’an or manifesting Islam faced hanging or being burned alive.

Concerning the shaykh’s words: “All of them are among the gravest dangers and among the most frequent occurrences.”

Reflect on the current state of affairs! How widespread is shirk with Allah among people—such as the worship of graves and similar practices! How rampant is sorcery throughout the Muslim lands! How many are those who mock Allah, His verses, and His Messenger! And how many are those who turn away