There are many acts of worship practised by people from different religions and sects. These acts of worship are apparent to us. We want to know what the acts of worship are (which are exclusive to the religion of Islam) that we take as signs, according to the ahkam of the dunya, that when apparent on an individual means that we must now take this individual to be a muslim. To put it another way, according to the ahkam of the dunya how do we judge someone by their apparent actions to be a muslim?
What is being referred to here are the shari’ signs taken from the Kitab (The Qur’an) and the Sunnah. People may bring forward signs which they think are signs of Islam, but if they do not support them by evidence from the Kitab and Sunnah, they will not be accepted. Only Allah decides who is to be taken as muslim, so it is only Allah who gives the signs of Islam.
There are acts of worship which are shared by other religions, that many people can and do perform from other religions such as giving sadaqah, maintaining the ties of kinship, the freeing of the slave which was done during the time of jahiliyyah, the doing of good in general, good deeds that are found within Islam that people (kuffar) from other faiths do. A’isha once asked the Prophet about a man who was performing such good deeds.
‘A’isha reported: I said: Messenger of Allah, the son of Jud’an established ties of relationship, fed the poor. Would that be of any avail to him? He said: It would be of no avail to him as he did not ever say: O my Lord, pardon my sins on the Day of Resurrection. (Muslim)
A’isha was asking about the hukm of this man who performed these deeds, would these deeds help him on the day of judgement. The Prophet said no because he never asked Allah to forgive his sins on the day of judgement. Although he was performing these deeds, they will not be accepted from him because he died upon kufr, he was not muslim. For deeds to be accepted on the day of judgement, the individual performing them has to be muslim. But the point we want to take from this narration is that this man was not regarded as muslim by the performance of these deeds, they are not signs of Islam, because according to the ahkam of the dunya if any of these deeds were signs of Islam then this individual would have been regarded as a muslim.
Narrated Hakim bin Hizam:
I said to Allah’s Apostle, “Before embracing Islam I used to do good deeds like giving in charity, slave-manumitting, and the keeping of good relations with kith and kin. Shall I be rewarded for those deeds?” The Prophet replied, “You became Muslim with all those good deeds (Without losing their reward).” (Bukhari)
Hakim bin Hizam asked the Prophet whether the sadaqah, freeing of slaves, and maintaining the ties of kinship which he performed in jahiliyya would be accepted from him on the day of judgement. The Prophet told him that the performance of those deeds were the reason why he was guided to Islam.
The point we take for this hadith is that even though the sadaqah, freeing of slaves and maintaining the ties of kinship (acts of worship in Islam) were performed in the days of jahiliyya and practised by the kuffar, these acts were not regarded as signs of Islam. The Prophet did not regard this individual as a muslim by the performance of these deeds. There are many people from different faiths who do such deeds but they are not regarded as muslim, if these deeds were signs of Islam then the people performing them would be regarded as muslim. Therefore, according to the ahkam of the dunya these acts which many people from different faiths perform are not signs of Islam.
Kalimatut Taqwa – The Word of Piety
Allah revealed in the Qur’an about the disbelief of the people before the sending of kalimatut taqwa (the word of piety – Laa ilaha illallah), and that when it was sent He made the Prophet and the believers stick to it.
Allah says,
When those who disbelieve had put in their hearts pride and haughtiness the pride and haughtiness of the time of ignorance, then Allâh sent down His Sakinah (calmness and tranquillity) upon His Messenger (SAW) and upon the believers, and made them stick to kalimatut taqwa ( Laa ilaha illallah – none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh), and they were well entitled to it and worthy of it. And Allâh is the All-Knower of everything. (Surah Al-Fath: 26)
And for this kalimah (Laa ilaha illallah) Allah sent down Prophets and Messengers with one and the same message.
Allah says,
And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): “Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Tâghût (all false deities, etc. i.e. do not worship Tâghût besides Allâh).” Then of them were some whom Allâh guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified. So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth). (Surah An-Nahl: 36)
In the verse above Allah made it clear that worshipping Allah and avoiding taghut is the meaning of Laa ilaha illallah. This is the Islam that all the Prophets came with, “worship Allah, and avoid (reject) Taghut”, and it is to this kalimah that Allah made the Prophet and the believers stick to.
This is what Prophet Muhammad called the people to when he gathered the Quraysh next to As-Safa, Laa ilaha illallah. Every Prophet and every Messenger called his people to Laa ilaha illallah and from this kalimah every nation needed to also believe in the prophethood or messengership of the one whom Allah had chosen. So you have the tawheed Allah (to worship Allah alone without partners) and tawheed mutaba’a (the tawheed of followship), to believe the Prophet and follow him. So the people in the time of Nuh, they needed to know this kalimah Laa ilaha illallah (and have yaqeen (certainty) in it), say Laa ilaha illallah (being truthful), to believe (act accordingly) in it, to believe that he (Nuh) is a Prophet and Messenger from Allah, and to follow him. This was the same with every Prophet and every Messenger. So this is the meaning of the kalimah that every Prophet called their people to, the word of piety – Laa ilaha illallah, the worship of Allah and avoiding taghut. And this is what Islam (submission to Allah) is.
Laa ilaha illallah is Islam because it is what all the Prophets came with and throughout the Qur’an we find that the Anbiya (Prophets) were called muslims, they referred to themselves as muslims, longed to die as muslims, and they advised their progeny to not die except as muslims. For example Prophet Yusuf said, “Tawaffani musliman wal hiqni bissalihin (cause me to die as a muslim, and join me with the righteous)” (Surah Yusuf: 101). This was his du’a. His du’a was to be an individual who worshipped Allah alone and adhered to His guidance, this is what Islam is, and this is the kalimah Laa ilaha illallah that he (Yusuf) and the other Prophets called their respective people to. Laa ilaha illallah is the Islam and it is what Allah made the Prophet and the believers stick to.
Allah says,
When those who disbelieve had put in their hearts pride and haughtiness the pride and haughtiness of the time of ignorance, then Allâh sent down His Sakinah (calmness and tranquillity) upon His Messenger (SAW) and upon the believers, and made them stick to kalimatut taqwa ( Laa ilaha illallah – none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh), and they were well entitled to it and worthy of it. And Allâh is the All-Knower of everything. (Surah Al-Fath: 26)
This kalimatut taqwa is what makes the difference between the disbelievers who rejected Laa ilaha illallah, and Muhammad and his followers who stuck to it. It is this kalimah that separates the believers from the disbelievers and nothing else divides the two from each other. It is the beginning and the end of what makes the believers different from the disbelievers. The disbelievers rejected this kalimah, they do not accept it, say it, or act according to it, while the Prophet and his followers stuck to it, being known by it. What makes the difference between the disbelievers and the believers is this word. It is the gate that some people enter while others do not. This is the kalimah that makes the believers known as the believers and it is the word that sticks always to the muslimeen.
Allah says,
When those who disbelieve had put in their hearts pride and haughtiness the pride and haughtiness of the time of ignorance, then Allâh sent down His Sakinah (calmness and tranquillity) upon His Messenger ( SAW) and upon the believers, and made them stick to kalimatut taqwa ( Laa ilaha illallah – none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh), and they were well entitled to it and worthy of it. And Allâh is the All-Knower of everything. (Surah Al-Fath: 26)
The following are the apparent signs of Islam. These are signs based upon the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah. When they become apparent upon an individual whose religion is not known or someone who is kafir asli (original disbeliever – i.e. christians, jews, fire worshippers, hindu, sikh, etc. excluding the one who displays a sign of Islam while being in kufr), the one displaying this sign is to be judged as muslim according to the ahkam of the dunya.
Apparent sign of Islam – saying Laa ilaha illallah
One of the signs of Islam according to the Qur’an and Sunnah is saying Laa ilaha illallah.
Narrated Usama bin Zaid:
Allah’s Apostle sent us towards Al-Huruqa, and in the morning we attacked them and defeated them. I and an Ansari man followed a man from among them and when we took him over, he said, “La ilaha illallah.” On hearing that, the Ansari man stopped, but I killed him by stabbing him with my spear. When we returned, the Prophet came to know about that and he said, “O Usama! Did you kill him after he had said “La ilaha ilallah?” I said, “But he said so only to save himself.” The Prophet kept on repeating that so often that I wished I had not embraced Islam before that day. (Bukhari)
It is narrated on the authority of Usama b. Zaid that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent us in a raiding party. We raided Huraqat of Juhaina in the morning. I caught hold of a man and he said: There is no god but Allah, I attacked him with a spear. It once occurred to me and I talked about it to the Apostle (may peace be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Did he profess “There is no god but Allah,” and even then you killed him? I said: Messenger of Allah, he made a profession of it out of the fear of the weapon. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Did you tear his heart in order to find out whether it had professed or not? And he went on repeating it to me till I wished I had embraced Islam that day. Sa’d said: By Allah, I would never kill any Muslim so long as a person with a heavy belly, i. e., Usama, would not kill. Upon this a person remarked: Did Allah not say this: And fight them until there is no more mischief and religion is wholly for Allah? Sa’d said: We fought so that there should be no mischief, but you and your companions wish to fight so that there should be mischief. (Muslim)
The situation regarding the above ahadith was that the disbelievers were fighting Islam and the muslimeen. Usama bin Zaid caught hold of one of these enemies, then this disbeliever said laa ilaha illallah, then Usama killed him. What happened next is that Usama went to the Prophet, and there are different narrations about this event. In one narration the prophet said did you kill him, in another he said “did you check his heart to see if he believed it?” and yet in another he said “what will you do when laa ilaha illallah comes on the day of judgement?” Meaning, what will you say to Allah about killing this man who said Laa ilaha illallah?
Only Allah knows the hearts and we should stay well away from trying to know what only Allah has knowledge of. Allah has placed limits and they should not be crossed. We have not been ordered to check the hearts and should anyone try to, they will be disobedient. Sidq (truthfulness) is a condition of Laa ilaha illallah which is held in the heart. Usama presumed that this man had said Laa ilaha illallah because of fear of the weapon, that this man did not possess sidq (truthfulness) in his saying of Laa ilaha illallah. And it would seem to us that the man was not truthful and was only saying Laa ilaha illallah because he was scared. So for Usama this man was a mushrik who then said Laa ilaha illallah, Usama did not accept his testimony believing that he was not truthful and then killed him and Muhammad said to Usama as has been narrated. Usama thought that there was no truthfulness in his heart, that he was not sincere because he was scared of the weapon. But this is why the prophet said “Did you tear his heart in order to find out whether it had professed or not?” meaning you did not and can not check his heart, you have no way of knowing whether he was insincere. You should not assume based upon your own judgement whether the individual is truthful or not. He said Laa ilaha illallah, you can only and must only judge by the apparent, you should of accepted this great kalimah. So when this disbeliever said Laa ilaha illallah, Usama should of accepted this from him.
Today there are people who hear individuals saying Laa ilaha illallah yet they do not accept this sign of Islam from them and treat them as kuffar. They think that they say this great word without knowing what it means and so they do not accept it from them. These individuals say Laa ilaha illallah without displaying any kufr or shirk and are not accepted as Muslims which is a big mistake. The people of today do not have the reason that they are on the battlefield, even though what Usama did was totally incorrect, at least he could say that he was on the battlefield and could say that the man who said Laa ilaha illallah had only done so from fear of the weapon and from fear of being killed.
The people of Musa believed in Allah, accepting Laa ilaha illallah and they believed in Musa that he was a messenger of Allah. This was also the case with ‘Issa and Dawud and the rest of the Prophets. So when there is an individual who is kafir asli (original disbeliever – i.e. christians, jews, fire worshippers, hindu, sikh, or any type of disbeliever except the type of kuffar who display a sign of Islam while clearly being in kufr) or whose religion is not known and then he says Laa ilaha illallah, according to the ahkam of the dunya we stop there, accepting them as a muslim. We do not try to check if they are truthful or whether they know about other aspects of the shari’ah or whether they believe in the angels, the books, the messengers, or the rest of Islam. It is a sign which according to the Qur’an and Sunnah must be accepted from them. Allah has set signs which must be accepted, whoever has them, we take them as a muslim.
It is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira that he heard the Messenger of Allah say: I have been commanded to fight against people, till they testify to the fact that there is no god but Allah, and believe in me (that) I am the messenger (from the Lord) and in all that I have brought. And when they do it, their blood and riches are guaranteed protection on my behalf except where it is justified by law, and their affairs rest with Allah. (Bukhari)
To check if someone has knowledge of Islam and Emaan before accepting them as muslim, when they do display a sign of Islam, is a bidah (innovation) which is not from Islam.
Apparent sign of Islam – saying I am muslim
Another sign of Islam according to the Kitab and Sunnah is saying I am Muslim.
Narrated Furat ibn Hayyan:
The Apostle of Allah commanded to kill him: he was a spy of AbuSufyan and an ally of a man of the Ansar. He passed a circle of the Ansar and said: I am a Muslim. A man from the Ansar said, Apostle of Allah, he is saying that he is a Muslim. The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said: There are people among you in whose faith we trust. Furat ibn Hayyan is one of them. (Abu Dawud)
This hadith is narrated by Furat ibn Hayyan who is the subject of the hadith. He was a disbeliever about whom the Prophet had ordered to be killed. The order had to been given to kill him because he was a spy from ahlul dhimma, a spy for Abu Sufyan. After the order had been given for Furat to be killed, Furat passed by a circle of the Ansar and said I am muslim. One of the Ansar went to the Prophet and had said, “he is saying that he is a muslim.” Upon this the Prophet said “There are people among you in whose faith we trust. Furat ibn Hayyan is one of them.” what we take from this hadith is that this saying, I am muslim, is enough for a disbeliever to be taken as a muslim. And this is exactly what happened between Furat and the Prophet. This kafir became muslim by saying I am muslim. Muhammad accepted this person as coming into Islam from kufr, by saying I am muslim. So any individual who is a disbeliever or whose religion we do not know, who then says I am muslim, according to the ahkam of the dunya they are to be regarded as muslim. This saying, I am muslim, is a sign of Islam according to the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Apparent sign of Islam – saying I submit to Allah or I become muslim
It is narrated on the authority of Miqdad b. Aswad that he said. Messenger of Allah, you just see (here is a point): If I encountered a person amongst the infidels (in the battlefield) and he attacked me and struck me and cut off one of my hands with the sword. Then he (in order to protect himself from me) took shelter of a tree and said: I become Muslim for Allah’s sake (aslamtu lillah). Messenger of Allah, can I kill him after he had uttered this? The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Do not kill him. I (the narrator) said: Messenger of Allah, he cut off my hand and uttered this after amputating it; should I then kill him? The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Don’t kill him, for if you kill him, verily he would be in a position where you had been before killing him and verily you would be in a position where he had been before uttering (kalima). (Muslim)
Regarding the above narration, Miqdad ibn Aswad went to the Prophet wanting clarification on a very important matter. Miqdad wanted to know the ruling of killing a disbeliever who had said I submit to Allah/ I become muslim for Allah’s sake. The situation Miqdad explained was where the disbelievers were fighting the muslims on the battlefield and one of the disbelievers had cut off his hand and then the disbeliever as Miqdad explained “took shelter of a tree and said: I become Muslim for Allah’s sake (aslamtu lillah)” The Prophet explained “if you kill him, verily he would be in a position where you had been before killing him”, meaning that the blood of this disbeliever would be haram to take after this disbeliever had said the kalimah “I become Muslim for Allah’s sake (aslamtu lillah)” because he had become muslim by saying that, so his blood is haram just as your (Miqdad’s) blood was haram before killing him. And then the Prophet said “and verily you would be in a position where he had been before uttering (kalima)”, meaning that this person became muslim by saying “I become Muslim for Allah’s sake (aslamtu lillah)” so you (Miqdad) would have killed a muslim, a muslim whom it is haram to kill and as a consequence your (Miqdad’s) blood would be halal just as the disbelievers blood had been halal before saying “I become Muslim for Allah’s sake (aslamtu lillah).”
The ruling that the Prophet explained and which he made clear, was that the one who says I am a muslim or I submit to Allah, is a muslim. According to the ahkam of the dunya, the one who is kafir asli (original disbeliever – i.e. christians, jews, fire worshippers, hindu, sikh, or any type of disbeliever except the type of kuffar who display a sign of Islam while being in kufr) or whose religion we do not know, when he says I am muslim or I submit to Allah he is to be taken as muslim.
Apparent sign of Islam – saying aslamtu lillah or I become muslim or anything that indicates accepting/entering Islam
Narrated Salim’s father:
The Prophet sent Khalid bin Al-Walid to the tribe of Jadhima and Khalid invited them to Islam but they could not express themselves by saying, “Aslamna (i.e. we have embraced Islam),” but they started saying “Saba’na! Saba’na (i.e. we have come out of one religion to another).” Khalid kept on killing (some of) them and taking (some of) them as captives and gave every one of us his captive. When there came the day then Khalid ordered that each man (i.e. Muslim soldier) should kill his captive, I said, “By Allah, I will not kill my captive, and none of my companions will kill his captive.” When we reached the Prophet, we mentioned to him the whole story. On that, the Prophet raised both his hands and said twice, “O Allah! I am free from what Khalid has done.” (Bukhari)
The Messenger of Allah dispatched Khalid bin al-Walid to Banu Jadhima, and he invited them to enter Islam. But they did not respond properly by saying aslamna, ‘we accept Islam’, but instead began saying saba’na! Saba’na! (i.e. we have come out of one religion to another, (here they were accepting Islam)).
Khalid bin al- Walid did not understand this phrase saba’na as the tribe of judhima did. One opinion put forward for this error made by Khalid is that he understood their saying saba’na to be an insult to Islam and the muslims. This (according to the opinion) is because Quraysh used to use this phrase when people started entering Islam and leaving kufr, then after a while, it became a word that they used as an insult or as derogatory towards the muslims, so he interpreted their saying saba’na as an insult.
Khalid had only sought to render Islam and its side victorious, even though he was in error in thinking (according to the opinion) that they had been demeaning Islam by saying, saba’na! Saba’na! However, what did happen is that he did not realise that they had accepted Islam, and so he killed a large number of them and took the rest captive.
The news of this event reached the Prophet about what Khalid had done. He responded by raising his hands and saying, “O Allah! I am free from what Khalid has done.” The Prophet declared his own innocence of what Khalid had done and sent ‘Ali to pay compensation (blood money and money for the loss of property)) for the loss of life and property.
What we take from this hadith is the sign of saying anything that indicates accepting Islam, i.e. I become muslim (whether it is said in english or any other language), saba’na (we have come out of one religion to another), or I become one of the followers of Muhammad, etc. So any people who are kuffar asli (original disbeliever – i.e. christians, jews, fire worshippers, hindu, sikh, or any type of disbeliever except the type of kuffar who display a sign of Islam while being in kufr) or whose religion we do not know, who then says anything that indicates accepting Islam, they are to be taken as muslim regardless of them not saying the kalimah Laa ilaha illallah. According to the ahkam of the dunya the above sayings and their like indicate that the individual is saying I became a muslim, they are signs of Islam.
Apparent sign of Islam – As Salah (The Prayer (of the Prophet))
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
‘Ali bin Abi Talib sent a piece of gold not yet taken out of its ore, in a tanned leather container to Allah’s Messenger. Allah’s Messenger distributed that amongst four Persons: ‘Uyaina bin Badr, Aqra bin Habis, Zaid Al-Khail and the fourth was either Alqama or Amir bin At Tufail. On that, one of his companions said, “We are more deserving of this (gold) than these (persons).” When that news reached the Prophet, he said, “Don’t you trust me though I am the truth worthy man of the One in the Heavens, and I receive the news of Heaven (i.e. Divine Inspiration) both in the morning and in the evening?” There got up a man with sunken eyes, raised cheek bones, raised forehead, a thick beard, a shaven head and a waist sheet that was tucked up and he said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Be afraid of Allah.” The Prophet said, “Woe to you! Am I not of all the people of the earth the most entitled to fear Allah?” Then that man went away. Khalid bin Al-Walid said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Shall I chop his neck off?” The Prophet said, “No, may be he offers prayers.” Khalid said, “Numerous are those who offer prayers and say by their tongues (i.e. mouths) what is not in their hearts.” Allah’s Messenger said, “I have not been ordered (by Allah) to search the hearts of the people or cut open their bellies.” Then the Prophet looked at him (i.e. that man) while the latter was going away and said, “From the offspring of this (man) there will come out (people) who will recite the Qur’an continuously and elegantly but it will not exceed their throats. (They will neither understand it nor act upon it). They would go out of the religion (i.e. Islam) as an arrow goes through a game’s body.” I think he also said, “If I should be present at their time I would kill them as the nations of Thamud were killed.” (Bukhari)
The Prophet said, “No, may be he (la’allahu) offers prayers.”
La’alla in arabic means maybe, a doubt, but when it comes in the Qur’an and Sunnah regarding the ahkam of Allah or speaking about rewards it comes to assert something, no doubt, it is not maybe, but it must be for sure, with certainty. When Allah says la’alla or His messenger says la’alla, it is for sure. So in the above narration it doesn’t mean he may offer prayers, it means he offers prayer, for certain, no doubt.
We should note that someone who is a kafir and performs the salah, the salah is not a sign of Islam for them, someone fighting Allaah and His Messenger and who performs the salah, someone who insults Allah and performs the salah, for such people the salah is not an apparent sign of Islam for them. This is because all of the deeds of the kuffar are nothing. For the People whose religion we do not know or who are kuffar asli, they are taken as muslim by the apparent signs of Islam they display. If someone is muslim, he is muslim. If there is someone whose religion is not known and he/she displays an apparent sign of Islam then he/she is muslim. If you know someone as a kafir and he is praying whilst in a state of kufr, you do not say he is muslim while praying and then a kafir after praying, and then muslim while praying. He is in a state of kufr while praying so he is a kafir. He is a kafir performing salah.
The point we take from this narration is that when Khalid asked the Prophet to kill the man, the Prophet did not allow him to for one specific reason. This specific reason that the Prophet gave was that the man performed prayers. The Prophet did not allow Khalid to kill the man because he possessed this apparent sign of Islam, the prayer.
Abu Bakr narrates that “the messenger of Allah on his way to salah passed a man who was prostrating. When the Prophet finished his salah and was on his way back he saw the same man still in prostration. The Prophet said, ‘who would kill this man?’ A Muslim came forward, drew his sword and said ‘May my mother and father be sacrificed for Allah, How can I kill a man who bears witness that there is no ilah worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger!’. The Prophet then repeated, ‘who would kill this man?’ Another man answered, drew his sword until his hands started to shake and said ‘May my mother and father be sacrificed for you – how can I kill a man prostrating and who bears witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah!’ The Prophet repeated, ‘who would kill this man?’ Another man answered saying ‘I would’. He drew his sword until his hands shook saying ‘How can I kill a man in prostration bearing witness that there is no ilah worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah?’. The Prophet at last said ‘By the One in whose Hands is my soul, if you killed him, he would have been the first of the tribulation and the last of it’”. (Reported by Ahmad, Muslim)
Also Abu Sa’id al Khudri narrated in a different text: “that Abu Bakr came to the Prophet and said: ‘Oh Prophet of Allah, while I was passing through a valley (he named the valley), I saw a man good looking, humble, in a state of Salah’. The Prophet replied, Abu Bakr go back and kill him! Abu Bakr returned and saw him still performing Salah, but hated to kill him. He then went back to the Prophet. The Prophet then ordered Umar to go and kill him. Umar went to kill him, but also saw the man in Salah, and also hated to kill him. On his return, he said to the Prophet, ‘Oh Prophet of Allah, the man is humble in his salah and I hated to kill him.’ The Prophet then ordered Ali to go and kill him. Ali went to the valley but didn’t see the man. He returned and told the Prophet, the Prophet then said that this man and his companions read the Qur’an but it does not exceed their throat, they pass through the religion like an arrow passes through the bow. Then they don’t come back to Islam, until the arrow comes back to the bow. So kill them for they are the worst of creation.” (Reported by Ahmad, Muslim and & At-Tabarani)
In the above two narrations, the Prophet told the sahabah to go and kill someone. In one of the narrations both Abu Bakr and ‘Umar went and returned without killing the man, but the Prophet in both narrations did not say “why did you not kill him?” or “why did you not obey me?”. When the sahabah gave the salah as the excuse for not killing the man, that the man was praying, the Prophet did not say “so what about the salah?” This is what they told the Prophet, and when the Prophet hears something that is incorrect he most certainly would not remain quiet about it. If the sahabah had made a mistake in not killing the man because of the reason that he was praying, the Prophet would correct them straight away and tell them to kill him even if he is prostrating in salah.
The following narration demonstrates the Prophet’s obligation of and haste in correcting people’s mistakes. And in correcting people’s mistakes, it is something that the Prophet would never delay.
Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Mu’alla:
While I was praying, the Prophet called me but I did not respond to his call. Later I said, “O Allah’s Apostle! I was praying.” He said, “Didn’t Allah say: ‘O you who believe! Give your response to Allah (by obeying Him) and to His Apostle when he calls you’?” (8.24)
He then said, “Shall I not teach you the most superior Surah in the Qur’an?” He said, ‘(It is),
‘Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. ‘ (i.e., Surat Al-Fatiha) which consists of seven repeatedly recited Verses and the Magnificent Qur’an which was given to me.” (Bukhari)
In this narration the Prophet called a sahabi who was praying. The Prophet called him and the sahabi did not respond, so the Prophet asked him why he did not answer him when he had called him. The sahabi answered by saying that he was praying, but the Prophet said to him, “Didn’t Allah say: ‘O you who believe! Give your response to Allah (by obeying Him) and to His Apostle when he calls you’?” The Prophet explained to him that even in the salah he has to respond to him. The Prophet corrected him by teaching him that he should not have done what he did and he gave him the ayah from the Qur’an. The point to take from this hadith is that the Prophet would address any mistakes that the people would make without delay.
Going back to the two narrations above where the sahabah were told by the Prophet to kill the man, and they did not kill him, giving the Prophet the reason that he was praying. The Prophet did not respond saying to them that they should have killed him and neither did he tell them that they made a mistake. This is because the sahabah apply what the Prophet teaches them and in this particular case they applied what the Prophet taught them about the salah.
The Prophet told the sahabah to kill a man in salah, however they did not do it, but the Prophet did not get angry. This is a very important point because when the Prophet tells the sahabah to do something and then they do not obey him, the Prophet would become angry in some cases and definitely correct them, but the least he would do is correct them because the matter is about nothing other than obedience to Allah, and Allah says to obey the Messenger. So the first point is that the Prophet did not become angry with the sahabah for not killing the prostrating man. The second point is that what the sahabah gave as an excuse for not killing the man, that they could not kill someone who is praying, was not questioned but was accepted by the Prophet. Because the judgement they had made was correct. The lesson here is that what was taken as a prevention from killing this man was the prayer of the Prophet. The blood of the kuffar is halal, this man’s blood was not halal. The only reason his blood was not halal was because he was regarded as Muslim because of the prayer that he was performing, the prayer of the Prophet, which is an apparent sign of Islam. The Prophet accepted this. According to the ahkam of the dunya (the regulations of this present life) which are set by Allah, the salah is an apparent sign of Islam.
A very important side note away from our subject is that the man who Khalid bin Al-Waleed wanted to kill because of his comment to the Prophet, whom the Prophet did not allow Khalid to kill, because he performed the salat, and the man who was prostrating in salat about whom the Prophet asked whether any sahabah would go and kill him, the man in these narrations was the same individual. In one version of the hadith about the prostrating man, after the Prophet ordered this specific man to be killed he said, “if you killed him, he would have been the first of the tribulation and the last of it” and in another version “this man and his companions read the Qur’an but it does not exceed their throat, they pass through the religion like an arrow passes through the bow. Then they don’t come back to Islam, until the arrow comes back to the bow. So kill them for they are the worst of creation.” In the hadith where Khalid bin Al-Waleed asked to kill the man who made a comment to the Prophet, the Prophet said, “from the offspring of this (man) there will come out (people) who will recite the Qur’an continuously and elegantly but it will not exceed their throats. (They will neither understand it nor act upon it). They would go out of the religion (i.e. Islam) as an arrow goes through a game’s body.” So according to Al Qadar wal Qada is that from this man there will be offspring which the Prophet described as being khawarij which means that no one will be able to kill him. The Prophet ordered the sahabah to go and kill this man, knowing that they will not kill him, because they cannot kill him. The Prophet said “if you killed him, he would have been the first of the tribulation and the last of it”, meaning no fitnah will come after. It has already been set by Allah that from this man will come offspring. Similar was the case with Ibnu Saiyad.
Narrated ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar: ‘Umar and a group of the companions of the Prophet set out with the Prophet to Ibn Saiyad. He found him playing with some boys near the hillocks of Bani Maghala. Ibn Saiyad at that time was nearing his puberty. He did not notice (the Prophet’s presence) till the Prophet stroked him on the back with his hand and said, “Ibn Saiyad! Do you testify that I am Allah’s Messenger?” Ibn Saiyad looked at him and said, “I testify that you are the Messenger of the illiterates.” Then Ibn Saiyad asked the Prophet, “Do you testify that I am the Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet said to him, “I believe in Allah and His Messenger.” Then the Prophet said (to Ibn Saiyad), “What do you see?” Ibn Saiyad replied, “True people and false ones visit me.” The Prophet said, “Your mind is confused as to this matter.” The Prophet added, “I have kept something (in my mind) for you.” Ibn Saiyad said, “It is Ad Dukh.” The Prophet said (to him), “Shame be on you! You can’t cross your limits?” On that ‘Umar said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Allow me to chop his head off.” The Prophet said, “If he should be he (i.e. Ad Dajjal) then you cannot overpower him, and should he not be him, then you are not going to benefit by murdering him.” (Bukhari, Muslim)
Many of the Sahabah thought the young boy named Ibnu Saiyad was the Dajjal. ‘Umar bin Khattab asked the Prophet to kill this young boy but the Prophet informed ‘Umar that if he was the Dajjal then he would not be able to. The Prophet explained to ‘Umar that if the boy was the Dajjal then by al Qadar wal Qada he would not be able to kill him, because it has been set by Allah that in the future the Dajjal will be present upon the Earth.
Eating halal meat and facing the qiblah are not apparent signs of Islam
When speaking about the prayer, what is being referred to is the prayer of the Prophet.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Apostle entered the mosque and a person followed him. The man prayed and went to the Prophet and greeted him. The Prophet returned the greeting and said to him, “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” The man went back prayed in the same way as before, returned and greeted the Prophet who said, “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” This happened thrice. The man said, “By Him Who sent you with the Truth, I cannot offer the prayer in a better way than this. Please, teach me how to pray.” The Prophet said, “When you stand for Prayer say Takbir and then recite from the Holy Qur’an (of what you know by heart) and then bow till you feel at ease. Then raise your head and stand up straight, then prostrate till you feel at ease during your prostration, then sit with calmness till you feel at ease (do not hurry) and do the same in all your prayers.” (Bukhari)
In the above narration, the Prophet saw a man praying and told him to go back and pray because he did not perform the prayer. The Prophet told him this because he did not perform the prayer of the Prophet, he did not perform the pray that had been revealed by Allah. It is known that in a narration the Prophet said “pray as you see me praying…” (Bukhari), and this pray must be performed in a specific manner which includes the recitation of Qur’an and suratul fatihah which contain the Tawheed of Allah.
On the other hand, the Kuffar have their pray and similar acts of worship but their prayer is different to the prayer of the Prophet, as are the other acts of theirs. Allah revealed in the Qur’an how the Kuffar mushrikeen in the time of the Prophet prayed at the Ka’bah.
Allah says,
“Their Salât (prayer) at the House (of Allâh, i.e. the Ka’bah at Makkah) was nothing but whistling and clapping of hands.” (Surah Al-Anfal: 35).
The kuffar have the same title for this act, salah, but they pray in a different manner. The salah of the mushrikeen in the time of the Prophet was whistling and clapping of hands. Other disbelieving people from before and the present day perform the prayer but do this in a manner different to the way of the Prophet. This is their Salah. What we are highlighting here is that we are talking about the salah of the Prophet, which is only found in the religion of Islam, this is why the Prophet said “whoever prays like us…” (Bukhari). It is this salah which contains Laa ilaha ila Allaah, even if without the adhan and the iqama, which is the pray of the Prophet and the prayer of the Prophet as we have seen above is a sign of Islam.
With this in mind, we look to the following narration.
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Allah’s Apostle said, “Whoever prays like us and faces our qiblah and eats our slaughtered animals is a Muslim and is under Allah’s and His Apostle’s protection. So do not betray Allah by betraying those who are in His protection.” (Bukhari).
In the above narration the Prophet spoke about the people who perform the prayer of the Prophet, face the qiblah that the muslims face in prayer, and eat the halal meat, as being muslims. As for the prayer mentioned, it is the prayer of the Prophet and we know that according to the Kitab and the Sunnah it is a sign of Islam so we take it as a sign of Islam. This means that it would be sufficient to take an individual or individuals (who are kuffar asli or whose religion is not known) as muslims by knowing that they perform the prayer of the Prophet and it would not be necessary to see them also eat halal meat and face the qiblah that the muslims face. The question here is not regarding the prayer of the Prophet being a sign of someone’s Islam, the question is whether facing the qiblah that the muslims face and eating the halal meat are a part of the signs of Islam (acts which when performed by an individual or individuals, who are kuffar asli or whose religion is not known, the individuals are then to be regarded as muslim).
The qiblah (facing the Ka’bah) is a condition that must be established before the commencement of the salah, meaning that the muslim must perform the prayer towards the Ka’bah. However someone who does not know the qiblah, i.e. he stands for prayer not knowing the exact direction towards the Ka’bah, will make ijtihad (exert himself to the best of his ability – in this case, trying his best to establish the direction towards the Ka’bah) and his salah will be valid. And an individual may be new to Islam not knowing that they have to face the Ka’bah during prayers, and he will perform the prayer of the Prophet, his prayer will be valid and he will be regarded as muslim because this prayer is a sign of Islam. For the prayer to be taken as a sign of Islam it is not necessary that the qiblah be established within the prayer.
As a side note, an individual that is new to Islam who does not know that the qiblah is a condition for the prayer, his prayer is still valid. But once it is established upon him that the qiblah is a condition of the prayer, and he rejects this, this act of rejecting is kufr.
Someone who is a disbeliever or whose religion we do not know could take the muslim’s qiblah as their qiblah but not perform the prayer of the Prophet, this person will not be regarded as muslim because facing the qiblah of the muslim is not a sign of Islam. Whoever prays towards the muslim’s qiblah but not how the Prophet prayed will not be regarded as muslim. In the hadith the particle ‘wa’ (and) was used, not ‘or’. So within the hadith it says “… prays like us and faces our qiblah and eats our slaughtered animals…” not, “…prays like us or faces our qiblah or eats our slaughtered animals…” If the particle ‘or’ was used then it would mean that any of the acts could be performed so that it would not be necessary to do all three, but that is not the case. Rather the particle ‘and’ was used which means that the individual must do the first act and the second act and the third act.
As for seeing someone perform the pray of the Prophet and eat halal meat (slaughtered animals of the muslim), this is not possible because the prayer is invalidated by eating and the prayer is not accepted. And eating halal meat is not an apparent sign of Islam because the mushrikeen can eat halal meat which will not make them muslim. Also the meat of the muslim is permissible to consume for ahlul kitab and the meat of ahlul kitab is permissible for the muslim as Allah says,
“The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals, etc.) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them.” (Surah Al-Ma’idah: 5)
Ahlul kitab (the people of the scripture) can eat the slaughtered animals of the muslim, but according to the Kitab and Sunnah, they do not become muslim by consuming the slaughtered animals of the muslim. It does not make them muslim. Eating the slaughtered animals of the muslim is not a sign of Islam.
The signs of Islam are acts specific only to the muslim which means that they are not acts of worship which are also performed by other people from other religions. To put it another way, the apparent signs of Islam are specific acts (performed in a specific manner) only found within the religion of Islam, so that any act shared by the religion of Islam and any other religion is not an apparent sign of Islam.
The qiblah is a condition for the validity of salah. If for some valid reason an individual did not face the qiblah in salah, they would be regarded as Muslim because the salah is an apparent sign of Islam. Facing the Qibla is not an apparent sign of Islam, so if someone faced the qiblah of the muslims they would not be regarded as muslim.
Also a muslim may not like meat or have a problem with eating meat, can we say that he is not Muslim? No! We cannot say that. For a Muslim not to perform the pray is an act of kufr, but it is not an act of kufr if a muslim does not eat meat, and a muslim cannot pray and eat at the same time. And the slaughtered animals of the muslims are permissible for the people of the scripture to eat but by doing so they would not be regarded as muslims.
Must we wait to see someone do all three, at the same time? It is not possible!
Apparent sign of Islam – Al Adhan (the call to prayer)
Narrated Humaid:
Anas bin Malik said, “Whenever the Prophet went out with us to fight (in Allah’s cause) against any nation, he never allowed us to attack till morning and he would wait and see: if he heard Adhan he would postpone the attack and if he did not hear Adhan he would attack them.” Anas added, “We reached Khaibar at night and in the morning when he did not hear the Adhan for the prayer, he (the Prophet) rode and I rode behind Abi Talha and my foot was touching that of the Prophet.
The inhabitants of Khaibar came out with their baskets and spades and when they saw the Prophet they shouted ‘Muhammad! By Allah, Muhammad and his army.’ When Allah’s Apostle saw them, he said, “Allahu-Akbar! Allahu-Akbar! Khaibar is ruined. Whenever we approach a (hostile) nation (to fight), then evil will be the morning of those who have been warned.” (Bukhari)
Anas b. Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to attack the enemy when it was dawn. He would listen to the Adhan; so if he heard an Adhan, he stopped, otherwise made an attack. Once on hearing a man say: Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) remarked: He is following al-Fitra (al-Islam). Then hearing him say: I testify that there is no god but Allah, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: You have come out of the Fire (of Hell). They looked at him and found that he was a goatherd. (Muslim)
Whenever the Prophet went out for jihad to open the lands he would wait until the morning, if he heard the adhan (the call to prayer) from the people he was going to fight, he would not attack them but leave them. This was because they displayed a sign of Islam, the adhan. They were muslimeen. According to the ahkam of the dunya the adhan is an apparent sign of Islam. Any individual who is a kafir asli (original disbeliever – i.e. christians, jews, fire worshippers, hindu, sikh, or any type of disbeliever except the type of kuffar who display a sign of Islam while being in kufr) or whose religion is not known, should they give the adhan, then they are to be taken as muslim. This is what the Prophet did when he went out to fight against any nation, when he heard the adhan from amongst them, he would leave them because they were muslimeen.
But if you go to fight a people and you know that they are kuffar who also perform the prayer of the Prophet or any other apparent sign of Islam, then the prayer or any other sign of Islam is not accepted from them because they are in a state of kufr while performing the signs of Islam. Examples of with whom this occurred are musaylimah the liar and his followers, and the people who refused to pay the zakat to Abu Bakr. Both of these groups of people were performing the prayer of the Prophet, giving the adhan and the other acts from Islam, but they were fought. The apparent signs of Islam were not accepted from them because they were in kufr whilst displaying signs of Islam. To accept the adhan as a sign of Islam is only for the people who before displaying this sign of Islam were known to be kuffar asli (original disbelievers – i.e. christians, jews, fire worshippers, hindu, sikh, or any type of disbeliever except the type of kuffar who display a sign of Islam while being in kufr) or whose religion was not known. If the apparent signs of Islam are performed by a people who are at the same time in kufr, meaning that they display the apparent signs of Islam while being in kufr like people who worship Muhammad, then the apparent signs of Islam are not taken into account. In such cases where it is known that a person or people are in kufr while displaying a sign or signs of Islam, they will not be taken as muslim until it is known by at least one muslim that they have repented from their kufr.
Apparent sign of Islam – The shahadah (testimony) of a muslim
When a muslim testifies that somebody (who is kafir asli or whose religion is not known) is a muslim, we the muslims then take this individual to be a muslim. The evidence for this is the following hadith.
Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah:
The Prophet said, “Today a pious man from Ethiopia (i.e. An Najashi) has expired, come on to offer the funeral prayer.” (Jabir said): We lined up in rows and after that the Prophet led the prayer and we were in rows. Jabir added, I was in the second row.” (Bukhari)
Najashi was the king of Etheopia, it was the place where the Prophet sent the muslims to when they were being persecuted by the mushrikeen in Mekkah. Najashi became a muslim but the sahabah did not know of his acceptance of Islam. It was only when Najashi died that the Prophet told them to perform the funeral pray upon him and the funeral pray is only performed upon the muslim. The sahabah, after the Prophet said what he said, treated Najashi as muslim by praying over him. This testimony of one muslim (the Prophet) was enough for the rest of the muslims to take this individual (Najashi – who was kafir asli) as muslim.
The information which came to Madinah saying najashi is muslim, that he became muslim was only by wahi to Muhammad. He then told the sahabah to join him in praying over najashi and this is why he and the sahabah prayed on him. It doesn’t mean that no one else knew that he was muslim. The muslims with najashi knew he was muslim but no one in Madinah knew that he was muslim until the wahi came to Muhammad. There is no sahih evidence except the hadith of najashi saying that he became muslim. You can find narrations in books of seerah but if the information is not verified then we don’t accept it until proven as sahih. When talking about ahkam, kufr and emaan we only take what is sahih.
If you (a muslim) give testimony that someone is a muslim but he is not muslim and you know that he is not, this is kufr because you are labelling kufr as Islam. You are saying that this man (who is a kafir) is a muslim, you are rejecting the Hukm of Allah, rejecting the judgement of Allah upon this individual and giving something else which is an act of kufr that expels one from the fold of Islam. People take a very laid back stance with this issue and that is a very dangerous matter. If someone is a muslim, then he is a muslim. But to call someone who goes for Tahakum (seeking judgement for a dispute) to the Taghut (false legislators and those who judge by other than the Hukm of Allah is what is meant here amongst the many types of Taghut that there are) everyday as a profession, as a barrister, to call this individual a muslim is an act of kufr (disbelief).
Now if a muslim gives testimony for someone else’s Islam (someone who was kafir asli or whose religion was not known), i.e. that this man is a muslim, and you say Allahu a’lem, do you become a kafir for not accepting this testimony, this testimony that is a sign of Islam? Is a muslim sinful for not taking this testimony?
It can occur where you say that a person is a Muslim, but your testimony is not accepted because the person you have told this to has a problem with your testimony because he thinks you are a Fasiq or that you do not know what Islam and kufr is and should this be the case then there would be no fault on their part. But if after proving correctly by the Qur’an and the Sunnah that this person is a Muslim, for example he performed the salah of the Prophet in front of you or that he said Laa ilaha ila Allah or that he called the adhan, and you give evidence that these acts are apparent signs of Islam from the Qur’an and Sunnah and he still rejects your testimony, rather he is not rejecting your testimony but he is rejecting the Qur’an and the Sunnah which is kufr. Now if a Muslim comes to you and says that someone is a Muslim and you say Allahu a’lem because to you he does not look like a Muslim or that he has not performed any actions in front of you for you to now treat him as a Muslim, this would be incorrect because the sahabah took the testimony of Muhammad for the Islam of najashi. We do not say “Allahu A’lem” and then not follow the Ahkam of the Dunya. It is true that Allahu A’lem, Allah does know best, and Allah has set the Ahkam of the Dunya to be followed so we follow it. So whenever there is the testimony of a Muslim that a certain individual is a Muslim and you have no hukm on this person before, so we draw the line and that is between the Ahkam of the Dunya and the Ahkam of the Akhira. The Ahkam of the Akhira you leave to Allah. Now, at this present moment you have the Ahkam in the Dunya, you cannot ignore them and you cannot turn away from them. When someone is coming to you telling you that this specific individual is a muslim you have to take him as a muslim, except if you do not trust his testimony because you ‘know for sure’ that he does not have knowledge of what makes an individual a muslim or a kafir. But it is not the other way around where you must know for sure that the muslim giving his testimony for someone else’s Islam has knowledge of what is kufr and what is Islam before you accept the testimony, when a muslim gives testimony for someone else’s Islam you must take it.
During the battle of Uhud, Hudhayfah bin al Yaman’s father was mistaken as being from amongst the kuffar. Whilst the sahabah went to kill him thinking that he was from among the enemy, Hudhayfah shouted for them to stop. The Sahabah were not aware that Hudhayfah’s father had embraced Islam, and after they had killed him, Hudhayfah informed them that he was muslim and they all accepted his testimony. Thereafter Hudhayfah forgave the sahabah and the hadd was not implemented upon them. The single testimony of Hudhayfah was sufficient for the sahabah to take his father as a muslim.
Narrated ‘Aisha:
The pagans were defeated on the day (of the battle) of Uhud. Satan shouted among the people on the day of Uhud, “O Allah’s worshippers! Beware of what is behind you!” So the front file of the army attacked the back files (mistaking them for the enemy) till they killed Al-Yaman. Hudhaifa (bin Al-Yaman) shouted, “My father!” My father! But they killed him. Hudhaifa said, “May Allah forgive you.” (The narrator added: Some of the defeated pagans fled till they reached Taif.) (Bukhari)
Narrated ‘Aisha:
“When it was the day of (the battle of) Uhud, the pagans were defeated. Then Satan shouted, “O Allah’s worshipers! Beware of what is behind you!” So the front files attacked the back files of the army. Hudhaifa looked, and behold, there was his father, Al-Yaman (being attacked) ! He shouted (to his companions), “O Allah’s worshipers, my father, my father!” But by Allah, they did not stop till they killed him (i.e., Hudhaifa’s father). Hudhaifa said, “May Allah forgive you.” (‘Urwa said, Hudhaifa continued asking Allah’s Forgiveness for the killer of his father till he died. (Bukhari)
From the Ahkam of the Dunya the shahadah (testimonies) of two muslims are needed to establish that a muslim has committed Kufr and four shahadah’s are needed for a case of Zina, but for the qualification of someone’s Islam only one shahadah of a muslim is needed. If someone is informing you or telling you that someone is muslim, if you do not take their testimony you will be sinful and you will not be applying the ahkam of Allah upon this Earth. So we only need one testimony to say that someone, who is kafir asli or whose religion we do not know is a muslim. When a muslim is telling you that an individual is a muslim, he is muslim. Even though someone may not be a muslim in reality (displaying Islam while hiding kufr in his heart) you will not be sinful and it does not cause you to change your judgement upon him because you are applying the Ahkam of Allah upon what is apparent to you and the heart which conceals kufr which you cannot see is left to Allah. But it will affect you by you being sinful when you do not take him as a muslim by the shahadah of another muslim which is clearly established from the Qur’an and Sunnah. By accepting the shahadah upon this person and thus taking him as muslim, whose religion prior to the shahadah you did not know anything of, you will be submitting to Allah by living according to His law regarding this matter, accepting the hukm of Allaah and you will be on the safe side.
Apparent sign of Islam – being a child
Also, to be taken as Muslim is every innocent child. We know from the Qur’an and Sunnah that every single child is born upon Islam, upon Al Fitra,
Narrated Abu- Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, “No child is born except on Al-Fitra (Islam) and then his parents make him Jewish, Christian or Magian, as an animal produces a perfect young animal: do you see any part of its body amputated?” Then he recited:
‘The religion of pure Islamic Faith (Hanifa),(i.e. to worship none but Allah), The pure Allah’s Islamic nature with which He (Allah) has created mankind. Let There be no change in Allah’s religion (i.e. to join none in Allah’s worship). That is the straight religion; but most of men know not…” (30.30) (Bukhari)
and,
In a hadith related by Ali Bin Abi Talib (raa), the Messenger of Allah (saas) said: “The Pen that records the deeds has been lifted from three people; the insane person, until he recovers; the sleeping person, until he wakes up; and the minor, until he dreams (i.e., has wet dreams.)” (Ahmed)
According to the Kitab and the Sunnah every child is a muslim (until they reach puberty). What comes next is regarding the differences of opinion amongst the ulema is to highlight where they have ijma, but we must reiterate that according to the Kitab and the Sunnah, The Qur’an and the Sunnah, every child is a muslim until they reach puberty.
We will mention the difference of opinion among the ulema only to highlight where they have ijma (consensus). This is to be understood upon the fact that every child is a muslim until they reach the age of puberty. The difference among the ulema regarding this matter is because of the hadith of the parents making the child a jew, a christian or a magian. However among the ulema who have the difference there is a consensus that when a child is born from parents who are both muslims or one of the parents is muslim (the father (who can marry from Ahlul Kitab)), then this child is a muslim. They say you cannot have the opposite where a muslimah is married to a Kafir. That is what the ulema say.
So with the hadith of the parents making the child jewish, christian or magian, along with the hadith of the pen being lifted from the minor, some of the ulema are saying that every child from birth till puberty is a muslim. Some of the ulema are saying no, he is following his parents according to the hadith, not only in the Ahkam of the Dunya where they speak and act by what there parents teach them but also by the Ahkam of the Akhira whereby they are held accountable for these acts regardless of being an immature child who has not reached the age of puberty. There are many opinions quoted by Ibnu Al Qayyim but he mentioned what is accepted by everyone, and that is the ijma amongst the ulema that every child who has one muslim parent (the father being muslim) or two Muslim parents is a muslim.
Is the Hajj an apparent sign of Islam?
Narrated Humaid bin Abdur Rahman:
Abu Huraira said, “Abu Bakr sent me in that Hajj in which he was the chief of the pilgrims along with the announcers whom he sent on the Day of Nahr to announce at Mina: “No mushrik shall perform Hajj after this year, and none shall perform the Tawaf around the Ka’ba in a naked state.” Humaid added: That the Prophet sent ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (after Abu Bakr) and ordered him to recite aloud in public Surat-Baraa. Abu Huraira added, “So ‘Ali, along with us, recited Bara’a (loudly) before the people at Mina on the Day of Nahr and announced “No mushrik shall perform Hajj after this year and none shall perform the Tawaf around the Ka’ba in a naked state.” (Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Huraira:
On the Day of Nahr (10th of Dhul-Hijja, in the year prior to the last Hajj of the Prophet when Abu Bakr was the leader of the pilgrims in that Hajj) Abu Bakr sent me along with other announcers to Mina to make a public announcement: “No mushrik is allowed to perform Hajj after this year and no naked person is allowed to perform the Tawaf around the Ka’ba. Then Allah’s Apostle sent ‘All to read out the Surat Bara’a (At-Tauba) to the people; so he made the announcement along with us on the day of Nahr in Mina: “No pagan is allowed to perform Hajj after this year and no naked person is allowed to perform the Tawaf around the Ka’ba.” (Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Huraira:
In the year prior to the last Hajj of the Prophet when Allahs Apostle made Abu Bakr the leader of the pilgrims, the latter (Abu Bakr) sent me in the company of a group of people to make a public announcement: ‘No mushrik is allowed to perform Hajj after this year, and no naked person is allowed to perform Tawaf of the Kaba.’ (Bukhari)
The Prophet said from this year no mushrik will come to hajj, so from the order of the Prophet no mushrik came to hajj, everyone who was arriving at Mekkah for hajj was a muslim. It was at that time a sign of Islam. This was the case until Mekkah fell into the hands of the kuffar and like the times we now live in they let anyone perform the hajj whether they are a kafir/mushrik, Shia’, and also the biggest Tawagheet. So it is not a sign of Islam any more. In jahilya, the mushrikeen used to have a kind of salat which was that they were turning around the kabah naked, clapping their hands and whistling.
Allah says,
“And their prayer at the House was not except whistling and clapping…” (Surah Al-‘Anfal: 35)
This was one of their forms of ibadat which they carried on performing. The mushrikeen Quraysh, along with their whistling and clapping, used to perform tawaf around the Ka’bah. They had some rights from the ibadat of Ibrahim which they used to perform. They used to go to hajj before the time of the Prophet to do this kind of ibadat. Now, tawaf is not a sign of Islam for two reasons: 1 – because this is ibadat that anyone can do i.e. the kuffaar, which they used to do which shows that it is not an act exclusive to Islam and the muslims and, 2 – the most important thing is that the sign of Islam is only what is found within the Kitab and the Sunnah.
But we know and believe from the Kitab and Sunnah that anyone who is in the hajj displaying any of the signs of Islam such as performing the prayer of the Prophet is a Muslim. Because the prayer, adhan, talbiya (labbaik Allahumma labbaik, labbaik laa shareeka laka labbaik, innalhamda wan ni’mata laka wal mulk laa shareeka laka), are signs of Islam. The talbiya contains tawheed and this is why ash shaytan ar rajim wanted to change this word. So everyone who is reciting the talbiya, everyone who is performing the salah of the Prophet, everyone who is calling the adhan, is a Muslim. So anyone in the hajj who we do not know, but displays a sign of Islam is a muslim. The individual performing salah is saying laa ilaha ila Allah in his Salat. Whoever is calling the adhan at the Hajj, they are muslim because they are saying the shahadatayn. For us they are muslim because they display true signs of Islam which we have dala’il (evidences) for.
When the Prophet said from this year no mushrik shall come to hajj, it was not a prophecy that no one in the future, no mushrik will enter for the hajj. It was not information telling us from now on no mushrik or kafir until the day of judgement will enter the hajj. If this information was to be taken as a prophecy then we would have to take everyone who is going to hajj as a muslim. Rather it was a hukm, not to let the mushrikeen enter. There are people who are breaking the order of the Prophet and who let the mushrikeen enter. We know that a lot of mushrikeen are performing the hajj. This means when the Prophet said from this year no mushrik shall perform the hajj, it was not information that none of the mushrikeen will ever enter, because the reality is that they are. At that time when this order of the Prophet was given, when the commands of Islam were respected, everyone entering would be a muslim because the muslim authorities would not let any mushrik enter. But today we know that a lot of people will perform the hajj who are mushrikeen and kuffar. So for us, what we say is that everyone who is praying the prayer of the Prophet is a muslim. They are not muslim because they are at the hajj but they are muslim because they are praying, calling the adhan, chanting the talbiya, etc. But he is not taken as muslim if he is a taghut. If you know he is taghut and he is praying he is still a taghut and he is still a kafir because he is performing this ibadah in a state of kufr. Allaah will not accept this ibadah from him. Such an individual would have to make taubah from their kufr to be taken as muslim.
So, the signs of Islam are acts specific to the muslims, acts that the muslims do, acts exclusive to the religion of Islam. Laa ilaha illallah is Islam and it is this word that the Prophets and Messengers called their people to. All of the signs of Islam are linked to Laa ilaha illallah, whether it is the salah of the prophet which contains Laa ilaha illallah in the tashshahud, or the adhan and the iqama which also contain Laa ilaha illallah. This is why we say that salah is also a sign of Islam. Other religions have their own salah, but why our salah is a sign of Islam is because it contains Laa ilaha illallah.
When someone says ‘I am a muslim’, that means he has and is adhering to Laa ilaha illallah and all the other deeds of the muslim. When it is said Laa ilaha illallah is Islam, reference is being made to the major component within a thing. For example when the Prophet said “al hajju Arafat” (the hajj is Arafat), we know that al hajj is not only Arafat, but it is the major part contained within it. The Prophet said “addeenun naseehah”, the deen is when you give advice, but the deen is not only when you give advice, from the advice is also forbidding the munkar. When you give the advice you are either commanding the mar’uf or forbidding the munkar. And commanding the mar’uf and forbidding the munkar is the whole message, it is the whole word/advice, the job description of this ummah.
Allah says,
“You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma’rûf and forbid Al-Munkar” (Surah Aal-Imran: 110)
So the naseehah, either you are commanding the mar’uf or forbidding the munkar. This is what the prophet is also saying, “addeenun naseehah”. It is calling to Allah, to His Book, and His Messengers, and to the leaders of the muslims, and all of the muslims. So it is covering the whole deen. So when we say Laa ilaha illallah is Islam, reference to (Islam) is being made to the major part within it (Laa ilaha illallah). Similar is when the Prophet said, “faith has seventy-odd or sixty odd branches, the best of which is saying La ilaha illallah, and the least of which is removing something harmful from the road, and Al-Haya is a branch of faith.” So reference is being given to the major part within a thing. Although Islam contains salah, zakah, sawm, hajj, etc, not only saying Laa ilaha illallah, but Laa ilaha illallah contains the whole thing. And when someone has the kalimah Laa ilaha illallah it means that they worship Allah alone, accept the Prophet, and act upon the rest of the religion adhering to it.
When someone says ‘ana muslim’ (I am a muslim), or ‘aslamtu lillah’ (I submit to Allah) or ‘aslamna’ (we submit) it means submission, it is the meaning of submission, that they submit to Allah fully. And this is the sign of Islam, this is the meaning of Laa ilaha illallah, it is submission to Allah. ‘Ana muslim’, ‘aslamtu lillah’ and ‘aslamna’ contain Laa ilaha illallah, this is why we take as muslim someone who indicates there Islam from a statement like the one from the man’s mouth in the narration where the Prophet answered Miqdad ibn Aswad when Miqdad told him, if he says to me after cutting off one of my arms, whilst hiding behind a tree, “aslamtu lillah (I submit to Allaah)”, we know in the hadith that the Prophet said “do not kill him.” That means this word is the word of submission, the word of piety, the word of Laa ilaha illallah. This is why everything is linked to this word Laa ilaha illallah. This is why Laa ilaha illallah is Islam, and also to say it/proclaim it is a sign of it (Islam).
Allah says,
When those who disbelieve had put in their hearts pride and haughtiness the pride and haughtiness of the time of ignorance, then Allâh sent down His Sakinah (calmness and tranquillity) upon His Messenger ( SAW) and upon the believers, and made them stick to kalimatut taqwa ( Laa ilaha illallah – none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh), and they were well entitled to it and worthy of it. And Allâh is the All-Knower of everything. (Surah Al-Fath: 26)
