{"_id":"6a6f764676d8d04b1e3ef1c3","title":"{\"ops\":[{\"insert\":\"Is declaring Muslims to be disbelievers a bidʿah?\\n\"}]}","question":"{\"ops\":[{\"insert\":\"Is the practice of declaring Muslims to be disbelievers (takfīr) a bidʿah? Did the Prophet ﷺ ever excommunicate someone from Islam after they had already embraced it?\\n\"}]}","answer":"{\"ops\":[{\"insert\":\"Yes, it is a heinously destructive innovation (bidʿah) that has caused immeasurable harm to the Muslim ummah. It started with the Khawarij, who rebelled against ʿAli ibn Abī Ṭālib after the Battle of Ṣiffīn and declared him, and anyone who followed him, apostates. Imagine declaring ʿAli an apostate; raised by the Prophet ﷺ from childhood, the first male convert, who never once prostrated to an idol. Since the Khawarij, other movements throughout history have adopted the takfīrī ideology, notably the Wahhābī movement, al-Qāʿidah, and ISIS.\\n\\nWhat is even more worrisome is that this fringe ideology has spread beyond extremist circles into mainstream Muslim discourse, appearing in academic settings and proliferating online. We all have a religious responsibility to actively denounce it.\\n\\nHaving said that, classical Islamic jurisprudence does contain provisions regarding apostasy, but these were always part of a formal judicial process, carried out only by authorized jurists.\\n\"}]}","tags":[{"_id":"668d9fe50b76658b4c232867","tag":"Aqeedah: Sects and Religions","count":70},{"_id":"668d9fe60b76658b4c23287a","tag":"Knowledge: Bidah","count":22},{"_id":"691f3b2aea251b8dbadce928","tag":"Aqeedah: Other","count":5}],"createdOn":"2026-08-02T16:54:30.440Z"}