Confirmation of the Disbelief of the Jews and Christians and the Reply to Those Who claim that it is not permissible to declare them Disbelievers

Question:

In a particular lecture in a mosque in Europe, the speaker claimed that it is not permissible to declare the Jews and Christians disbelievers. You know may Allah preserve you that many of the people who frequent the mosques in Europe do not possess much knowledge, and we fear that this kind of talk may spread; therefore, we request from you a clear answer to this question.

Answer:

I say: Verily, these words which emanate from this man are misguidance, and might even be considered disbelief, because the Jews and Christians are declared disbelievers by Allah, the Almighty, the Majestic in His Book. Allah, the Most High says:

And the Jews say: "Uzair is the son of Allah," and the Christians say: "The Messiah is the son of Allah." That is a saying from their mouths. They imitate the saying of the disbelievers of old. Allah's curse be on them, how they are deluded away from the truth! They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and monks to be their lords beside Allah (by obeying them in the things which they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without being ordered by Allah) and (they also took as their lord) the Messiah, the son of Maryam, while they (the Jews and Christians) were commanded to worship none but One Ilah (God Allah) La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He). Praise and glory be to Him from having the partners they associate (with Him).

This proves that they are disbelievers and Allah has clearly shown their disbelief in other Verses:
Surely in disbelief are they who say that Allah is the Messiah, son of Maryam.

Surely disbelievers are those who said: "Allah is the third of three (in a trinity).

Those among the Children of Israel who disbelieved were cursed by the tongue of Dawud and 'Isa, son of Maryam.

Verily, those who disbelieve (in the religion of Islam, the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad) from among the People of the Scripture (the Jews and Christians) and Al- Mushrikun will abide in the fire of Hell.

Such Verses are many as are the Hadiths. So whoever disputes the disbelief of the Jews and Christians, who disbelieve in Muhammad and belie him, then they have belied Allah, the Almighty, the Majestic. And belying Allah is disbelief, and whoever doubts their disbelief, there is no doubt as to his disbelief.

Glorified be Allah! How can this man claim that it is not permissible to make general pronouncement of disbelief on them, when they say that Allah is three, when their Creator the Almighty, the Majestic has declared them to be disbelievers? And how can he not agree to declare them to be disbelievers, when they say that the Messiah is the son of Allah, and they say that the Hand of Allah is tied up, and they say: "Allah is poor and we are rich."? How can he not agree to declare them disbelievers, when they describe their Lord with these evil epithets, all of which are shameful, abusive and insulting?

I call upon this man to turn to Allah, the Almighty, the Majestic in repentance and to read the Words of Allah:
They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you.

And (I call upon him) to avoid compromising with them in their disbelief, to make clear to everyone that they are disbelievers, and that they are the companions of the Fire. The Prophet said:
"By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, there is none from among the Jews and Christians from this community who will hear of me and then refuse to follow what I have brought (or he said: to believe in what I have brought), except that he will be one of the companions of the Fire.

It is therefore incumbent upon this person to turn to his Lord in repentance due to this terrible calumny and to announce publicly that they are disbelievers and that they are the companions of the Fire, and it is an obligation upon them to follow the unlettered Prophet, Muhammad, for he is mentioned in the Tawrah and the Injil. He orders them to enjoin what is just and forbid what is wrong and he prohibits them from Al-Munkar (disbelief, polytheism and all that Islam forbids) and he permits them At-Tayyibat (all things good and pure) and he declares forbidden to them Al-Khaba'ith (all evil and unlawful things). And he relieves them of their burden and the fetters which were upon them. And those who believe in him and support him and follow the Light which was sent down to him, they are the successful ones and he is the fulfillment of the prophecy of 'Isa, the son of Maryam, upon him be peace.

'Isa, the son of Maryam said, as his Lord relates from him (in the Qur'an):
" O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allah unto you, confirming the Tawrah (which came) before me and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad. But when he (Ahmad i.e. Muhammad came to them with clear proofs, they said: "This is plain magic."

But when who came to them...? Who came to them? The one of whom the glad tidings were given, Ahmad; and when he came to them with the clear evidences, they said: "This is plain magic." And this is how we reply to the claims of those Christians who said: "The one about whom 'Isa brought the news was Ahmad, not Muhammad." - We say to them: Verily, Allah, the Most High says: But when he (Ahmad, i.e. Muhammad) came to them with clear proofs, they said: "This is plain magic."

And none has come to them after Jesus, except Muhammad; and Muhammad is Ahmad, but Allah inspired 'Isa to call Muhammad as Ahmad, because Ahmad is the superlative of Al-Hamd. So he is the most praising of Allah from among mankind and he is the most praiseworthy in creation due to his perfect characteristics. He - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - is therefore the most praising of Allah from among mankind, being the superlative which falls under the category of the active participle, i.e. Ahmad An-Naas. At the same time, he is Ahmad An-Naas in the sense that he is the most deserving of praise among them, which is the superlative falling under the category of the object of the verb. So he is the praiser and the praised, in the most complete sense of the word praise, the proof of which is the name Ahmad.

I say: Every person who claims that there is a religion in this world which Allah accepts instead of Islam is a disbeliever, whose apostasy is in no doubt. For Allah, the Almighty, the Majestic says in His Book:

And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter, he will be one of the losers.

And He, the Almighty, the Majestic says:
"This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion"

Based upon the above - and I repeat, for the third time - it is incumbent upon this person to turn in repentance to Allah, the Almighty, the Majestic and to make clear to all of the people that those Jews and Christians are disbelievers, for the proof has been established against them and the Message has come to them, but they obstinately rejected it.

And verily, the Jews have been described as those upon whom is (Allah's) wrath, because they knew the truth, but they rejected it, while the Christians have been described as those who are astray, because they desired the truth, but went astray from it. But now, all of them know the truth, but they reject it;

and due to this, all of them deserve to be of those upon whom is (Allah's) wrath, and I call upon those Jews and Christians to believe in Allah and all of His Messengers and to obey Muhammad, for it is he whom they were commanded (to follow) in their Scriptures, as Allah, the Most High says:

And My Mercy embraces all things. That (Mercy) I shall ordain for those who are Al-Muttaqun and give Zakah, and those who believe in Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs and revelations etc.) Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad) whom they find written with them in the Tawrah) he commands them to perform Al-Ma'roof (i.e. Islamic monotheism and all that Islam has ordained); and he forbids them from Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism of all kinds and all that Islam has forbidden); he allows them as laful At-Tayyibat (.e. all good and lawful things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods, etc.) and he prohibits them as unlawful Al-Khaba'ith (i.e. all evil and unlawful things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods, etc.); he releases them from their heavy burdens (of Allah's Covenant) and from the fetters (bindings) that were upon them. So those who believe in him (Muhammad), honor him, help him and follow the Light (the Qur'an) which has been sent down with him, t it is they who will be successful. Say (Muhammad): "O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He); it is He Who gives life and causes death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad ), the Prophet who can neither read nor write, who believes in Allah and His Words; and follow him so that you may be guided.

And so that they might take the reward from two shares, as the Messenger of Allah said:
"There are three who will receive two rewards: A man from the People of the Book who believes in his Prophet and believes in Muhammad SAW.

And I read the words of the author of Al-Iqna' in the chapter on the ruling on the apostate, in which he said:
"...or does not declare one who follows a religion other than Islam to be a disbeliever, such as the Christians, or is in doubt about their disbelief, or declared their way to be correct - he is a disbeliever."

In a quote from Shaikh Al-Islam[2] he said: "Whoever believed that the churches are the houses of Allah, that Allah is worshipped therein, that the practices of the Jews and Christians may be defined as worship of Allah and obedience to Him and His Messenger, or that He loves it, or that it pleases Him, or helped them to open them, or establish their religion, and that such activity brings them closer to Allah or is an act of obedience, he is a disbeliever."

In another place, he said: "Whoever believed that visiting the Christians in their churches brings him closer to Allah is an apostate."

This confirms what we have said at the start of this reply, which is that there is no doubt in the matter. And Allah is the One from Whom help is sought.