Difference between legal and real muslims
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Salaam
how are you doin?
hope all is well.
Dear brother in
Islam, just out of curiosity one day my brother asked me the following quesion:
Are those who are born as muslims, muslims if they do not practice islam,
meaning if they do not read the Quran or read the namaaz are they still
considered as a muslim?.
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Difference between
legal and real muslims
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can
misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no
prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Every person who is born of
muslim parents, or who (even if not
born a muslim) declares the ‘shahaadah’ or testimony of faith that there is no
god worthy of worship except Allah Subhanah Alone, and Mohamed (saws) is the Last Messenger of Allah ; he will be deemed a muslim in the sight of
Shariah or Islamic Law.
The only way he ceases to become
a muslim is if he OPENLY DECLARES:
That he has left the fold of
Islam and thus become an apostate.
Or he openly denies the Being of
Allah Subhanah, or His Messengers, or His Angels, or His Revelations, or
the Hereafter.
If one openly denies that the
Quran is not the Book of Allah Subhanah, or openly denies Prophet Mohamed
(saws) as the Last and Final Messenger,
or openly denies that there is no need to pray the prescribed obligatory
salaat, then he will leave the fold of
Islam.
But if one believes in
the Quran as the Revelations of Allah Subhanah, and believes that the prescribed prayers are a duty unto the
believers; but due to negligence or
laziness or whatever reason does not recite Quran or perform the obligatory
prayers, or any of the other obligatory
duties; he will still remain and be
considered a ‘legal’ muslim. The most
that can be said of him is that he is a grave sinner in the sight of Allah
Subhanah. All the rights that are due
to a muslim will be given to him: he
can marry a believing woman, he can
inherit from his muslim parents, his children
can inherit from him, he can travel to
the Holy places of Makkah and Medina,
he will be given a muslim burial upon his death, etc.
What we need to understand here
is that there is a difference in being a ‘legal’ muslim in the sight of Shariah
and Islamic Law, and being a ‘true’ and ‘real’ muslim in the sight of Allah
Subhanah.
When one is born of muslim
parents, or declares the ‘shahaadah’ or testimony of faith; he will be considered a ‘legal’ muslim. Only on the Day of Judgement will Allah
Subhanah declare who were the ‘true’ and ‘real’ muslims, and who were not; for
Allah Subhanah Alone is aware of all things.
Human beings do not have the power to read what is in a person’s heart
or what are his exact intentions in declaring the ‘shahaadah’.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 2526 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
The Prophet (saws)
said: “Three things are the roots of
faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is no god but
Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from
Islam for his any action.”
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in
Islam,