Kufr-ni’mah, hadith evidence and the Qur’an

And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: “Now I repent;” nor of those who die while they are ungrateful disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful torment. (Qur’an 4:18)

Analyzing Kufr-ni’mah, and the hadith in the light of the Qur’an.

Narrated Ibn `Abbas:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “When (a person) an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse, then he is not a believer at the time he is doing it; and when somebody steals, then he is not a believer at the time he is stealing .”

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “An adulterer, at the time he is committing illegal sexual intercourse is not a believer; and a person, at the time of drinking an alcoholic drink is not a believer; and a thief, at the time of stealing, is not a believer.” Ibn Shihab said: `Abdul Malik bin Abi Bakr bin `Abdur-Rahman bin Al- Harith bin Hisham told me that Abu Bakr used to narrate that narration to him on the authority of Abu Huraira. He used to add that Abu Bakr used to mention, besides the above cases, “And he who robs (takes illegally something by force) while the people are looking at him, is not a believer at the time he is robbing (taking).

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “When an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse, then he is not a believer at the time he is doing it; and when somebody drinks an alcoholic drink, then he is not believer at the time of drinking, and when a thief steals, he is not a believer at the time when he is stealing; and when a robber robs and the people look at him, then he is not a believer at the time of doing it.” Abu Huraira in another narration, narrated the same from the Prophet (peace be upon him) with the exclusion of robbery.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “When an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse, then he is not a believer at the time, he is doing it, and when a drinker of an alcoholic liquor drinks it, then he is not a believer at the time of drinking it, and when a thief steals, then he is not a believer at the time of stealing, and when a robber robs, and the people look at him, then he is not a believer at the time of doing robbery.

Narrated Abu Dharr:

I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was wearing white clothes and sleeping. Then I went back to him again after he had got up from his sleep. He said, “Nobody says: ‘None has the right to be worshiped but Allah’ and then later on he dies while believing in that, except that he will enter Paradise.” I said, “Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?” He said. ‘Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft.” I said, “Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?” He said. ‘Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft.’ I said, ‘Even it he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?’ He said, “Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft, inspite of the Abu Dharr’s dislike. Abu `Abdullah said, “This is at the time of death or before it if one repents and regrets and says “None has the right to be worshiped but Allah. He will be forgiven his sins.”

Comment:

Notice the above hadith states:

Abu `Abdullah said, “This is at the time of death or before it if one repents and regrets and says “None has the right to be worshiped but Allah. He will be forgiven his sins.”

We know that this is not the statement of the Blessed Messenger (saw), because that would clash with the clear statement of Allah (swt).

And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: “Now I repent;” nor of those who die while they are ungrateful disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful torment. (Qur’an 4:18)

Narrated ‘Ikrima from Ibn ‘Abbas:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)s said, “When a slave (of Allah) commits illegal sexual intercourse, he is not a believer at the time of committing it; and if he steals, he is not a believer at the time of stealing; and if he drinks an alcoholic drink, then he is not a believer at the time of drinking it; and he is not a believer when he commits a murder,” ‘Ikrima said: I asked Ibn Abbas, “How is faith taken away from him ?” He said, Like this,” by clasping his hands and then separating them, and added, “But if he repents, faith returns to him like this, by clasping his hands again.

So if a believer dies based on the idea of those saying that believers will leave hell then this person won’t leave hell because he will be in a non believing state. Which is a clear contradiction to the idea that the sinner who is encompassed by his sin is still considered a believer by them. However, we can see from the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah that this is not the case.

TAWBAH/REPENTANCE/REFORMATION IS A MUST!

As for the school of Ahl Haqq Wal Istiqamah (The People of Truth and Steadfastness). The persons above are still considered as a Muslim in general, however, they are in a state of Kufr-ni’mah. This means that the rulings of Islam apply to him/her. However, that person is in bara’ah (dissociation) until they come back to the right path.

May Allah (swt) help us to purify our souls, our hearts, our thoughts and our actions.

“That is because Allah has never changed the blessings which He has bestowed on a people until they themselves changed the condition of their souls; verily Allah hears all and knows all.” (Qur’an 8:53)