Islamic Reminders - 1

Reminder#181

◇بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم◇

Ibn Umar related that the Holy Prophet (صلی الله علیہ وسلم) said:
If a Muslim calls another kafir, then if he is a kafir let it be so; otherwise, he [the caller] is himself a kafir.''
(Abu Dawud)

Abu Zarr reported that the Holy Prophet (صلی الله علیہ وسلم) said:
No man accuses another man of being a sinner, or of being a kafir, but it reflects back on him if the other is not as he called him.''
(Al Bukhari)

The teaching contained in these ahadeeth is meant to stop Muslims from dubbing each other as sinners and kafirs.

Determining whether someone is a kaafir or a faasiq is not up to us, rather it is up to Allah(swt) and His Messenger (صلی الله علیہ وسلم)

This is one of the rulings of sharee'ah that is to be referred to the Quran and Sunnah, so we should be very careful and base our judgement on clear proof. No one may be judged to be a kaafir or faasiq except the one whom the Quran and Sunnah indicate is a kaafir or faasiq.

The basic principle is that the one who appears outwardly to be a Muslim of good character is regarded as still being a Muslim of good character, until it is proven that this is no longer the case by means of evidence that is acceptable in sharee'ah.

It is not permissible to take lightly the matter of judging someone to be a kaafir or faasiq, because that involves two very serious matters:

1 - It implies fabricating lies against Allah with regard to this ruling, and fabricating lies against the one who is being judged.

2 - Falling into that which one accused one's brother of, if he is free from that.

~ Be careful who you call Kafir because only Allah knows who is truly a rejector and who is merely a misguided person. It is not up to us to "sentence" a person to the Hellfire.
So, we must never think bad of a muslim brother and sister, no matter what sin they are doing. Hate the sin not the person.
Moreover, We must always maintain courtesy, diplomacy and a never-dying zeal to convey the message to others no matter how discouraging or useless it may seem .. don't give up on a non-muslim as well because most people are good people who simply need a break from the anti-Islamic propaganda around them.