A hadîth-i-sherîf reads: “The best of you is the one who makes repentance ‘tawba’ immediately after committing a sin.” The gravest sins are disbelief, hypocrisy, and deserting one’s faith or apostasy (irtidâd).
A person who has not become a Muslim, or who refuses to become one, is called a disbeliever (kâfir). The disbeliever who pretends to be Muslim in order to deceive Muslims is called hypocrite (munâfiq) and (zindiq). A person who becomes a disbeliever while he was a Muslim has committed apostasy (irtidad). A person who commits apostasy is called an apostate (murtad). If these three types of persons believe sincerely with their hearts, they will certainly become Muslims.
The following observations are made in the books entitled Berîqa and Hadîqa, in the chapter dealing with the disasters incurred by way of speech, as well as in the book Majmâ’ul-anhur: “If a Muslim, male and female alike, makes a statement or commits an act [consciously and without being subjected to duress] which they know Islamic scholars unanimously define as one of the statements or acts that will cause one to become a disbeliever, they will lose their îmân and become a murtad (apostate), even if the statement has been made or the act has been committed for a jocular purpose or without really thinking of its meaning. This sort of disbelief is termed kufr-i-inâdî. It causes one to become an apostate, to do so purposely, even if one does not know that the statement or the act concerned causes a state of unbelief. In this case the state of unbelief lapsed into is called kufr-i-jahlî. For, it is farz for every individual Muslim to learn those Islamic facts which they have been enjoined to know. Not to know it, therefore, is a grave sin, instead of an excuse. People who have lost their îmân by way of kufr-i-inâdî or kufr-i-jahlî will also lose their nikâh (state of being married according to Islam’s canonical code). What a male Muslim, who has in this way lost his nikâh, has to do is, getting a verbal proxy from his wife first, renew his nikâh through a process termed tajdîd-i-nikâh, which is performed in the presence of two (male Muslim) witnesses or among the jamâ’at in the mosque. If a Muslim makes a statement causing a state of unbelief by mistake or in an interpretable way or under duress, he will neither become an apostate or lose his nikâh. If a person consciously makes a statement which is a matter of disagreement among the Islamic scholars as to whether it should be listed with acts causing a state of apostasy, he will not become an apostate, although he ought to make tawba, say istighfâr, and perform tajdîd-i-nikâh for a margin of safety.” A mosque-going Muslim cannot be anticipated to lapse into apostasy by way of kufr-i-inâdî or kufr-i-jahlî. However, since the finally cited likelihood is only human, and a Muslim may find himself any time in the quandary of apostasy, (people in charge of conducting public prayers and who are called) ‘imâms’ in mosques have been reciting a certain prayer, having the jamâ’at, (i.e. congregation of Muslims,) repeat after them, thereby executing the commandment enjoined in the hadîth-i-sherîf, “Perform tajdîd-i-îmân by saying, ‘Lâ ilâha il-l-Allah’.” The prayer reads as follows: “Allâhumma innî urîdu an ujaddid-al-îmâna wa-n-nikâhu tajdîdan biqawli lâ ilâha il-l-Allah Muhammadun rasûlullah.”
Any belief which does not conform to the belief taught by the “Ahl as-sunnat scholars” is called deviation (“bid’at” or “dalâlat”) from the right path. To hold a bid’at is the second gravest sin after unbelief. An activity which multiplies this very grave sin many-fold is to spread a bid’at and to imbue Muslims with it. What should devolve on a government against such a squalid activity is to inflict heavy punishments on the heretics guilty of the iniquity, on the scholarly spheres to provide protective advice, and on the populace to hold them at bay and to avoid reading their publications. One should be very alert in order not to be deceived by their lies, slanders and provocative speeches. At present, the “lâ-madhhabiyyas”, followers of Mawdûdî, Sayyid Qutb, and ignorant heretics who are called Tablîgh al-jamâ’at, and finally sham sufi guides and false shaikhs who appear under various guises are exploiting all kinds of means in order to spread their corrupt and deviated beliefs. They are preparing all kinds of unimaginable and unthinkable tricks and traps in order to deceive Muslims and in order to smash and destroy the “Ahl as-sunnat” with the help of their own nafs and the devil. They are carrying on their cold war against the “Ahl as-sunnat” by expending their personal riches and millions of dollars. Young people ought to learn Islam and the right path (haqq) from the books of “Ahl as-sunnat scholars”. People who do not learn will be caught and drowned in the floods of bid’at (heresy) and dalâlat (aberration), ending up in disasters in the world and perdition in the world to come. Leaders of bid’at-holders are misinterpreting the Qur’ân al-kerîm, adducing the purposely distorted meanings as support for their heretical ideas in the name of “disclosing the truth in the light of âyats and hadîths.” Leaders of the deviated (Bidat) groups are giving wrong and corrupt meanings to the Qur’ân. By using these unjustly given meanings they are asserting that they are proving their deviated ideas through the verses of the Qur’ân and hadîth. Only those who know the truth (haqq) will be able to protect themselves from these people. It is almost impossible for those who do not know the truth not to fall into the traps and whirlpool of deviation and heresy. These people with heretical belief will become disbelievers if their deviated belief runs counter to the open credal teachings of the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs, which are unanimously communicated by (those Islamic scholars called) mujtahid imâms and (which are) commonly known by Muslims. This type of disbelief is called “ilhâd” and those who fall into this position are called “mulhid”. Books teaching credal matters state that “mulhids” are considered as disbelievers with no heavenly books (mushriks).
Allâhu ta’âlâ will accept also the tawba made by holders of bid’at. For making tawba, such people should briefly learn (Islam’s true credal teachings termed) Ahl as-sunnat, rectify their credal attitudes accordingly and renounce their former heresies with true repentance.
Ref: This paragraphes are quoted from the book “Ethics of Islam” page 165, which is the translation of the book Berîka written by Abû Sa’îd Muhammad bin MustafâHâdimî ‘rahima hullâhu ta’âlâ’, who passed away in 1176 Hijrî, 1762 A.D. in Konya / Turkey and the book Akhlâq-i-Alâî written in Turkish by Alî bin Amrullah ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ,’ who passed away in 979 Hijrî, 1572 A.D. in Edirne / Turkey. You can find the whole book and the other valuable books in the web site www.hakikatkitabevi.com.tr and download in PDF format for Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB format for iPhone-iPad-Mac devices and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle device.
