Question: Are there some actions of kufr which take the person out of the Millah and are there some which do not? Or are actions of kufr all classified as kufr dūna kufr which do not remove the person from the Millah except if accompanied by a belief or istihlāl or juhūd?
Answer: Kufr ‘amalī (actions of kufr) are of two kinds:
First: From them is that which removes the person from the Millah. Such as sujūd to an idol and and sacrificing to other than Allāh, tearing the Mushaf, allying with the kuffār and aiding them and giving them victory over the Muslimīn, legislating man-made laws, leaving the salāh and the like. All these things are made takfīr upon because of the action itself without having to look at the belief (of the person who does them). Also, from the actions of kufr are those connected to the tongue, like cursing Allāh or His Messenger (‘alayhis-salāh was-salām) or mocking the Dīn or its clear symbols. This kind of speech is in itself kufr. Allāh (ta’ālā) said, “…but really they said the word of disbelief, and they disbelieved after accepting Islām…”
Second: Actions of kufr which do not remove the person from the Millah. Like attributing oneself to other than his real father, tearing the clothes and slapping one’s cheeks when a misfortune strikes, having anal sex with one’s wife (Als je zegt dat het is toegestaan, ben je geen moslim meer!) and other issues like this. This is like in the Hadīth, “Two (things) are found among men which are tantamount to unbelief: slandering one’s lineage and lamentation on the dead.” And in another Hadīth, “whoever attributes himself to other than his father has disbelieved.”
As for the saying that all kufr ‘amalī (actions of kuf) are kufr dūna kufr except if accompanied with juhūd or istihlāl then this is from the beliefs and speech of the Murjiah.
[Answered by Shaykh ‘Alī al-Khudayr in as-Salafiyyīn forum]
