Am I a Disbeliever For Leaving an Emphasized Sunna?
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question:
I know that disdaining a sunna takes a person out of Islam. But what does “disdaining” actually mean in this case? Does it mean “hating,” or does it mean “belittling”? I don’t offer durood Ibrahimiyya since I know that it is a sunnah and not fard, so I don’t consider it that important. But I don’t deny its reward, or I don’t hate it either. Am I a kaafir?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
Assalam’aleykum,I pray this finds you in the best of states.
Jazakum Allah khayr for your question!
No, you are not a disbeliever for being too lazy to perform an emphasized sunna.
It is true that some scholars have mentioned that leaving the emphasized sunnas out of contempt or showing a lack of veneration towards them could well entail disbelief. [Ibn Al-Humam, Fath Al-Qadir]
Being too lazy to perform them has nothing to do with showing contempt or lacking in veneration towards them.
What renders one a disbeliever?
Imam Tahawi states in his primer of creed, “A servant is not considered to have left his faith except by denying that which originally caused him to enter it.” i.e., his very belief in Allah’s oneness or the resulting faith in all that is necessarily known of the religion. [Maydani, Sharh al-Tahawiyya]
The Ruling of the Confirmed and the Non-Confirmed Sunna
Please don’t make it a habit to leave the emphasized sunnas without an excuse.
Our teacher, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, beautifully explains that the confirmed sunna (mu’akkada) is “an act regularly upheld by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and was not of worldly habits. This is whilst letting it be known that it is not obligatory (fard). These acts are legally considered to complete the obligatory acts. Omission here would not be punishable although it is blameworthy due to leaving the way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).” [The Absolute Essentials of Islam]
And Allah knows best.May Allah Most High grant you the best of this world and the next. Please keep us in your du’as!
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
