THE BIG DEBATE.
*Click on the picture to view the video;)
Sheikh Assim-Al-Hakeem versus Dr. Bilal Philips.
Sheikh Assim-Al-Hakeem versus Dr. Bilal Philips.
Debating in Islam is generally disliked and not permissible
but there is a type of argument that is allowed. In that, people try to get to
the bottom of the matters and find out the hidden truth.
Sheikh Assim-Al-Hakeem.
The issue of abandoning Salaah is an issue which scholars have explored a lot. Some argued that he should be executed as a sinful Muslim and some said that he should be declared a Kaafir.
Surah Tauba Ayah 11:
“ But if they repent, perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give Zakat, then they are your brethren in religion. (In this way) We explain the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) in detail for a people who know.”
Allah is talking about pagans. They have to repent from Shirk, perform prayer and give Zakat. Then they are your brothers. If they don’t pay Zakat then there is a Hadith in Sahih that considers this factor. However, if a person doesn’t pray then he is not considered to be a Muslim.
Surah Al-Mudatthir Ayah 39-47:
“Except those on the Right, (i.e. the pious true believers of Islamic Monotheism); In Gardens (Paradise) they will ask one another, About Al-Mujrimun (polytheists, criminals, disbelievers, etc.), (And they will say to them):"What has caused you to enter Hell?"
They will say: "We were not of those who used to offer their Salat (prayers).Nor we used to feed Al-Miskin (the poor); "And we used to talk falsehood (all that which Allah hated) with vain talkers .And we used to belie the Day of Recompense. Until there came to us (the death) that is certain."
The prime reason was that they did not pray. Quran tells us
that major sins were committed by people, yet Quran calls them the brothers of
ours. Even if a person kills other person!Sheikh Assim-Al-Hakeem.
The issue of abandoning Salaah is an issue which scholars have explored a lot. Some argued that he should be executed as a sinful Muslim and some said that he should be declared a Kaafir.
Surah Tauba Ayah 11:
“ But if they repent, perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give Zakat, then they are your brethren in religion. (In this way) We explain the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) in detail for a people who know.”
Allah is talking about pagans. They have to repent from Shirk, perform prayer and give Zakat. Then they are your brothers. If they don’t pay Zakat then there is a Hadith in Sahih that considers this factor. However, if a person doesn’t pray then he is not considered to be a Muslim.
Surah Al-Mudatthir Ayah 39-47:
“Except those on the Right, (i.e. the pious true believers of Islamic Monotheism); In Gardens (Paradise) they will ask one another, About Al-Mujrimun (polytheists, criminals, disbelievers, etc.), (And they will say to them):"What has caused you to enter Hell?"
They will say: "We were not of those who used to offer their Salat (prayers).Nor we used to feed Al-Miskin (the poor); "And we used to talk falsehood (all that which Allah hated) with vain talkers .And we used to belie the Day of Recompense. Until there came to us (the death) that is certain."
Murder is a great crime.
But regarding prayer Allah declared that he is not your brother.
A Hadith reported by Imam Ahmed says that prayer differentiates between believer and non-believer. In another Hadith the Prophet (S.A.W) tells us about the upcoming rulers of Muslims that they will know things that they are from Quran and Sunnah and yet they will disobey. When the companions said that are they allowed to kill those rulers, he denied and said that as long as they pray you have to obey them. In another Hadith he says, you cannot go against them unless they make a blatant show of Kufr and you have evidence from Allah that what they do is Kufr.
This means that abandoning Salaah is Kufr. If you look in Quran and Sunnah, you will never find any evidence that person who doesn’t pray is not a Kaafir.
This is a consensus of people during and after Prophet (S.A.W) that the companions did not considered anything as Kufr except abandoning Namaz, they believed that whoever is abandoning prayer is committing Kufr. All respected companions like Umar (R.A) and Abdur Rehman Bin Auf agreed with this statement.
The difference is not that big because all Muslims believe that if a person abandons Salaah believing that it is not mandatory is Kaafir. Ibn Taymiyyah says that if you bring someone and you tell him to pray and he refuses and you show him the evidences proving that if you do not pray you won’t be a Muslim and if he is then bought before the ruler who commands him to pray and yet he refuses to do so despite various threats and if till the end he rejects forcing you to chop his head then he died a Kaafir.
So you have to tell your brothers and sisters who do not pray that they are Kaafir. You do not label them but it has to be referred to the judges.
Dr. Bilal Philips
However, there is another perspective that if a person abandons Salaah and denies its obligation than that person is a disbeliever. The second case might be that if a person abandons Salaah but holds that Salaah is still an obligation, the scholars in this case hold that if he is threatened with death and still does not pray then he is a disbeliever. Because he does not pray till the end, it is impossible. His choice is the evidence that he doesn’t believe in Salaah. The third case is when a person abandons Salaah out of laziness. Such a person prays only on special occasions like Friday and Ramadhan, then such a person should not be labeled disbeliever because then we will be labeling most of the Ummah today.
If we look at the argument before that non-payment of Zakat
does not pull people out of Islam unless they deny it. If that is the case of
Zakat and the two are mentioned together in the verse, if one does not make him
Kaafir then nor does the other. And here the ayah talks about complete
abandonment not laziness. So the evidence is not sufficient.However, there is another perspective that if a person abandons Salaah and denies its obligation than that person is a disbeliever. The second case might be that if a person abandons Salaah but holds that Salaah is still an obligation, the scholars in this case hold that if he is threatened with death and still does not pray then he is a disbeliever. Because he does not pray till the end, it is impossible. His choice is the evidence that he doesn’t believe in Salaah. The third case is when a person abandons Salaah out of laziness. Such a person prays only on special occasions like Friday and Ramadhan, then such a person should not be labeled disbeliever because then we will be labeling most of the Ummah today.
As the Hadith says: “There are three things that I swear by that Allah will not make on who has a share of Islam like one who has no share and shares of Islam are three: Salaah, fasting and Zakat”. This Hadith tells that abandonment of Salaah is not complete Kufr. However, if a person never prays at anytime indicates that he does not believe in at all and is a Kaafir.
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