May the peace, mercy and blessing of Allah be upon you,

To proceed: What is the meaning of "the nullifiers of Eeman"? And what are the consequences of someone nullifying his Eeman? To what extent is a Muslim's prayer valid if he is nullifying his Eeman?

Please advise, and may Allah reward you well.

May the peace, mercy and blessing of Allah be upon you,

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family, his companions and those who have followed him. To proceed:

The nullifiers of faith (nawaqid al-iman) are that which invalidates, falsifies and negates it, for faith is nullified by apostasy (riddah) just as ablution (wudu') is nullified by ritual impurity.

The most important nullifiers of faith are:

1 – Association of partners in Lordship with Allah

2 – Association of partners in worship with Allah

3 – Association of partners in Allah's Divine Names & Attributes

4 – Objection to and superiority over the rules of Shari`ah, denial, rejection, mockery and sarcasm (and we seek refuge with Allah Ta`ala)

The consequence for anyone who nullifies his faith is that he exits the fold of Islam, if he insists on that after being informed and after the proof has been made clear to him. His marriage contract is annulled, and therefore, his wife is no longer permissible for him after his apostasy. If he dies on disbelief, then all his deeds were in vain (and we seek refuge with Allah Ta`ala), according to the Saying of Allah Most High (interpretation of the meaning),

{And whosoever of you turns back from his religion and dies as a disbeliever, the deeds of these people will be lost in this life and in the Hereafter, and they will be the dwellers of the Fire; they will abide therein forever.}

[Al-Baqarah 2:217]

His repentance will not be accepted once death has arrived, according to the Saying of Allah Most High (interpretation of the meaning),

{Verily, for those who disbelieved after their belief, and then went on increasing in their disbelief – never will their repentance be accepted [because they repent only with their tongues, not with their hearts]. And they are those who are astray.}

[Aal-Imran 3:90]

The result of that mentioned above is that there is no inheritance between him and his family and relatives, and all bonds between him and them are broken. This is according to the saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), "A Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever, nor does a disbeliever inherit from a Muslim." (Agreed upon) Thereafter, he would deserve the Divinely-ordained punishment for the apostate if there is a Muslim state which can fulfill that function. The prayer of someone who has nullified his faith is also invalid for the same reasons. However, these aforementioned rules and consequences of nullifying the faith do not apply – as we have said – until the textual proof has been made clear to the apostate, he has been asked to repent, the misconceptions which have driven him to nullify his faith have been erased, it has been checked that the conditions are applicable and there is absolutely nothing to prevent this specific person from being pronounced a disbeliever. The factors preventing a specific person from being declared a disbeliever when he had previously been proven to have entered the fold of Islam are many. Among them are:

·          Ignorance

·          Compulsion

·          Improper interpretation

·          Error and lack of intent

Establishing the proof is relative, thus the proof may be established for one person and not another, or it may be established from one person and not another. It does not necessarily mean that if the proof has been established for one particular person that it is therefore established for each and every Muslim in the world. The basic rule in terms of establishing the proof is that it be from someone in a position of authority, such as a scholar qualified to make ijtihad, or an obeyed ruler, such as a Shari`ah judge in Islamic societies, and the like.

It is necessary to be careful in this respect, for it is less serious for a Muslim to err in judging an apostate to be a Muslim than for him to err in expelling a Muslim from the fold of Islam.