20/12/2025
Conditions...
1. The default assumption is the soundness of a Muslim’s faith and the continuity of their uprightness, unless there is clear evidence from Islamic law proving otherwise. It is not permissible to be lax in issuing such judgments.
2. There must be evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah indicating that a particular statement or action necessitates such a ruling.
3. The specific individual who made the statement or committed the act must meet certain conditions, namely: knowledge, free will, and absence of interpretive error (ta’wīl). Therefore, the impediments of ignorance, coercion, or misinterpretation must be absent before a person can be judged as a disbeliever or an innovator (mubtadiʿ).
Ibn Taymiyyah:
“What is established as blameworthy—whether from innovations or other prohibited matters mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah, or anything that contradicts them—if it is committed by a specific individual, it may be done in a way that warrants excuse, due to ijtihād (independent reasoning) or taqlīd (following others) for which the person is excused, or due to inability. I have explained this elsewhere, including in the foundational discussion on takfīr (declaring someone a disbeliever) and tafsīq (declaring someone sinful), which is based on the principle of divine threat. The texts of threat in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and the statements of the imams regarding takfīr and tafsīq, do not necessitate that the ruling applies to a specific individual unless the conditions are met and the impediments are absent. This applies equally to fundamental and subsidiary matters. This is with regard to punishment in the Hereafter: the one who deserves the threat of Allah’s punishment, curse and wrath in the Hereafter—whether eternally or not—and the labels of this type of disbelief and sin fall under this principle, whether due to an innovative belief or act of worship, or due to sinful behavior in worldly matters, which is the fisq of actions.”
As for rulings in this world, the same principle applies: fighting disbelievers must be preceded by inviting them to Islam, for there is no punishment except upon those to whom the message reached. Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 10/372
