8 Important Rules to Protect Your Faith (Iman)

The 1st Rule

Whoever denies any matter that is “commonly known and immediately recognized by the Muslims to be of the Religion” blasphemes.[1]

The 2nd Rule

Whoever says, does, or believes anything that belittles Allah, His Messengers, His Books, His Angels, His Rules, His Promise, His Threat, His Rites (the Well-Known Practices of His Religion), or His Verses blasphemes.

The 3rd Rule

Whoever carries any belief in his heart, commits any action with his body parts, or says any statement with his tongue, that is considered blasphemy by consensus, and then utters the shahadah, then uttering the shahadah does not benefit him so long as he doubts about the judgment of blasphemy of such belief, action or saying. [2]

The 4th Rule

Whoever denies the meaning of a mutawatir[3] hadith blasphemes so long as the meaning is “commonly known and immediately recognized by the Muslims to be of the Religion.”[4]

The 5th Rule

Whoever intends to commit blasphemy in the future, hesitates whether to commit blasphemy,  makes committing blasphemy contingent upon the occurrence of an event, or orders another to blaspheme, blasphemes immediately.[5]

The 6th Rule

Whoever does any act which is only done by blasphemers blasphemes.[6]

The 7th Rule

Whoever wishes the permissibility of a matter that one knows was prohibited in all the sets of laws revealed to the Messengers of Allah blasphemes.

The 8th Rule

Whoever calls a Muslim a blasphemer without any reason blasphemes.[7]

[1] This knowledge refers to all matters which are commonly known to be of the Religion by both, lay people and scholars.  The one who denies such knowledge is judged as a blasphemer whether or not he knows that uttering such a statement results in one leaving Islam.

[2] Considered blasphemy by consensus means that there is no difference in opinions among the qualified scholars of Islam about the judgment of such belief, action, or saying.  Doubting about the judgment means that one does not have the firm conviction that what he believed, did, or said is blasphemy.  In this case, he remains as a blasphemer despite uttering the shahadah.

[3] Information transmitted by tawatur is one of three ways to know something..  Mutawatir refers to an incident that is witnessed and transmitted by a large number of people and passed down by numerous channels of transmission in such a way that all of those people could not agree to lie.

[4] This is blasphemy if the meaning is known by laymen and scholars to be of the Religion.  On the other hand, denying the wording of a mutawatir hadith is not blasphemy.

[5] This judgment of blasphemy applies whether the future means one second, one minute, one year, etc.  Hesitating to commit blasphemy is like for one to say in his heart, “Do I commit blasphemy or not?”  Making committing blasphemy contingent upon the occurrence of an event is like for one to say, “I will commit blasphemy if I lose all my money.”

[6] Examples are throwing al-Mushaf in the trash or prostrating to an idol, the sun, moon, or Devil.

[7] Without a reason means he attributed blasphemy to a Muslim: 1) without knowing that the accused committed blasphemy, 2) without knowing that the accused did something which the accuser thought was blasphemy, and 3) without just merely having the intention to draw a similarity between the accused and a blasphemer.