Kufr is Kufr Akbar until there is Evidence to Lower it

INTRODUCTION

Allah said in Surah Baqarah, “Allah taught Adam the name of all things, and He asked the angels and they said, ‘We do not know anything except what you taught us.’.” [Surah 2: 31-32]

We call things by what Allah called them:

Therefore, we call things by what Allah called them; we do not call a cow a dog or a dog a cat and this also includes, people, actions, speech etc.

So the words kufr, shirk, tawheed they carry the same hukm i.e. they are decided by Allah.

When we look to the Qur’an and the ahadith or any revelation that speaks about kufr or imaan we need to look at it in a particular way i.e. through the eyes of the prophet and his companions and we cannot assign our own understanding or names to it as this is prohibited:

[Najm: 23] “These are only names (Gods of mushrikeen) that you and your ancestors made, and Allah never gave you any permission to name them, you follow nothing but conjecture.”

So Allah dispraises those people who name things from their own desires:
[Surah 3: 93-94] “All the food used to be halal except for what bani israeel made haram on themselves. And Allah asked them to bring the taurat to prove what they are saying is indeed true.”

So that means we cannot call anyone a Muslim until Allah calls someone a Muslim or a kaafir a kaafir until Allah calls him a kaafir.

Allah says, “Those who say Isa is the son of god, they are kaafir.” So we have to call the Christians kaafir because Allah declared them to be so, we cannot call them potential Muslims because they believe in God and therefore they are the same to us.

So when we make takfeer, we are purifying our tawheed to understand who is truly our friend and enemy, we are also protecting the sanctity of Allah and the terms that He has decreed and to make sure they are attributed correctly and not incorrectly.
 

The only way we can divert away from the apparent meaning, is if there is another divine evidence to say that the meaning is different. That is the only way.

If Allah says He has a shin, arm, face we affirm it and do not go away from the apparent meaning to a different meaning without divine evidence.

KUFR AKBAR TRANSFERRING TO KUFR ASGHAR

Shirk:

Allah says in the Qur’an, “Allah does not forgive the Shirk but he forgives anything lesser than that.” So this is an example of clear kufr akbar.

Kufr Ni’mah:

This is to be ungrateful to have kufr in the blessings you have received; kufr linguistically means to conceal and in kufr nima you conceal the blessings, this is a type of kufr. A good example of this is that of the wife when she abrogates everything good the husband did:

Hadith #1 on kufr ni’mah to prove it can be kufr asghar:

Bukhari, chapter of ‘Kufr Ishra wal Kufr duna Kufr’, Muhammad (saw) said, “Hell was shown to me and I found that most of the residents were women who had kufr, they disbelieved by denying the ishra and some of them denied the good deeds, if you treat her well for a long time and then they see one bad thing from you she will say, ‘I never saw anything good from you ever’.” And the sahabah asked, “Should we throw them out of the houses?” (They assumed they had become kuffar) Muhammad (saw) said, “This is not the kufr that your mind goes to.”

Sahabah understood the kufr mentioned to mean kufr akbar initially:

We understand from this hadith that the sahabah understood the kufr to be kufr akbar until divine evidence was brought to prove otherwise.

Imam Bukhari wanted to explain how kufr ni’mah can be kufr asghar:

Shahr Sahih Bukhari, fath al baari v1 pg 82, Ibn Arabi mentioned about the narration in Bukhari (above), “The author (Imam Bukhari) wants to explain that in the same way we call obedience imaan we call disobedience kufr. But when kufr has been mentioned for sin it is not the type which takes you out of the fold of Islam.”

Hadith #2 on kufr ni’mah to prove it can be kufr asghar:

Tirmizhi, Jaabir ibn Abdillah said, “Whoever has been given any gift and has money to reward them then do it, but if he didn’t find any then let him say, ‘Jazakhallahu khair’ and the one who does not do so is ungrateful.”

Ibn Mundhir, Targheeb wa tarheeb, pg 958, “Whoever gives a donation say, “Jazakhallahu Khair” and if he did not, say “Jazakhallahu Khair” anyway, but the one who is not grateful at all then he is kaafir.”

Ulema were never concerned with repercussions of saying kaafir:

In this saying, he mentioned the word kaafir regarding the one who is ungrateful (not actual kaafir). So the ulema of the salaf they never made distinction between the types of kufr i.e. they were not afraid of any repercussions of being called a Khariji like we have today.

Hadith #3 on kufr ni’mah to prove it can be kufr asghar:

Ahmed, 18543, Numan bin Bashir, Muhammad (saw) said, “The one who is ungrateful for something small is ungrateful for a lot, and the one who ungrateful to the people is ungrateful to Allah and to speak about the blessings of Allah on you is shukr and to conceal it is kufr and he will come on the day of judgement while Allah is angry with him and if Allah wishes he may forgive or punish him.”

So the last section of the hadith is indication that the kufr nima is not kufr akbar because Allah says he may still be eligible for forgiveness.

When kufr ni’mah can become kufr akbar:

Like most actions which are kufr asghar there is usually some action which if it is combined with it it can become transferred to becoming kufr akbar e.g. if someone is ungrateful to Allah by saying, ‘All of this wealth belongs to me.”

Example #1

An example of this is Qaroon: [Qassas: 78] “Qaroon said to Musa, “I have been given all this because of my knowledge.” So he attributed all of the blessings to himself and that is kufr akbar.

Example #2

We know how Abu Bakr fought people because they rejected to pay the zakat, however rejecting to pay the zakat is kufr asghar however to completely deny it that is kufr akbar.

[Surah 9: 11] “If they repent and establish the salah and pay the zakat then they are your brothers.”

So this explains that the one who does not repent or pray or pay the zakat then he is kaafir.

Abu Bakr said, “The zakat is part of the haq of Islam and I will fight anyone who distinguishes between the zakat and the salah.”

What if someone does not pay Zakat out of stinginess?

So this could raise the question what if someone is stingy, or intends to pay the zakat but out of laziness did not, what is their stance in relation to Islam.

Muslim, Muhammad (saw) said, “Anyone who hoards the wealth and does not pay its haq Allah will make him burn over his treasures in the hell fire and he will have his forehead ironed with that treasure and his front and back… until Allah judges between his servant either paradise or hellfire.”

Therefore the end is qarina that not to pay the zakat out of laziness or stinginess is not kufr akbar.

Muslim, Abdullah bin Shukayree said, “The companions of Muhammad (saw) never saw any of the duties or the neglecting of them to be kufr except for the salah.”

Suicide:

Hadith #1 showing suicide is kufr akbar:

Muslim, Abu Hurayrah, Muhammad (saw) said, “Whoever kills himself with metal he will be stabbing himself with it in hell forever and who ever drinks poison he will be drinking it in hellfire forever, and whoever threw himself from a mountain he will be throwing himself over a mountain in hell forever.” So this has explicit meaning that the one who commits suicide is a disbeliever, and it implies that he has left the fold of Islam.

Hadith #2 showing suicide can be kufr asghar:

However, there is evidence to transfer this apparent meaning of kufr akbar to kufr asghar:

Muslim, At-Tufayl bin Amru al Dowsi made hijrah to Madinah with a companion, on the way they became very ill, and his companion cut his veins and bled to death, At-Tufayl then slept and said, “I saw him in my dreams in the best of clothes hiding his hands in my dreams. And he said, “Allah forgave me because of my hijrah. “ And I asked him, “Why are you covering your hands?” And he replied, “Allah forgave me but did not forgive what I did to my hands.”” So At-tufayl told Muhammad (saw) about it and he (saw) said, “O Allah forgive his hands as well.”

Therefore this is indication that suicide can be kufr asghar.

Sharh Muslim v2 pg 132, Imam Nawawi, “This hadith (regarding suicide) is proof for the principle in the shariah that whoever commits a sin without to ask forgivess is not a kaafir. We cannot say he is in hell but rather he is in the mashee of Allah.” This is a refutation to the mutazilah and khariji who say that if someone does not repent before he dies he is kaafir.

[Surah 9:113] “There is no way for the believers or nabi to ask forgiveness for the mushriken after it has become clear that they are people of the hell fire.”

Muslim, Muhammad (saw) said, “I visited the grave of my mother and asked Allah if I could ask forgiveness for her and he did not allow me, but he permitted me to visit the grave.”

Nisaai, Ali said, “I heard a man ask forgiveness for his parents and we advised him not to do that and he said, “Did not Ibrahim ask forgiveness for his father” So I went to Muhammad (saw) and asked him and Allah sent the ayah, “That seeking forgiveness by Ibrahim was a promise before he knew that his father was a man of hellfire and after he found out that he was a man of hell he made bara from him.”

How suicide can be Kufr Akbar:

Suicide can become kufr akbar if there is istihlal in it e.g. euthanasia, promoting it etc. However normally someone who commits suicide if they leave a note saying Allah forgive me then that is not kufr akbar.

Murder:

Hadith #1 showing murder is kufr akbar:

[Surah 4: 93] “Whoever murders a Muslim intentionally his punishment is hell forever, and he will have the anger of Allah on him and his curse and Allah preparers for him a severe punishment.”

Hadith #2 showing murder is kufr akbar:

Muslim, Bukhari, Muhammad (saw) said, “The one who insults a believer that is sin but to fight him is kufr.” And we know that the kufr is always initially taken to be kufr akbar.

Hadith #3 showing murder is kufr asghar:

[Surah 2: 178] “O you who believe, the qassas has been prescribed for you…whoever is forgiven for killing his brother he should pay the blood money.” Therefore if it was apostasy then it would not fall under this hukm of jinayyat

Ayat showing fighting each other to be kufr asghar:

[Surah Hujuraat] “The believers are a single brotherhood so reconcile between your two brothers and fear Allah.”

Allah mentioned the believers to be a brotherhood, and to reconcile those who fight each other. Therefore there is no way for fighting to be kufr akbar, if Allah mentions reconciling and that they are brothers.

Hadith #4 showing murder is kufr asghar:

Ahmed, Muhammad (saw) said, “The hour will not come until there has been a lot of killing and murder you will not be killing the mushrikeen but each other until a man kills his neighbour, brother and uncle.” The sahabah asked, “Will we be sane?” Muhammad (saw) replied, “At that time the minds will become very shallow and after there will come people who think they know it all but they know nothing.”

Therefore Muhammad (saw) mentions that the Muslims will be fighting each other.

Hadith #5 showing fighting each other is kufr asghar:

Ibn Majah, Muhammad (saw) said, “I asked Allah three things for my ummah he gave me two but rejected one, I asked him not to let any enemy overcome them and he granted this to me, and I asked him to not let them drown in water and he granted me this and I asked him not to let them fight each other but he refused.” Again we were referred to as ‘My Ummah’ meaning even though we fight we are still muslims.

Hadith #6 showing murder can be kufr asghar:

Ibnu abi Aasim narrated Muhammad (saw) said, “I have been shown what my ummah will face after me and that some will slaughter each other and that was hard for me and sad, and this is what happened to the nations before so I asked Allah to grant me intercession for them and He granted it to me.”

The sahabah would ask forgiveness to those who did major sins:

Ibn Umar And Umar bin al Khattab said, “We used not to make istighfar to anyone who did major sin until we heard the ayah, “Allah does not forgive the shirk but he forgives anything lesser than that.”

Stealing and Zina originally appear to be kufr akbar:

We have ahadith where Muhammad (saw) said that there is no way for a believer to be a believer when he is stealing, or a believer when he is committing zina etc, these hadith suggest that these actions are kufr akbar however there is evidence to suggest this is not the case:

Hadith #1 to show stealing and zina is kufr asghar:

Sharh Muslim, Muhammad (saw) said, “Any servant who testifies la ilaha ilalah and dies on this will enter jannah,” Abu Dharr said, “Even if he steals and commits fornications?” And Muhammad (saw) replied, “Yes” And he asked twice more and Muhammad (saw) replied, “Even though Abu Dharr does not like this he will still enter jannah.”

So again the last part is qarina that they are small sins i.e. stealing, zina etc.

Alcoholism:

Hadith #1 showing alcoholism is kufr akbar:

Ibn Majah 2720 Muhammad (saw) said, “The one who is addicted to alcohol is like the one who worships idols.”

Hadith #2 showing alcoholism is kufr akbar:

Muhammad (saw) said, “No one will enter jannah the one who is addicted to alcohol.”

These ahadith indicate that drinking alcohol is kufr akbar, however there is evidence to suggest that it is kufr asghar:

Hadith #3 showing alcoholism is kufr asghar:

Bukhari, Umar bin Khattab said, “In the time of Muhammad (saw) there was a man nicknamed a donkey but he was called Abdullah…one day he (saw) lashed him for drinking alcohol, and he drank again and came to Muhammad (saw) and a man cursed him and Muhammad (saw) said, “Do not curse him, for he is someone who loves Allah and his messenger.” So this is evidence that it is kufr asghar.

Conclusion:

“The principle therefore is that an action is Kufr when it is mentioned as such until there is evidence to suggest it is lesser.”