Declaring A Muslim To Be An Apostate & Its Guidelines

Declaring A Muslim To Be An Apostate & Its Guidelines

Author: Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan

Translator: Abu Sulaymaan Muhammad Abdul-Azim Ibn Baker

Description: he, who was declared a Muslim to be a heretic unjustly, he will then have to assume these matters in totality; because these affairs are built upon his speech, and statements (against the Muslim). Hence, people learning what things entail disbelief, and apostasy is necessary. It is a must that he learns and does not speak ignorantly. Otherwise, he would believe that whoever opposes him in his position has disbelieved; although, no one should declare another to be an apostate except for evidence of his apostasy has been established by the Book of Allah, the authentic Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ, or by the consensus of the Muslims (i.e., The companions of the Messenger), on the person. The knowledge of this, from where is it taken? Is the knowledge taken from the books, from observation and memorization of the texts? No, knowledge should not be taken from any source except the people of knowledge; from the scholars who are well grounded in knowledge. Religious knowledge should not be taken from the books, by reading, or examination and memorization of the texts solely, even if the memorized texts were abundant.