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Matters That Take A Person

Outside The Fold of Islam

Compiled by Abdul Samad Ali

1
Dear reader,
Please recite Surat al-Fatiha and donate the reward of your recitation to the
renowned scholars and great Gnostics, carriers of the banner of the authority
of the Quran and Sunna, who illuminated the land of Khorasan and Hind
with the Muhammadan light, Ali bin Uthman al-Hajweri al-Hassani wal-Husayni
and Baba Fareed Masud Ganjshakar may Allah the Exalted have mercy upon
them and reward them well on behalf the Muslims; Indeed, He is All-Hearing,
All-Knowing.

Amin
- Abdul Samad Ali

Introduction
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Blessings and salutations on the best of Allahs creation,
the most sublime in character, our Master Muhammad , the seal of those who have passed and
the guide to the straight path and upon His pure and noble wives and family, His Companions
and those who have followed the People of the Prophetic Way and the Majority of Scholars (Ahl asSunnah wal-Jamah) with excellence until the Day of Judgement.
Ab Abdallh Muammad ibn Muammad ibn Ahmad Ibn Juzayy al-Kalb, the erudite scholar, a poet,
grammarian, historian and jurist in the Maliki school of law, was born in the year 693AH. He
belonged to the Arab tribe of Kalb. He was al-Andals (from Granada in Andalusia, Spain). Ibn
Juzayy wrote widely on all the sciences of his day: Prophetic Traditions (adth), Jurisprudence (Fiqh),
Quranic Exegesis (Tafsr) and Spirituality (Taawwuf). He is mainly known as the writer to whom Ibn
Battuta dictated his life travels to, which later came to be known as ar-Rila (The Journey). He died
fighting as a martyr in the Battle of Tarf in the year 741AH, may Allah the Exalted have mercy on
him, and reward him well on behalf of the Muslims; Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.
The following poem was written by Ibn Juzayy, in praise of our Master Muammad ,
translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf:
I desired to praise the Chosen One and was hindered
By my own inability to grasp the extent of his glory.
How can one such as I measure an ocean, when the ocean is vast?
And how can one such as I count the stones and the stars?
If all of my limbs were to become tongues, even then
Even then I could not begin to praise him as I desired.
And if all of creation gathered together in an attempt
To praise him, even then they would stint in his due.
I have altogether ceased trying awestruck, clinging to courtesy,
Tempered by timidity, glorifying his most exalted rank.
Indeed, sometimes silence holds within it the essence of eloquence,
And often speech merely fodder for the faultfinder.
In this brief treatise, I have summarised some matters that take a person outside the fold of
Islam, relying on the text al-Qawnn al-Fiqhiyyah,of the great Imam Ibn Juzayy al-Kalb. The
intention behind this text is to remind others of the beliefs we must be aware of as being heretical,
in order to protect our own faith (mn) in this life and to attain salvation in the next life. It is also my
intention to remind the heedless not to take the matter of anathematisation (Takfr) lightly and not to
kick people out of the religion based on their non-adherence to ones methodology (Manhaj or
Maslak).
May Allah the Exalted guide us all to the right path, the path of the People of the Prophetic Way
and the Majority of Muslim Scholars (Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jamah), protect us from misguidance and
unite us with our Master Muhammad in Paradise. Amin

Matters That Take A Person Outside

The Fold of Islam
According to Ibn Juzayy, these acts are:
Negating that God has Lordship over His creation.
Negating that God is one in His essence, attributes, and actions.
Worshiping another entity along with God (Polytheism).
Changing ones religion to other than Islam after having learned about Islam and having
understood it.1
Claiming that God can become manifest in His creation.2
Believing in reincarnation.3
Negating any one of Gods known attributes.4 Included in this is claiming that the
Universe was created by other than Him or that He was born from something else.
Included in this also is claiming that the Universe had no beginning in time.
Claiming that one has sat alongside with God literally or claiming that one has ascended
to visit Him, literally speaking.5

God has said that, Whoever seeks other than Islam as a religion, it will not be accepted from him.

To take the form of a man or a created being, concept of ull.

To believe in the rebirth of a soul in another body or animal.

The Dissenters (Mutazilah) deny the attributes of Allah. They believe that the Qurn is created, along with
other heretical beliefs.
4

The Anthropomorphists (ashawiyyah), attribute human qualities to Allah. They say that, Allah has
literally (aqqatan) settled Himself on the Throne or that He has a Hand and Face, but not necessarily
as the average human being may comprehend. These beliefs will take the person outside the fold of
Islam.
Imam Al-Ashari stated the following in the chapter on anthropomorphists (al-Mujassima) in his
bookMaqlt al-Islmiyyn: Some of those who profess(yantahil) the science of hadith said: The Throne
is not filled by Allah, because He makes His Prophet sit with him on the Throne.
The word yantahil, Shaykh GF Haddad explains, constitutes a tacit dismissal of those who used
Mujahids narration to support the concept of the physical togetherness(maiyya) of the Prophet with
Allah on the Throne, particularly those in the Hanbali school, where some scholars have turned this
position into a lithmus-test of belief, as shown by al-Khalll in his work,al-Sunna.
As al-Qurub says in his Tafsr, under chapter 3 verse 7, The most sound opinion is to consider them
(anthropomorphists) to be unbelievers,since there is no difference between them and worshipers of idols
and images.They should be asked to repent. Thereafter, either theyll repent, or if not, they should be
executed as is done to an apostate (murtad).
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 Claiming that a person after the time of Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah is a real
prophet from God (and that Prophet Muhammad is not the last prophet). Included
in this is claiming that one has received revelation from God (like a prophet).
Stating that it is possible that the prophets lied to us.6
Claiming that the message of Islam is only for Arabs (or only for another chosen group).
Claiming that one will enter Paradise, while still in this world.
Claiming that the punishment and reward in the next life is only confined to being
metaphorical.
Calling all of the Companions of the Prophet disbelievers.7
Denying any of the necessarily known and obvious parts of the religion.8
Claiming that there is no need to worship God externally any more after becoming
spiritually advanced. For example, claiming that the formal prayer is no longer
obligatory after one has reached some high spiritual station with God.
Denying any part of the Quran left by Prophet Muhammad .
Intentionally adding to (inserting ones own words into) or changing any part of the
Quran left by the Prophet .9
Claiming that others besides God could produce the Quran.
Claiming that the latter scholars/saints were better than the prophets.10
[Ibn Juzayy al-Kalb, al-Qawann al-Fiqhiyyah: page 543-544]

Truthfulness is from the necessary attributes of Prophets and Lying is from the impossible attributes of the
Prophets, peace be upon them all.
6

To curse any of the companions of our Master Muammad is nothing short of misguidance. Qadhi
Iyadh says, Cursing the people of the Prophets house (Ahl al-Bayt), His wives, and His Companions
and disapproving of them is forbidden and unlawful and the one who does it is cursed. The Prophet said,
Whoever curses my Companions, beat him. May Allah be pleased with them all, the best of generation.
7

For example, one claiming that formal prayer, fasting the month of Ramadhan, giving Zakah, and
performing Hajj are not obligatory, or to believe that fornication and liquid intoxicants are permissible.
8

Included in this is fabricating obligatory tenets of belief or obligatory acts of worship which have no basis
in the primary texts.
9

For example, to believe that Imam Malik, Imam ash-Shafii, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani, et al. were superior than
our Master Muhammad . In reality, our Master Muammad is the greatest of all creation.
10