This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Irshad Ullah Maan's book In Search of Truth.
Question: Will the good deeds of a person who commits shirk benefit him?
Answer: Good deeds (charity, alms, prayer, fasting, good treatment of people) become worthless in the presence of the belief in shirk and are not accepted by Allah. Accordingly, Allah Almighty, asserting the supreme authority of the law, mentioned the names of 18 noble prophets including Ibrahim, Ishaq, Yaqub, Dawud, Sulaiman, and Ayyub (peace be upon them) and said: [وَ لَوۡ اَشۡرَکُوۡا لَحَبِطَ عَنۡہُمۡ مَّا کَانُوۡا یَعۡمَلُوۡنَ] And if (hypothetically) these people had committed shirk, all their deeds would have been lost as well.
Reference: (Al-An'am:88)
Question: Does a person lose his Islam by committing shirk continuously?
Answer: Just as speaking during prayer invalidates the prayer, passing wind breaks ablution, and deliberately eating breaks the fast, similarly, committing shirk causes a person to lose their Islam even if they call themselves Muslim. After that, every deed of the person automatically becomes void; in terms of beliefs, these are called the nullifiers of Islam. Every book of Islamic jurisprudence contains
Reference: the chapter on apostasy
, that is, the matters that make a person who recites the kalima a disbeliever. After this, there is no room to consider a person who advocates shirk or sits on the throne of tyranny and still recites the kalima as a Muslim or to be regarded as one.Question: Should the general public be considered disbelievers?
Answer: No one should be declared a disbeliever based on mere suspicion and conjecture because the ruling of disbelief pronounced on a Muslim will rebound on the one who issues it. There should be no fear in saying that one who calls upon Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) as a helper in difficulties is a polytheist, but caution is necessary when issuing a ruling on a specific individual.
① Interpretation:
If a person interprets his action differently (for example) if he says that dedicating something in the name of the eleventh Monday is for the purpose of sending reward, he will not be called a polytheist.
② Compulsion:
If someone performs a polytheistic act out of fear for their life, they will not be considered a polytheist.
③ Ignorance:
If a person is ignorant, his ignorance should be removed before issuing a ruling. For example, if he calls the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ،،نور من نور اللہ،، but is unaware of its meaning.
④ Without intention:
If polytheistic or disbelief-related words come out of a person's mouth unintentionally, and he does not believe in them in his heart, then no ruling is issued against him.
If these four reasons do not prevent and the person clearly commits any one of the nullifiers of Islam, then he will be called a disbeliever; otherwise, there would be no chapter of apostasy in Islamic jurisprudence, because an apostate is one who has professed the Kalima, and one who has not accepted Islam at all cannot be called an apostate.
Question: Can a person who says "La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah" be a polytheist?
Answer: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: You will surely follow the ways of those who came before you, and by those who came before you, the Prophet ﷺ meant the Jews and Christians.
Reference: Bukhari, Book of the Prophets' Hadiths, Chapter on what is mentioned about Bani Israel: 3456], [Muslim, Book of Knowledge, Chapter on Following the Customs of Jews and Christians: 2669
Regarding the Jews and Christians, Allah Almighty says: that they used to believe in Taghut and worship Taghut: [اَلَمۡ تَرَ اِلَی الَّذِیۡنَ اُوۡتُوۡا نَصِیۡبًا مِّنَ الۡکِتٰبِ یُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِالۡجِبۡتِ وَ الطَّاغُوۡتِ] Have you not seen those who were given the Scripture believe in idols and Taghut?
Reference: (An-Nisa: 51)
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: The Day of Judgment will not occur until a group from my Ummah joins the polytheists and many people of my Ummah engage in idol worship. (Al-Burqani narrated it in his Sahih)
Reference: Tirmidhi, Book of Tribulations, Chapter on "The Hour will not be established until liars emerge": 2219
