Are Muslims With Anthropomorphic Beliefs Considered Disbelievers?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Are Muslims who have anthropomorphic beliefs considered disbelievers?

Answer: wa `alaykum assalam

We do not involve ourselves in polemics and we definitely do not involve ourselves in labeling other groups of Muslims as being outside the fold.

The widespread epidemic of takfir is one of the biggest evils of our time, as scholars such as Shaykh Nuh Keller have pointed out. Rather, anyone who has read the warnings of the Prophet (Allah bless him) on doing takfir of another Muslim understands the gravity of the matter and this is why the `ulema of old have always held back on passing such judgments, finding any possible excuse they could to avert labeling someone outside the fold.

Ibn `Abidin, the central authority for fatwa in the Hanafi school, said, “A fatwa may not be given of the unbelief of a Muslim whose words are interpretable as having a valid meaning, or about the unbelief of which there is a difference of scholarly opinion, even if weak .” [Radd al-Muhtar]

Regarding the belief that some Muslims have that entail anthropomorphism, such positions do not render them outside the field. This is because: (a) what is entailed by a position is not always the position itself, meaning that someone may hold a position that entails a corrupt belief but they themselves do not actually hold to that corrupt conclusion, and (b) the anthropomorphism that is considered clear disbelief is to state that Allah is a body like created bodies, as the scholars have mentioned.

Salman

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani