Question: We were discussing on a message board the disbelief of 'Arafaat, and one of them [participants] asked this question, and due to this question being repeated a number of times, I wish that you would answer it for us, may Allah bless you.

Is Yaasir 'Arafaat a disbeliever? Does every form of disbelief require looking into the doer's condition? Are there any obstacles to calling him a disbeliever? Do we have to look and see if anyone has established the hujjah? And is this a condition for all actions that are disbelief?

Answer:

Praise be to Allah, and may He send His peace and blessings upon Muhammed and his family, and companions; to proceed:

As for Yaasir 'Arafaat and his likes from those who pronounce the shahaadah, claim to be Muslim apparently, but also believe in secualarism as an idealogue, and take it as a methodology, then they are disbelievers, whom the rulings of disbelief are implemented upon.

The scholars have agreed that whoever holds unto secularism then he is a disbeliever, for it is a doctrine that permits disbelief and heresy, and having muwalaat for the athiests in it is permissable, and allowing them to propagate their disbelief as 'freedom of choice and opinion', and all this is praiseworthy to them; for the more opinions, creeds and forms of disbelief, is further proof of the development of mankind, they claim; may Allah fight them.

Likewise they believe that repelling the laws of Allah, the Most High, for democracy is a good deed. [Secularism] is a doctrine that appoints man as the lord and ruler, whose right is to dismantle the laws of Allah, the Most High, and to establish and replace it with others, and it makes the desires of man a god, and his mind a master that is to be obeyed fully, taking precedence over the obedience of Allah, the Most High.

Whoever believes in these ideas of disbelief, which are clear in their nullifications of Islaam, is declared a disbeliever - even if he pronounced the shahadatayn, pronouncing them for him will not benefit him in the least - but one should not do takfeer of the one whose disbelief may be slightly hidden [and not from the apparent matters], until the evidences are established upon him, and the obstacles of declaring him a disbeliever removed.

It is known that it is not a condition when ruling upon someone who has come with a clear nullification of Islaam, like insulting Allah, the Most High, or His messenger or His religion, or who believes in polythiesm or panthiesm, and the like of nullications that are clearly in contradiction to core of Islaam, it is not a condition, when declaring him a disbeliever, knowledge that what he is doing is disbeliever, rather this [condition] is only for those meticulous matters. This is all concerning the one who has said the shahadatayn if they later come with a nullification.

As for other than them, from those who are not from the people of the shahadatayn, then they are disbelievers in the rulings of the dunya whether the call of Islaam has reached them or not, and whether the Qur'aan has reached them or not.

But if they die before hearing of Islaam, then the ruling upon them in the hereafter is that they are from the people of al-Fatrah; but if the call reached them before death, and they did not believe in it, then their destination in the hereafter, is the same as those of the disbelievers whom Allah spoke of in the Qur'aan, and what an evil destination it is, may Allah protect us from it, and Allah knows best.

06/11/2002.

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[Translators note:

1. The people of the fatrah, are those who come on the day of Judgement are are tested, after that, they go unto their rightful destinations.

2. Regarding Islaam not reaching them, it would be useful to note that al-Imaam Ahmad in the third century of Islaam (over 1000 years ago), once said: "I do not know of anyone in this world, whom Islaam has not reached, {for them to be considered from the people of the fatrah}".]