Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … From this hadith, we learn that in every matter, the final and decisive authority of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam must be accepted, and his decision should be accepted without any objection or hesitation. Imam al-Albani rahimahullah, while discussing the verses mentioned in this hadith, writes: The Jews said regarding the decision of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: If the Prophet gives you the verdict according to your wishes, then accept him as the judge, and if he does not, then avoid him and do not accept him as the judge.

This vile principle of theirs is also mentioned in the Noble Qur’an, where Allah the Exalted says: {یَقُوْلُوْنَ اِنْ أُوْتِیْتُمْ ھٰذَا فَخُذُوْہُ وَاِنْ لَّمْ تُؤْتَوْہُ فَاحْذَرُوْا} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 41), meaning: They say, “If you are given this, take it; but if you are not given it, then beware.” The following three verses were revealed regarding these Jews and their decision:

{وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الْکَافِرُوْنَ} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 44)
Meaning: And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are the disbelievers.

{وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الظَّالِمُوْن} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 45)
Meaning: And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are the wrongdoers.

{وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الْفَاسِقُوْن} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 47)
Meaning: And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are the defiantly disobedient.

If these verses were revealed about the Jews, then in their light, those Muslim rulers and judges who believe in Allah the Exalted and His Messenger, but judge in worldly matters by other than Allah’s commands, cannot be declared disbelievers or non-Muslims. These people are criminals who, in their manner of judgment, resemble the Jews mentioned, but due to their belief in Allah and His Messenger, they are different from the Jews. The Jews had said that if the decision was not according to their desires, they would not accept the Messenger of Allah as a judge at all, whereas the case of Muslim rulers is the opposite: they accept the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam as the true judge and consider his teachings to be true, but practically, when making decisions, they turn away from his commands. The conclusion of this discussion is that there are two types of disbelief (kufr): (1) doctrinal (i‘tiqadi) and (2) practical (‘amali). The place of doctrinal disbelief is the heart, and the place of practical disbelief is the outward limbs. If a person, opposing the Shari‘ah, commits an act of disbelief and his heart is content with this decision, then this is called doctrinal disbelief; such a disbeliever will not be forgiven and will remain in Hell forever. But if a person’s heart, in the light of the Shari‘ah, opposes his act of disbelief and considers it wrong, then this is called practical disbelief; such a criminal will still be considered a Muslim, and his evil deed will be subject to Allah’s will—if He wills, He will forgive, and if He wills, He will punish. In those hadiths where some sins of Muslims are called disbelief, what is meant is practical disbelief, for example: (1) To slander lineage and to wail over the dead is disbelief. (2) To argue about the Qur’an is disbelief. (3) To abuse a Muslim is wickedness, and to fight him is disbelief. (4) To disown one’s lineage is disbelief with Allah. (5) To mention Allah’s blessings is gratitude, and not to do so is disbelief. (6) Do not become disbelievers after me by killing one another. Besides these, there are many hadiths indicating this subject, but it is not possible to encompass them all here. The summary is that if a Muslim commits these evils and sins, his disbelief is practical, i.e., he does the act that is generally done by disbelievers. However, if a person considers an evil to be lawful and permissible and does not even consider it disobedience, then he is a disbeliever, because he becomes like the disbelievers in belief. The pious predecessors (salaf salihin) used the term “disbelief less than disbelief” (kufr duna kufr); this principle is also transmitted from the interpreter of the Qur’an, Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhu, and then some of the tabi‘in narrated it from him. The implication of this term is that not every practical disbelief can be called doctrinal disbelief, and that practical disbelief has various types—some sins are greater, some are lesser. In the present era, some people have gone astray in this delicate matter; they have adopted the way of the Khawarij, who used to declare Muslims who observed fasting and prayer as disbelievers due to some sins. It seems appropriate to mention here some statements of the early scholars, perhaps they may serve as a guiding light for such people.

(1) Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, in his Tafsir (10/355/12053), with a sound chain, narrates the statement of Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhu: {وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الْکَافِرُوْن} The one who becomes the subject of this verse is indeed a disbeliever, but this does not necessitate disbelief in Allah, His angels, His heavenly books, and His messengers. (2) According to another narration, regarding this very verse, he said: What is meant by this verse is not the disbelief that expels one from the religion of Islam, as the Khawarij think, rather this verse is the application of the term “disbelief less than disbelief” (kufr duna kufr). (Mustadrak al-Hakim: 2/313). (3) According to a narration of Ibn Jarir, Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhu, while explaining this verse, said: Whoever denies the commands revealed by Allah has committed (doctrinal) disbelief, and whoever accepts them as true but does not judge by them, then he is a wrongdoer and a defiantly disobedient. (4) Ibn Jarir (12025, 12026) narrates with two chains from ‘Imran ibn Hudayr that some people from Banu ‘Amr came to Abu Majliz and said: Do you consider these three verses to be true: {وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الْکَافِرُوْن} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 44) Meaning: And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are the disbelievers. {وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الظَّالِمُوْن} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 45) Meaning: And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are the wrongdoers. {وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الْفَاسِقُوْن} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 47) Meaning: And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are the defiantly disobedient. Abu Majliz: Yes. Banu ‘Amr: Abu Majliz! Do our rulers judge by what Allah has revealed? Abu Majliz: The religion of our rulers is Islam; they profess it and call to it. If they knowingly neglect some matters of the religion, they are sinners, not disbelievers. Banu ‘Amr: By Allah! What you are saying is not the case at all. You are afraid of them. (They are disbelievers.) Abu Majliz: If you want to say this without any hesitation, then say it, but this is not my opinion. I say that these verses were revealed about the Jews and Christians, who were polytheists. In the Noble Qur’an, in this verse {وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الْکَافِرُوْن} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 44), what is meant by disbelief? Ibn Jarir, in his Tafsir (10/346–357), has mentioned five statements of the scholars and concluded by saying: In my view, the most correct of these is that this verse was revealed about the disbelievers from the People of the Book, because the preceding and following verses mention them, and the context and sequence demand that Jews and Christians are meant. If someone objects that Allah the Exalted has spoken in general terms in this verse, that whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed is a disbeliever, why do you restrict it to certain people? The answer is that the general words in this verse are used about those who denied Allah’s command, and we also say that whoever abandons Allah’s commands out of denial is a disbeliever, as Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhu said. The summary is that this verse was revealed about the Jews who denied Allah’s commands; thus, whoever denies like them will be a doctrinal disbeliever like them, and whoever does not deny Allah’s commands but accepts them as true, yet turns away from them when judging, his disbelief is practical; he is a sinner, but not expelled from the religion of Islam, as the opinion of Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas has been mentioned. Hafiz Abu ‘Ubayd Qasim ibn Sallam, in (Kitab al-Iman: Bab al-Khuruj min al-Iman bil-Ma‘asi, pp. 84–97, with verification), has discussed this subject excellently; those interested may study it themselves. Then Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah (7/254) said: Imam Ahmad rahimahullah was asked about the disbelief mentioned in this verse. He said: This is such disbelief that does not expel a servant from faith. Just as faith has different levels, so too does disbelief have different levels. No Muslim can be declared a disbeliever unless he commits such a crime that, by consensus, expels him from the religion of Islam. Shaykh al-Islam (7/312) further said: Just as the pious predecessors believed that a person can have both faith and hypocrisy, similarly, it is possible for a person to have both faith and disbelief, but note that the kind of disbelief that does not nullify faith does not expel a Muslim from the religion of Islam, as Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas radi Allahu anhu and his students said regarding Allah’s statement {وَمَنْ لَّمْ یَحْکُمْ بِمَا اَنْزَلَ اللّٰہُ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الْکَافِرُوْن} (Surah al-Ma’idah: 44), that no servant is expelled from faith because of it. Then imams like Imam Ahmad rahimahullah also agreed with them. It is possible that at one time two causes were combined and these verses were revealed then; Shaykh Ahmad Shakir said: This is the definite and correct view; it is not necessary that the revelation of verses be for only one incident—rather, it is possible that after two or more incidents, the Noble Qur’an was revealed and included the ruling for all of them, so some Companions would mention one cause and others another, while all these are correct.