A Contradictory Example
Some people attempt to use a specific example to argue that some polytheists are actually ignorant Muslims. However, they fail to realize that the example they cite actually proves the exact opposite of their claim. For this reason, that example will be mentioned here for clarification and will be briefly discussed:
A man who lives isolated from civilization falls into grief. He has no means to travel and eventually turns to the only shaykh in the village. He has only heard good things about this shaykh, and all the people confirm that he is a learned man.
However, this scholar himself is ignorant and instructs him to call upon the dead for help, claiming that they can remove the causes of his suffering. He justifies this by citing a statement falsely attributed to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, which in reality is a fabrication.
The man then acts upon this instruction, calling upon the dead, seeking from them salvation, healing, and relief from hardship. By doing so, he requests things that only Allah is capable of, thereby committing major shirk, believing that he is following the command of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
It could thus be said that this man intended nothing other than to obey Allah and His Messenger.
The following points must be considered:
- The person in this hypothetical example clearly does not understand the meaning of the Islamic testimony of faith. Since he does not fulfil the condition of knowledge, he cannot possibly be considered a Muslim.
- The man worships someone other than Allah. By doing so, he has taken this entity as an ilah, meaning he cannot be regarded as someone who has fulfilled la ilaha illa-llah. He is not a Muslim, not a mukhlis, not a hanif, does not follow the millah of Ibrahim عليه السلام, and has not implemented the principle of rejecting the taghut.
- He also believed that the dead were worthy of worship and therefore requested things from them that only the Creator is capable of granting.
- The fact that this man identifies as a Muslim does not change any of the above-mentioned facts – just as it made no difference with the idolaters of the Arabs, who considered themselves followers of Ibrahim عليه السلام and his din.
- The fact that he believed in this fabricated hadith only confirms what has already been stated. Had he truly known the foundation of Islam, it would be unthinkable for him to reject it based on any completely contradictory claim.
Otherwise, it would mean that a Muslim could believe any claim, without it having any consequences. An example would be someone trying to convince a Muslim of a hadith that supposedly proves that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has a son.
Would it be possible for a Muslim to believe in such a hadith? Would we still consider this person a Muslim simply because he identifies as one? Would we still say: “This man is a Muslim because he only wanted to follow the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.”?
Without a doubt, everyone would immediately object that such a person could not possibly have understood Islam. The same reaction should apply to the person in the previous example.
- All of this is aside from the fact that this example is far removed from today's reality. The real issue is that those who hold this misguided view are not actually concerned with such isolated, so-called exceptional cases, as presented in the given example. This reveals a certain dishonesty in their argument.
These individuals do not limit their conclusions to such extreme cases but instead apply them broadly to all people. Even according to their own flawed reasoning, it would be invalid to equate the situation in the example with that of people who listen to and read the Qur'an daily, and sometimes even memorize it – people whose access to knowledge is much easier today in the age of communication and information.