Apostasy From Islam: The Most Abhorrent Sin.. (Kufur, or Riddah) May Allah protect us

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As-Salamu ^alaykum..

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. May Allah raise the rank of our master Muhammad and his Al and Companions and protect his nation from that which he fears for it. Thereafter:

Brothers and sisters,

Know that Islam is the only religion Allah accepts from His slaves and the only religion He ordered His slaves to follow. The one who performs the greatest right of Allah on the slave by worshipping Allah alone, not taking any partners to Him, and believing in the message of the Prophet Muhammad, will be granted everlasting bounties in Paradise. He who takes for himself a religion other than Islam and dies on that status will be a loser on the Day of Judgement and his eternal abode is Hellfire, where the torture does not cease nor decrease. Allah does not forgive the one who dies non-Muslim, nor will any of his good deeds done in this lifetime be accepted from him. Surat Muhammad, Ayah 34: means: [Those who blasphemed and block away from the ways of Allah and die as blasphemers, Allah shall not forgive them.] Surat an Nisa’, Ayah 48: means: [Allah does not forgive that one associates parteners with Him, and He forgives whatever is less than that for whomever He willed.] Ya lateef..

Knowing everlasting enjoyments await the Muslim in Paradise and everlasting torture in Hellfire awaits the one who dies a non-Muslim should make every Muslim anxiously prioritize holding tight to his Religion. The one who is desirous of having his ending a good one will do his utmost to comply with all what is obligatory upon him and avoid what is forbidden, and above all, will endeavor to avoid anything which will invalidate, interrupt, and terminate his Islam–namely apostasy. Of greater priority is warning the Muslims against what would take them out of Islam and lead them to be one of the eternal inhabitants of Hellfire over other issues in the Religion with less drastic consequences. For this reason, the scholars of Islam included chapters on apostasy in their books to elucidate what causes a person to commit apostasy and the judgements concerning him, in an effort to warn the people from committing any of it. The one who does not know evil is more likely to fall in it, and the one who learns the chapter of apostasy would have his eyes open and his heart guarded to avoid committing this grievous sin.

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Imam an-Nawawiyy defined apostasy as interrupting Islam by an intention or by a blasphemous doing or by a blasphemous saying--whether or not it was said mockingly, out of stubbornness, or out of conviction. He said apostasy is the most abhorrent type of blasphemy. For one to have been Muslim, then to apostate from Islam is the most vulgar of sins. It is a heinous crime and its committer deserves the everlasting torture of Hellfire should he die without repenting from it.

Scholars of the four schools (madhahib) classified apostasy into three (3) categories: beliefs in the heart, actions committed by certain parts of the body, and sayings with the tongue. Ar-Ramliyy, from the school of Imam ash-Shafi^iyy, classified apostasy into these three categories and gave examples of each in his book, Explanation of Minhaj, as did Imam an-Nawawiyy in his book, Rawdat at-Talibin. Qadi ^Iyad and Imam Muhammad ^Ulaysh from the Malikiyy school gave examples of these three (3) types of apostasy. Likewise did Imam Ibnu ^Abidin and Badr arRashid from the Hanifyyy school and Imam alBuhutiyy from the Hanbaliyy school. Ibn asSubkiyy said in his book At-Tabaqat : " Imam Al-Ash^ariyy , his students and all Muslims do not disagree upon that he who says a blasphemous word or he who does a blasphemous doing is a blasphemer ( kafir). He is not a believer in Allah, and he shall remain in Hellfire forever, even if he knew the truth in his heart.This is a case of scholarly consensus; not even two Muslims would disagree on that matter.

The Muhadith, Hafidh, Faqih and Linguist Murtada Az-Zabidiyy said: " the scholars from the four schools (madhhab) authored in exposing the types of apostasy."

The scholar's classification of apostasy into these three categories facilitates one's learning and understanding of the subject--thereby making it easier to avoid falling into it. Classification as such can be easily understood from different ayat in the Qur'an. In Surat al-Hujurat, Ayah 17, Allah said: which means: [The believers are those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, and they do not doubt in that belief.] This ayah reflects that category of apostasy pertaining to beliefs in the heart. In Surat Fussilat, Ayah 37, Allah said: which means: *[do not prostrate for the sun or the moon,rather prostrate for Allah Who created the sun and the moon.] **This ayah reflects that category of apostasy pertaining to actions committed by different parts of the body. In Surat at-Tawbah, Ayah 74, Allah said: which means: *[They swear by Allah that they did not utter, and they have said the word of blasphemy and blasphemed after having been Muslims.] **This ayah reflects that category of apostasy pertaining to sayings.

Each one of these three categories of apostasy is divided into many subdivisions, and the scholars gave many examples of each.

May Allah Protects us.

[This message has been edited by Ahmad G (edited March 07, 2001).]