What Is the Ruling of Calling Someone a Hypocrite?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

My father used to call some of his friend munafiq and now I don’t know exactly if they have done anything to be called munafiq.

What should I tell my father to do? He is a pious man he prays five times and is religiously committed and I don’t want to see him die with a grave sin. Maybe he has done that out of ignorance. Please suggest as he is a married man with 2 kids.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Calling someone a hypocrite, especially if they do not deserve it, is a major sin of the tongue.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Cursing a Muslim is transgression, and killing him is disbelief.” [Ahmad]

Considered among the meanings of cursing the Muslims is ascribing to them disbelief, hypocrisy, sin, etc… without the right to do so. [Bin Tahir, Sullam al-Tawfiq]

Repenting

The sins of the tongue are the greatest sins and most dangerous. This is due to the perception of many people that the sins of the tongue are not consequential.

This was the initial view of Sayyiduna Mu’adh ibn Jabal. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) quickly put this assumption to rest in the following narration:

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Mu’adh, “Control this (and he pointed to his blessed tongue)!” I (Mu’adh) said, “O Prophet of Allah, will we be taken to account for what we say?” He said, “Woe to you, O Mu’adh. Will the people be cast on their beaks (or their faces) for anything other than the reapings of their tongues!?” [Tirmidhi]

Despite the gravity of this sin, Allah Most High will forgive, if one repents sincerely.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.