Is It Disbelief to Call Ibn Rushd a Disbeliever, to Curse Destiny, or to Say Destiny Is Created?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

Is it disbelief (kufr) to declare Ibn Rushd a disbeliever for holding that the universe is eternal? If the universe always existed alongside Allah, even while depending on Him, is that a form of associating partners with Him from pre-eternity? Is cursing fate disbelief, since destiny (qadar) is Allah’s will? And is it disbelief to say that destiny is created, or is Allah’s will uncreated while our destinies are created?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

None of the three things you describe takes you out of Islam. Repeating the scholars’ verdict on a doctrine is not disbelief. Cursing a hardship in frustration is a serious sin, not disbelief. And saying that destiny is created is correct when it refers to the things Allah brings into being.

May Allah give you a settled heart and a firm footing in your faith.

The Doctrine Is Judged, the Person Is Left to Allah

Imam Ghazali (Allah have mercy on him) lists the claim that the world is beginningless among the three positions for which the philosophers are judged disbelievers. [Ghazali, al-Iqtisad fi al-Iʿtiqad] He also answers your “even if dependent on Him.” A world that always existed with Allah cannot be His act at all, since an act is something that did not exist and then came to be. [Ghazali, al-Iqtisad fi al-Iʿtiqad] Allah Most High says, “He is the First and the Last.” [Quran 57:3] That is why, in an earlier answer, I described a creation eternal alongside Allah as a form of associating partners with Him.

Judging a person is different. Imam Ghazali calls takfir a question of law (fiqh), and he urges the careful scholar to hold back from it wherever a way can be found. [Ghazali, al-Iqtisad fi al-Iʿtiqad] The hadith that calling a Muslim a disbeliever “returns upon one of them” is not taken literally. Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) explains that it applies to one who deems it lawful, or else that the sin of the accusation returns upon him. [Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim] So a person who repeats the scholars’ verdict on a doctrine has not disbelieved. Whether Ibn Rushd himself held that doctrine in the sense condemned, and how scholars weighed him, is a matter for specialists; leave his final state to Allah.

Cursing Hardship Is a Sin; Insulting Allah Is Disbelief

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) related that Allah says, “The son of Adam curses time, and I am time; in My hand are the night and the day.” [Muslim] Imam Nawawi explains that whoever curses the cause of a calamity ends up directing the insult toward Allah, who brings calamities about. [Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim] That is why cursing fate is a serious sin to repent from. Deliberately insulting Allah Himself, or His decree as His act, is disbelief, whether said in mockery or in earnest. [Nawawi, Minhaj al-Talibin] Mere frustration expressed at the occurrence of an event is not that.

You are asked to be content with the decree itself, which is Allah’s act, and not with every individual decreed thing. Disbelief and sins are decreed, yet we are not content with them. [Nafrawi, al-Fawakih al-Dawani]

You Guessed Right About Destiny

In Ashʿari terms, the decree (qada) is Allah’s eternal will concerning things, and destiny (qadar) is His bringing them into being in their set measure. [Attar, Hashiya ala Sharh Jamʿ al-Jawamiʿ] Allah Most High says, “Indeed, We have created everything, perfectly preordained.” [Quran 54:49] Allah’s will and knowledge are eternal and uncreated. The decreed events, including your life, are created. The Maturidi scholars use the two terms the other way round, which is a difference in wording, not in belief. [Nafrawi, al-Fawakih al-Dawani]

A Muslim Does Not Leave Islam by a Question

You have asked several questions of this kind, and I would prefer to give you contentment rather than another ruling. Disbelief is a deliberate rejection of what you know to be true. A Muslim does not leave Islam through a doubt, a question, or a passing thought. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Allah has pardoned my community for what their souls whisper to them, so long as they do not act on it or speak of it.” [Muslim]

Instead of submitting more questions, take one structured course in Islamic belief: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani’s What Muslims Believe and Why: Dardir’s Kharida al-Bahiyya. If these fears recur daily, speak to someone who can help with scrupulosity. Allah is more merciful to you than your fears are.

And Allah knows best.

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Related Answers

• What Is the Ruling on Claiming That Creation Has Always Existed Through Infinite Regress; Does Holding This Belief Amount to Kufr? — Claiming creation had no beginning is disbelief, and holding it existed eternally alongside Allah is a form of associating partners with Him.
• Are We to Refrain from Making Takfir Completely? — Declaring a specific person a disbeliever is a judicial matter for qualified scholars, not something laypeople should take up themselves.
• Is Cursing Time Considered Disbelief? — Cursing time is a serious sin to repent from, since it falls back on Allah’s decree, but it does not amount to disbelief.
• What Have Sunni Authorities Said About Averroes as a Theologian and Jurist? — Sunni scholars honored Ibn Rushd’s legal scholarship while cautioning against the philosophical positions in his theology that conflict with revelation.
• Course: What Muslims Believe and Why: Dardir’s Kharida al-Bahiyya (Shaykh Faraz Rabbani) — A structured introduction to Islamic doctrine through a classical primer, built to settle doubts with reasoned conviction rather than more questions.