Evidences against mankind until Yawmul Qiyamah...

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) died, many of those who had embraced Islam apostatized and a great sedition took place, in which Allah strengthened those whom He had blessed with fortitude through Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (ra), for he he made a stand which no one else among the Sahabah (ra) accepted and reminded them of what they had forgotten and taught them that which they knew not and encouraged them to do what they feared to do. And through them Allah strengthened the Deen of Islam – may Allah make us among his followers and the followers of that which his companions (ra) carried (Qur’an and Sunnah). Allah says:

"O you who believe, whoever from among you turns back from his deen, Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the cause of Allah."

Al-Hasan al-Basri said, “By Allah, they are Abu Bakr and his companions.”

The forms of riddah that the Arabs split into were in different groups: A number of them returned to the worship of idols, saying, “If he was a Prophet, he would not have died,” Another group said, “We believe in Allah, but we do not pray.” Another faction acknowledged Islam and prayed, but they refused to pay Zakaah. Another group testified that none is worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, but they believed Musaylamah the liar’s claim that the Prophet (saws) had made him a partner in Prophethood. This was because he brought witnesses with him to that, among them was a man from his companions who was renowned for his knowledge and worship, who was known as ar-Rajjal and they believed him because of what they knew of him of his knowledge and his worship. One of those who was true amongst them said:

O delight of my, daughter of Uthal,

My night was made long by the trial of ar-Rajjal,

He put them to trial by his false testimony,

But Allah is Almighty, and Strong in punishment

And a tribe from among the people of Yemen believed al-Aswad al-‘Anasi’s claim to Prophethood, while another tribe believed Tulayhah al-Asadi. And none of the Sahabah (ra) had any doubt as to the kufr of those whom we have mentioned, nor the obligation to fight them, except those who refused to pay Zakaah; and when Abu Bakr (ra) resolved to fight them, it was said to him, “How can we fight them, when the Messenger of Allah has said, ‘I was commanded to fight the people until they say none has the right to be worshiped except Allah, and if they declare that, then their lives and their property are safe from me, except by the right in Islam.'” Abu Bakr (ra) said, “Zakaah is a part of that right. By Allah, were they to refuse me an ‘iqal which they used to pay to the Messenger of Allah, I would fight them die to their refusal to pay it.”

Then the doubt was lifted from the Sahabah (ra) and they realized the necessity to fight them, so they fought them and Allah helped them and they killed some of them and took their women and children captive. So one of the most important obligations upon the Muslim today is to reflect on this story, which Allah has made one of His Evidences against mankind until Yawmul Qiyamah. And whoever reflects well on this – especially if he knows that Allah made it well known to the general populace and that the Scholars are unanimously agreed that the action of Abu Bakr in that was correct and they declared that it was one of his greatest acts of virtue and knowledge that he did not hesitate to fight them; indeed, he fought them from the first moment and they know the depth of his understanding of the evidences which he cited against them (the apostates) which were dubious to them, for he answered them with their own evidence, although the matter is made clear in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

As for the Qur’an, it is the Saying of Allah:

"Then when the sacred months has passed, then kill the mushrikeen wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in every ambush. But if they repent and perform Salaah, and give Zakaah, then leave their way free."

And in the Sahihayn, it is narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, “I was commanded to fight the people until they say none has the right to be worshiped except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish Salāh and pay Zakaah, and if they declare that, then their lives and their property are safe from me, except by the right is Islam.”

This then is the Book of Allah, which is clear to the dull-witted man in the street. And these are the words of the Messenger of Allah (saws). And this is the Ijmaa’ of the Scholars which I have mentioned to you.

And what will inform you clearly of this is the knowledge of its opposite, which is that the “scholars” in our times say, “Whoever said none is worthy of worship except Allah, his property and his life is safe from me, he is not declared a Kaafir, nor is he fought.” They even declare that regarding the matter of the Bedouins who den the Resurrection and reject the Islamic Laws and claim that their false law is the truth of Allah, but if one of them is requested to by his opponent to subject his argument to the Law of Allah, they consider this to be a most hateful thing. In fact, in general, they disbelieve in the Qur’an from start to finish and disbelieve in all of the Deen of the Messenger (saws) although they pay lip service to it and they claim that these laws of theirs were made by their forefathers for them and in doing so, they disbelieve in the Law of Allah.

And the “scholars” of our time know all this and they say, “There is not even a single hair of Islam in them.” And these words have been received by the general populace from their scholars and they reject what Allah and His Messenger (saws) have made clear; indeed, they declare those who believe Allah and His Messenger (saws) in this matter to be disbelievers, saying, “Whoever declares a Muslim to be a Kaafir has disbelieved.” (This is what we see today from the murjiah rejects and modernists, who say that everyone is a Muslim except the Mujahideen, who are the believers in truth, because the Mujahideen declare the Kuffr of those who fall into Kuffr).

And the definition of a Muslim, according to them, is one who has not even a single hair of Islam, except that he says with his mouth laa ilaha illAllah, while he is the furthest of people from understanding it and fulfilling its obligations, whether in knowledge, belief, or action.

So know – may Allah have mercy on you – that this matter is the most important of all things to you, because it is the matter of Kuffr and Islam ; if you believe them, then you have disbelieved in what Allah has revealed to His Messenger (saws) as we have mentioned to you from the Qur’an and Sunnah and the Ijmaa’ of the Scholars and if you believe Allah and His Messenger (saws) they will oppose you and declare you a disbeliever.

And this clear Kuffr in the Qur’an and Messenger (saws) in this matter has become widespread throughout the land, both east and west and none is free from it except a very small minority. So if you hope for Jannah and fear the Fire, research this matter and study it from the Book and Sunnah and make it clear and you should not be deficient in researching it, due to the severe need for it and because it is the matter of Islam and disbelief and say, “Allahumma, guide me to good sense and make me understand about You, give me knowledge from You and protect me from the deceptions of fitan, so long as You keep me alive.”

Supplicate Allah much using the Du’aa whose use by the Messenger of Allah (saws) in Salaah has been authentically reported, and that is, “Allahumma, Lord of Jibreel, Mika'eel and Israfeel, the Creator of the heavens and earth, Who knows the unseen and the seen; You decide amongst Your servants concerning their differences. Guide me with Your Permission in the different views (which the people) hold about truth, for it is You Who guides whom You will to the Sirat Mustaqeem.”

And we shall add clarification and evidence in this matter due to the severity of the need for it, saying, “Let every rational person comprehend one story from among them (stories of riddah), which is that Banu Hanifah were the most well known of those who committed riddah and it is they who are well known to the general populace from among those who apostatized. And in the minds of the people, they are the worst of the murtaddeen and the greatest disbelievers amongst them, in spite of the fact they declared that none is worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and they used to make the Athan and offer the Salaah, but in spite of this, most of them believed that the Messenger of Allah (saws) ordered them to do this, due to the witnesses who testified along with ar-Rajjal.

And he who knows this – and has no doubt of it – will say “Whoever says laa ilaha illAllah is a Muslim,” even though he has not even a single hair of Islam, but has in fact, abandoned it and deliberately made mock of it. SubhanAllah, Who transforms the hearts as He wills. How can a heart of a rational person – even though he may be one of the most ignorant people – reconcile his knowledge that Banu Hanifah were guilty of Kuffr, although their situation was as we have described, with the belief that the Bedouins are Muslimīn, even though they have completely abandoned Islam, rejected it, and deliberately mocked it, because they say laa ilaha illAllah? But I testify that Allah is Able to do all things. We ask Him to make our heart firm in following His Deen and not make our hearts go astray after He has guided us and that He grant us mercy from Him, verily, He is the Granter. 

Second evidence: Another story which took place during the era of the Khulafa as-Rashidoon

This was that when those who remained of the tribe o Banu Hanifah returned to Islam, declared themselves innocent of Musaylamah (the liar) and admitted that he was a liar, they felt guilty and they left their families to go to the front lines in order to fight Jihad for the sake of Allah, hoping that this would wipe out the effects of their riddah, for Allah says:

"Except those who repent and believe and do righteous deeds; for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds…" [25:70]

and He says:

"And verily, I am indeed forgiving to him who repents, believes and does righteous deeds, and then remains constant in doing them." [20:82]

So they went to Kūfah and settled there and a well known quarter of the city become theirs, in which there is a Masjid known as Masjid Bani Hanifah. Some of the Muslimeen passed by their Masjid between Maghrib and ‘Isha and they heard them saying something the meaning of which was that Musaylamah (the liar) was following the truth and there were a large number of them; and those who did not say it did not criticize those who said it. They (i.e. the Muslimeen) with ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud and he gathered the Sahabah who were with him and sought their advice as to whether he should kill them even though they repented, or should he call on them to repent? Some of them advised that they should be killed without being called to repent, while others advised that they should be called upon to repent, so he called upon some of them to repent and he killed some of them without asking them to repent.

So reflect, may Allah have mercy on you. They had demonstrated the acts of righteousness which entailed hardship (Jihad) that they did, and they did not do anything except these words which they said secretly in praise of Musaylamah (the liar), but they were heard by some of the Muslimeen and in spite of this, no one doubted that they had all disbelieved – including the speaker and the one who heard but did not criticize him – and they only differed as to whether their repentance should be sought or not (and not on whether they were Kuffaar). And the story is in Sahih al-Bukhari.

So how can we reconcile this with the saying of one who claims that he is a scholar and says: “The bedouins do not have even a single hair of Islam except that they say,’laa ilaha illAllah.'” Yet in spite of this, he rules that they are Muslimeen due to this? How can we reconcile this with the Ijmā’ of the Sahabah regarding those who said those words, or heard them but did not reject them?

She went east and I went west

Diverse indeed are the east and west

Our Lord! I seek refuge with You from being among those of whom You said:

"When it lighted all around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness. (So) they could not see." [2:17-18]

Third evidence: What took place furing the era of the Khulafa ar-Rashidoon

The story of the companions of ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib when they believed that he was a deity to be worshipped – the same belief which is shared today by people who are worst disbelievers among the sons of Adam – and he called upon them to repent, but they refused, so he dug trenches for them and filled them with kindling and set fire to it and cast them into it alive.

And it is well known that if Allah commands that a Kaafir – such as a jew or christian – be killed, it is not permissible to burn with fire, so it is known that they were worse disbelievers than the jews and christians. This was in spite of the fact that they used to stand in Salaah at night, fast during the day, recite the Qur’aan, learning it from the Sahabah of the Messenger of Allah (saws). But when they exceeded proper bounds in praising ‘Alī as they did, he burnt them alive in the fire. And all of the Sahabah and the Scholars agreed unanimously that they were disbelievers, so where is the claim of those who say what they do regarding the bedouins, while they acknowledge this story and its like and (at the same time) they acknowledge that the bedouins totally disbelieved in Islam, except that they say, laa ilaha illAllah?

You should know that the sin of these people was only against (Tawheed) al-Uluhiyyah and we do not know of any sin that they committed against an-Nubuwiyyah, while those before them were guilty of sinning against an-Nubuwiyyah, but we do not know of any sin that they committed against (Tawheed) al-Uluhiyyah; and this makes clear to you something of the meaning of the Shahādatayn, which are the foundation of Islam.

The fourth evidence: What took place during the era of the Sahabah also

And it is the story of al-Mukhtar Ibn Abi ‘Ubayd ath-Thaqafi; he was a man from among the Tabi’oon, a relative by marriage of ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar who gave the impression of being a righteous man and he appeared in ‘Iraq seeking to avenge the blood of al-Hussayn and the members of his family and he killed Ibn Ziyad and a number of people who had been wronged by Ibn Ziyad joined him, due to his seeking to avenge the blood of ahlul-Bayt and they conquered ‘Iraq and implemented the Laws of Islam and appointed to office judges and Aimmah from among the companions of Ibn Mas’ud and it was he (al-Mukhtar) who used to lead the people in the Juma’ah Salaah and the Jama’ah, but towards the end of his life, he claimed that he was receiving Revelation, so ‘Abdullah Ibn az-Zubayr sent out an army to him and they routed the army of al-Mukhtar and killed him. The commander of the army was Mus’ab Ibn az-Zubayr and he (al-Mukhtar) had a wife whose father was one of the Sahabah and Mus’ab called upon her to declare al-Mukhtar a Kaafir, but she refused; so he wrote to his brother ‘Abdullah, asking for a verdict regarding her. He wrote: “If she does not declare her innocent of him, then kill her (for riddah).” She refused and so Mus’ab killed her.

And the Scholars are in complete agreement regarding the Kuffr of al-Mukhtar – even though he observed the rites of Islam – when he claimed Prophethood.

And if the Sahabah killed a woman who was the daughter of a Sahabi when she refused to declare the Kuffr of al-Mukhtar, then what may be said of one who does not declare the bedouins disbelievers, while he acknowledges their situation? And what may be said of one who claims that they are the people of Islam and whoever calls them to Islam is Kaafir? O our Lord? We seek Your Pardon and Protection. 

[Mukhtasar Seerah Ar-Rasool, by Shaykhul Islam Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhab (rahimahUllah)]