Centuries ago, Takfir (i.e., accusation of blasphemy or unbelief) turned into a phenomenon among Muslim sects. An Ash`ari would accuse a Mu`tazili of blasphemy, allegedly for denying the Messenger’s seeing of Allah, not recognizing Allah’s Attributes, and arguing for the creation of the Qur’an. At the other side, a Mu`tazili would accuse an Ash`ari of blasphemy, allegedly for disagreeing with the Prophet on monotheism, on the grounds that ascribing human attributes to Allah entails that there are others who share the same perfect attributes with Him.

Al-Ghazali wrote, “This dilemma was caused by ignorance of where to accept and where to deny. To subject a Shar`i text to reasoning without undermining it is something commendable in religion. However, it is falsehood to deny such reasoning outright and deem it nonsense; this is stark unbelief. Accordingly, an innovator in religion is not deemed unbeliever as long as such innovation is based on a sound interpretation of some religious text, corroborated with the fact that the apparent meaning of such text does not apply”.

The above, though disapproved by some scholars, places restriction on those who unreasonably use Takfir against others.

“In the book Jami` Al-Fusulyyin (Reconciler of Factions), At-Tahawi reported our fellow scholars as saying, ‘A person is deemed out of the fold of faith only when he denies what initially brought him into it. Thereupon, what is certainly proved apostasy shall be judged apostasy, and what is not certainly proved apostasy shall not be judged apostasy’. Evident belief in Islam cannot be nullified for doubt. After all, Islam has more priority; a mufti should not act to judge a Muslim unbeliever while judging a person forced to embrace Islam to be a true Muslim”.

These opinions are cited as a criterion to judge the cases discussed earlier. Some of these cases were judged to be unbelief, whereas they are not, in light of the above argument. For more details, see Jami` Al-Fusulyyin.

Also, as stated in Al-Fatawa As-Sughra (Minor Fatwas), “Unbelief is a grave matter; a believer cannot be deemed unbeliever so long as there is some aspect entailing the opposite”.

In Al-Khulasah (The Extract) and other books, it is explained, “If a case involves several aspects that entail unbelief but one aspect that excludes it, then the mufti should give preponderance to the aspect excluding unbelief, as a matter of thinking well of Muslims.” The book Al-Bazzaziyyah (Fatwas by Al-Bazzazi) elaborated more on this: “… unless the person proclaims an express will to do something that implies unbelief, in which case no justification can be pleaded”. Another book, At-Tatarkhaniyyah (Tatarkhani Fatwas), further stated, “Takfir shall not be based on uncertainty, as Takfir is the utmost of punishment, and thus it requires the utmost of offense — whereas uncertainty has no utmost”.

“To conclude, a Muslim shall not be judged unbeliever as long as his words can be interpreted as having a good implication or his unbelief is controversial, even if on the grounds of a weak narration. Accordingly, most of the sayings allegedly entailing Takfir shall not be judged as a reason for Takfir. I have decided never to give a fatwa of Takfir based on such sayings” [Al-Bahr (The Sea), redacted].

The same was stated in the book Tanwir Al-Absar (Enlightenment of Insights) as well as Ibn `Abidin’s commentary on it Radd Al-Muhtar (Answering the Confused). Explaining the saying: “… even if on the grounds of a weak narration”, Ibn `Abidin wrote, “Al-Khayr Ar-Ramli said, ‘… and even if the narration is reported by other than our school of jurisprudence. This is proved by requiring that what necessitates Takfir must be an object of consensus'”.

In Al-Fatawa (The Fatwas), Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah stated, “Companions and all Muslim Imams unanimously agreed that not everyone who says something wrong, even if contradicting with the Sunnah, is necessarily to be judged unbeliever. Thus, using Takfir against whoever claims a wrong opinion is against consensus. Takfir is a matter of controversy, which is discussed in detail elsewhere. What is meant here is that no followers of a certain Sheikh or Imam are entitled to use Takfir against others. It is authentically narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “If a man says to his brother, ‘O Unbeliever’, it shall definitely apply to one of them”.