Question: O Shaikh, may Allaah preserve you and take care of you –
what is the meaning of the statement of Shaikh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah,
"Takfir of a specific individual requires specific evidence (takfir
ul-mu’ayyan yahtaju ila dalil mu’ayyan)"?
Answer: You know, may Allaah bless you, that the (Shari’ah) rulings
are sometimes associated with a description (wasf) and sometimes associated with
an individual. For example we say, ‘Every believer is from the people of
Paradise’. This is a general statement which is associated with a
description, every believer is in Paradise and every disbeliever is in the Fire.
However, do we say in the case of a specific individual, so and so is from
Paradise? Do you say about this specific individual, so and so is from the
people of Fire?
Hence, there is a difference between that which is associated with a
description and that which is associated with an individual. When a person
utters a statement of disbelief or commits an act of kufr, then we do not
declare him to be a disbeliever until we look at what motivated him to do
that.
Then, we behave with him (i.e. pass a ruling over him) based upon what his
(specific) situation demands.
A man is compelled to prostrate to an idol, so he prostrates. And another is
compelled to utter a statement of kufr, so he says it. Have both of these men
disbelieved? No. Because Allaah has said,
Whoever disbelieved in Allâh after his belief, except him who is forced thereto and whose heart is at rest with Faith but such as open their breasts to disbelief, on them is wrath from Allâh, and theirs will be a great torment. [Nahl 16:106]
So His statement "Whoever disbelieves in Allaah after having
faith" is inclusive of the one who disbelieves by words or deeds. So
this man who prostrated to an idol under compulsion and the man who uttered a
statement of disbelief under compulsion, is his action one of kufr or not? Yes,
his action is one of kufr. But is he a kafir? No. This is because, there exists
a preventative barrier that restrains from takfir, and that is compulsion.
And then [there is the case of] the man who exceeded in transgression against
his own soul and who said to his family, ‘When I die, burn me and scatter
my ashes into the sea’. He did this thinking that he will be saved from
the punishment of Allaah by it. Then his family did what he had ordered them.
And Allaah – the Mighty and Majestic – gathered his ashes together
and brought him back and asked him ‘Why did you do it?’ He replied,
‘My Lord, I feared Your punishment’. And so Allaah forgave him.
[Bukhari, Kitab ut-Tawhid].
The act of this man is one of kufr, why? Because he doubted in the power of
Allaah, and doubted that Allaah is able to bring him together again and punish
him. However, since the reason behind this act of his was his fear of the
punishment of Allaah – the Mighty and Majestic – Allaah forgave
him.
Hence, the meaning of the words of Shaikh ul-Islam – may Allaah have
mercy upon him – it is said: the disbelief that is associated with a
description, then judgement can be made by it in all circumstances, [such as]
whoever disbelieves in Allaah will be in the Fire, whoever prostrates to an idol
is a disbeliever, whoever says that there is another deity alongside Allaah is a
disbeliever [and so on]. However, with respect to a specific individual, you
must not make a judgement against him until you investigate; he could be
ignorant and not know, or he could have made an interpretation (ta’wil)
[that is incorrect], or there could be a situation in which he was made to utter
words without actually intending them.
The Prophet – may the prayers and peace be upon him – informed us
that Allaah rejoices more with the repentance of his servant than [the rejoicing
of] a man who has lost his camel in the desert, seeking to find it but to no
avail, so he despairs of finding it again. Then he rests under a tree and awaits
death. And then he finds that the camel is tied to the tree by its reigns, so he
takes it by the reigns and says out of extreme joy, ‘O Allaah you are my
servant and I am your Lord.’ [Muslim]. This word here is a word of kufr
since he claimed Lordship (rububiyyah) for himself and claimed Allaah is a
servant. However, he did not actually intend this, but he was made to err on
account of his great excitement and joy, and as the Prophet – may prayers
and peace be upon him – said, ‘Allaah will not take him to
account’.
Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen on Takfir of an Individual