al-Taliqat al-Mukhtasarah ala Matn al-Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah - Salih Al-Fawzan - (139)

al-Taliqat al-Mukhtasarah ala Matn al-Aqidah al-TahawiyyahSalih Al-Fawzan

“and to Him it will return,” meaning: we do not declare anyone who faces the qiblah to be an unbeliever on account of a sin, so long as he does not regard it as lawful.

In the last days the Qur’an will be raised up to Allah—this is one of the signs of the Hour. It will be taken out of the written copies and out of people’s hearts until nothing of it remains on earth.

(We do not declare anyone who faces the qiblah to be an unbeliever on account of a sin unless he regards it as lawful.) As has already been explained, when a sin is neither disbelief nor idolatry that expels one from the religion, we do not pronounce a Muslim to be a disbeliever because of it. Rather, we hold that he is a believer whose faith is deficient, subject to the threat of punishment and under Allah’s will. This is the creed of the Muslim—provided he does not deem the sin permissible. If he does consider lawful what Allah has forbidden—such as riba (usury), wine, carrion, pork, or fornication—then he disbelieves in Allah. The reverse is likewise true: whoever declares unlawful what Allah has made lawful becomes a disbeliever, as in His words, “They have taken their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah, and (also) the Messiah son of Mary” (Al-Tawbah 9:31). The verse has been explained to mean that they made the unlawful lawful for them and the lawful unlawful, and the people obeyed them. (1)

As for the one who commits a sin while acknowledging that it is forbidden and without declaring it lawful, he does not become a disbeliever—even if the sin is a major one short of shirk and outright disbelief. Such a person remains a believer, though with deficient faith, or a sinner (fāsiq) on account of his grave offense, yet a believer by virtue of his faith.

(1) Adi ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with a golden cross around my neck. He said, “O Adi, throw away this idol.” I then heard him reciting in Surah Baraah: ittakhadhu ahbarahum wa ruhbanahum arbaban min duni Allah (“They have taken their scholars and monks as lords instead of Allah”). He added, “They did not actually worship them; rather, when those scholars declared something lawful, the people accepted it as lawful, and when they declared something unlawful, they accepted it as unlawful.” Reported by al-Tirmidhi, no. 3095.

ولا نكفَّر أحداً من أهل القبلة بذنب، ما لم يستحله: ــ في آخر الزمان، يرفع القرآن إلى الله ﷿، وهذا من علامات الساعة، فيُنزع القرآن من المصاحف وصدور الرجال، فلا يبقى في الأرض. (ولا نكفّر أحداً من أهل القبلة بذنب ما لم يستحله) هذا كما سبق أن الذنب إذا لم يكن كفراً أو شركاً مخرجاً من الملة، فإننا لا نُكَفّر به المسلم، بل نعتقد أنه مؤمن ناقص الإيمان، معرض للوعيد وتحت المشيئة. هذه عقيدة المسلم، ما لم يستحله، فإذا استحل ما حرم الله فإنه يكفر، كما لو استحل الربا أو الخمر أو الميتة أولحم الخنزير أو الزنا، إذا استحل ما حرم الله كفر بالله، وكذلك العكس: لو حرم ما أحل الله كفر: (اتخذوا أحبارهم ورهبانهم أرباباً من دون الله والمسيح ابن مريم) [التوبة: ٣١] وجاء تفسير الآية بأنهم أحلوا لهم الحرام وحرموا عليهم الحلال فأطاعوهم (١) . أما لو فعل الذنب وهو لم يستحله بل يعترف أنه حرام فهذا لا يكفر ولو كان الذنب كبيرة دون الشرك والكفر لكنه يكون مؤمناً ناقص الإيمان أو فاسقاً بكبيرته مؤمن بإيمانه.

(١) فعن عدي بن حاتم ﵁ قال: أتيت النبي ﷺ، وفي عنقي صليب من ذهب، فقال: "يا عديُّ اطرح عنك هذا الوثن". وسمعته يقرأ في سورة براءة: (اتخذوا أحبارهم ورهبانهم أرباباً من دون الله) قال: أما إنهم لم يكونوا يعبدونهم، ولكنهم كانوا إذا أحلوا لهم شيئاً استحلوه، إذا حرّموا عليهم شيئاً حرموه" أخرجه الترمذي رقم (٣٠٩٥) .