the proof has been established against him. Yet he was ignorant of this, and no knowledge had reached him to dispel his ignorance. He believed in Allah, His commands and prohibitions, His promise and His warning, and feared His punishment. Allah therefore forgave him because of his fear of Him.

Thus, a person who believes in Allah, His Messenger and the Last Day, and performs righteous deeds, but errs in some matters of belief, is no worse off than that man. Allah will forgive his error or, if he has been negligent in following the truth, punish him according to the state of his religious commitment. But declaring a person whose faith is known to be a disbeliever merely because of such an error is a grave matter.

It is established in an authentic hadith narrated by Thābit ibn al-Dahhāk that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Cursing a believer is like killing him, and accusing a believer of disbelief is like killing him.”

It is also established in an authentic hadith that whoever says to his brother, “O disbeliever,” that charge falls upon one of the two. If declaring a particular individual a disbeliever by way of insult is like killing him, then what of