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Defining Kafir, Mushrik And A Non-Muslim
I went through all the discussions on this matter but still want to clear some doubts on this matter.
Let me know whether my understanding is correct or not on this matter.👇🏻
Kafir:- A person who deliberately denies the truth .
Mushrik:- A person who deliberately rejects truth and monotheism and performs polytheism.
[All Mushriks are kafir but not all kafirs are mushrik] but both will be worthy of punishment by Allah for deliberatly denying the truth .
But we muslims have no authority to point anyone kafir or mushrik (even if they involved in polytheistic activities).
Christianity and Judiasm never admitted polytheism but they still involve in some polytheistic activities .
Hinduism is also not a religion of polytheism according to the hindus. They belief hinduism is a religion of henotheism (literally one god) and monotheism both. But they also belief that there are many dieties, forms from which the supreme god can be reached.
Even if someone belief in open polytheism still we don’t have any authority to call them mushrik. We can call them polytheists but we can’t call them Mushrik(A person who deliberately denies monotheism and truth and performs polytheism).
So we muslims have no authority to call anyone mushrik, kafir in today’s world right?.
Yes these activities are clearly polytheistic activities in our eyes but we don’t have the authority to call anyone mushrik/ kafir because only Allah can judge and know that who is deliberately committing shirk and denying the truth.
The Right way to call them is Non-muslims or the name they actually prefer to be called.
So What I’ve understood is right?.
Please correct me If I’ve misunderstood anything.
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11 Replies
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Defining Kafir, Mushrik And A Non-Muslim
updated 2 years, 6 months ago
2 Members
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11
Replies
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Mushrik is someone who knowingly adopts polytheism as a religion, knowing that he/she is doing shirk.
The rest of the understanding is correct, based on my understanding.
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If a person truly beliefs that there are many gods and adopts polytheism then he won’t be considered as mushrik ..right?.
A person will be considered as mushrik only When he beliefs that there is only one god and knows that God should not be shared with anyone while worshiping but still he does it KNOWINGLY.
Here the word “KNOWINGLY” refers to “deliberately denying the truth that God should not be shared with anyone while worshipping” or “knowingly committing shirk”.
So on this basis mushriks are also be considered as kafirs and will be worthy of punishment on the day of judgement ..right?…
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Here “KNOWINGLY” or “DELIBERATELY” also encompasses the person’s knowledge and circumstances, and what was the attitude of person committing Shirk when faced with counter arguments for polytheism, did he ignore them and didn’t pay heed to them or did he took those arguments seriously, and whether there was any prejudice involved in making his decision of consciously adopting polytheism as religion et. etc.. All these factors need to be accounted for, before we can declare anyone Mushrik.
The statement “A person will be considered as mushrik only When he beliefs that there is only one god and knows that God should not be shared with anyone while worshiping but still he does it KNOWINGLY” is not always true, as there may be cases where a person adopts polytheism, let’s say, based on some prejudice or he didn’t pay attention to the counter arguments, didn’t even take them seriously; these factors can also become a matter of accountability and can put him in the category of Mushrik.
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Very nicely explained. Thank you so much.🙏🏻
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Sorry for continuing this discussion again but I think this is the right thread for this discussion.
The question is:-
What is difference between hypocrites and kafir mentioned in quran?
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Please refer to the video below from 22:10 to 45:43
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I have few questions regarding this statement :- 👇🏻
The statement “A person will be considered as mushrik only When he beliefs that there is only one god and knows that God should not be shared with anyone while worshiping but still he does it KNOWINGLY” is not always true, as there may be cases where a person adopts polytheism, let’s say, based on some prejudice or he didn’t pay attention to the counter arguments, didn’t even take them seriously; these factors can also become a matter of accountability and can put him in the category of Mushrik.
Questions:-
1)Can prejudice be the reason for someone to be a Mushrik or a Kafir?.
2)If a person ignores to counter arguements and adopts polytheism as religion, this attitude can also put him in the category of Mushrik?. I am asking this question because there can be many people including muslims who decide something based on emotions, ease, family background etc. Some people may try to search for something but again due to the wordly affairs they fall back on their prevalent beliefs because not many people take time to know and majority of people in today’s world do not think much. We can all them Ignorant but is it right to say that if they ignore such arguments they can fall in the category of mushrik or kafir?.
3) Overall whatever the reason for someone to adopt anything, we as humans can’t Label someone due to actions or beliefs , right?.
Like, If a person comes and tells me that he is deliberately denying the truth then also we can’t call him/ her a kafir, right? This is because we don’t know what made him to speak like this or what is the state of mind of a person..
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1) Yes, prejudice is one of the biggest reasons that may lead one to deny the truth and adopt a course of action more in line with their bias, whether it be Kufar or Shirk.
2) In this case it depends what has led that person to ignore the counter arguments, knowing such circumstances in detail will decide fate of that person and only God has power and knowledge to know all such circumstances.
3) We do not have this authority to give such verdicts but in your example, if someone has actually acknowledged this fact then we can call him kafir (in literal sense as in rejected the message of God) based on his own confession.
Please refer to the video below from 33:34 to 38:11
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1) If prejudice is one of the biggest reason, then we can say that Muslims are on the safe side?.
Everyone has more or less prejudice, and I agree that this is the test in this world for everyone to find truth and not be biased, but according to Islam there is no forgiveness for kafir and mushrik.
So,
i) If someome from the traditional Islam becomes biased and ignores the counter arguments of non-traditional scholars, then he is still in the safe zone.
ii) Ghamidi sahab has said that one can can choose the opinion of any scholar according to his ease. So for a person following their culture or family tradition can be more easy and therefore it can also take the form of Bias. So in this case muslims will be safe because no matter which opinion a muslim believes in, or forms any kind of bias, or ignores any argument, he is technically on the safer side than those born in Non muslim families. “Safer side” in the sense that even a muslim forms any kind of bias, can never become a kafir or mushrik.
3) In literal sense we can call him kafir, but, can we call him kafir in actual sense??. Because If so, then a muslim state can punish him too .
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Knowingly going with prejudice against the truth is what becomes istakbar and it applies to everyone irrespective of their religion. If a Muslim, for instance is involved in a polytheistic activity and still commits to it based on his prejudice despite knowing it to be wrong is in the same category as that of a Mushrik or a Kafir. .Or when the same Muslim was given arguments against his beliefs, what was his attitude towards them can also contribute in his Kufar or Iman. So effectively, there is no difference whether a person is Muslim or a Non-Muslim, it is ultimately everyone’s attitude towards the truth which will decide their final destination in akhirah.
There’s no way for us to know who is an actual Kafir in the books of AlMighty. This is divine information which is only given to the respective Rasul and hence divine punishment imposed against such kafir or Kuffar. State has no authority to give this punishment, this is divine punishment given under supervision of Rasul only.
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So, basically a person who deliberately denies the truth is a kafir.
Now this deliberately denying the truth can extend to ” being biased knowingly, or for any reason a person knowingly(in it’s truest sense) ignores the truth.
I used the line “in it’s truest sense” because there are too many things nowadays that get in the way of knowing the truth. Like, if a non-muslim have a mindset that muslims are terrorists or not good and that mindset leads him to ignore the truth or ignore him to even listen the counter arguments.
Also, If a muslim grew up in non- islamic society, or household, such things can lead him to ignore Islamic values or to even know the truth.
So I think these things do not make a person to fall under the category of kafir or mushrik.
The Mindset, state of mind of an individual, clarity in knowledge,conciousness everything matters.
So according to what I understood, When a person conciously ignores the truth, or if a person conciously knows that he is biased and deliberatly continues to do wrong, then such things can make a person fall in the category of kafir.
So, inshort, a person who deliberately denies the truth is a kafir.
Now the decision and judgement is up to Allah, we can just point out the attitude if anyone is being diverted.
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