Usul Takfir: Principles for Issuing the Verdict of Kufr

The gist of all that has been mentioned thus far is that extreme caution needs to be exercised in the matter of Takfīr. Referring to any Muslim as a Kāfir (disbeliever) is a major sin and a great crime with regards to the Muslim Ummah. The same ruling applies to referring to any person as a Muslim, whose disbelief has been categorically proven. On one hand, baselessly referring to a person as a Kāfir is considered a major sin and on the other hand, referring to a Kāfir as a Muslim leads to jeopardising the safety of the Dīn and Īmān of the general Muslims. Hence, just as caution is necessary in the matter of Takfīr (declaration of the Kufr charge), declaration of it when required is also necessary. Unfounded silence is, in itself, contrary to caution.

Reviewed by:

• Hazrat Moulānā Mufti Muhammad Taqi `Uthmāni
• Sheikh-ul-Hadīth Hazrat Moulānā Samī-ul-Haq (former rector of Jāmi`ah Haqqāniyah, Akorah Khattak)
• Hazrat Moulānā Muhammad Sajjād Al-Hijābi (Sheikh-ul-Hadīth Jāmi`ah Anwār-ul-Qur’ān wal `Ulūm, Narshak Mardān)