As the other deeds have their requirements, pillars, and invalidator, Islam also has it’a distinct requisites, pillars, and invalidators. Generally, the invalidator of Islam are every beliefs, utterances, or deeds that could lead the doers to revert from Islam. The followings are several deeds that could invalidate the state of Islam from a person.
– Performing du’aa to anything beside of Allah, such as: Pray to His messenger -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- the prophets, or the awliyaa’. Allah decreed:
وَلَا تَدْعُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنْفَعُكَ وَلَا يَضُرُّكَ فَإِنْ فَعَلْتَ فَإِنَّكَ إِذًا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
“And do not invoke beside Allah that would neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers.” (Yunus/Jonah: 106)
Note:
The meaning of wrongdoers is ‘polytheists’
The messenger of Allah said in a hadith, “Whoever die while he invoked beside Allah, he (will) be in Hell-fire.” (Collected by Bukhari, in hadith no. 4227)
– Reluctant and hate the tawheed, unwilling to leave shirk, and refuse to invoke Allah alone. On the contrary, the person feels proud and fond of shirk, and cling his heart to creatures. Allah decreed:
وَإِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ اشْمَأَزَّتْ قُلُوبُ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ
وَإِذَا ذُكِرَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ دُونِهِ إِذَا هُمْ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ
“And when Allah is mentioned alone, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion, but when those (worshipped) other than him are mentioned, immediately, they rejoice. ” (Az Zumar/The Troops: 45)
Note: This verse resembles attitude of some people who resent and stand against the calling to tawheed. They dubbed the calling of tawheed as “wahabi movement” to interfere with it and spread fear to society (so that they will leave it).
– Slaughtering (sacrificing) for other than Allah. Allah decreed:
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ
“So pray for your Lord and offer sacrifice (to Him alone).” (Al Kautsar/The Abundance: 2)
The Prophet -Peace and blessings of Allah may be upon him- said, “Allah cursed one who offer sacrifice to other than Allah.” (Collected by Muslim, in hadith no. 1978)
– Making vows for creations, in order to get closer to that creation (in spiritual context)
وَمَا أَنْفَقْتُمْ مِنْ نَفَقَةٍ أَوْ نَذَرْتُمْ منْ نَذْرٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُهُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنْصَارٍ
“And whatever you spend of expenditures or make of vows, indeed Allah knows of it. And for the wrongdoers there are no helpers.” (Al Baqara/The Cow: 270)
Note: Abu Bakr Al Jazairi said, “One who make vows toward other than Allah, are considered wrongdoers.” (Aisar At Tafasir: Al Baqara: 270)
– Tawaf (circling) around the graves, in order to worship and get closer to the dweller of the graves.
ثُمَّ لْيَقْضُوا تَفَثَهُمْ وَلْيُوفُوا نُذُورَهُمْ وَلْيَطَّوَّفُوا بِالْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ
“Then let them end their untidiness and fulfill their vows and perform tawaf around the ancient House.” (Al Hajj/The Pilgrimage: 29)
– Self-reliance upon other than Allah
إِنْ كُنْتُمْ آمَنْتُمْ بِاللَّهِ فَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلُوا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُسْلِمِينَ
“If you have believed in Allah, then rely upon Him, if you should be Muslims (i.e.submitting to Him).” (Yunus/Jonah: 84)
– Bowing (ruku’) and prostrating (Sujood) towards other than Allah. Bowing and prostrating are part of worship that shall only be presented to Allah alone.
– Denying one of the five pillars of Islam, or refusing one of the six pillars of faith. Denial to one of those principal pillars means to commit lies to Allah and His messenger.
– Detesting Islam, or one of the teaching in Islam, whether in worship matters, muamala (social engagements among people), mannerism, or other law in shari’ah. Allah decreed,
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَرِهُوا مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ
“That is because they disliked what Allah revealed, so He rendered worthless their deeds.” (Muhammad: 9)
Note: Allah rendered the rewards of their deeds, means that they became disbeliever, because the deeds of disbelievers will be worthless.
– Making jokes or ridiculing Islamic teaching, belittling one of the verses of Qur’an, or hadiths of the Prophet -peace and blessings of Allah may be upon him- . Allah decreed.
وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ إِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوضُ وَنَلْعَبُ قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ (65) لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ
“And if you asked them, they will surely say, “We were only conversing and playing.” Say, “Is it Allah and His verses and His messenger that you were mocking?”. Make no excuse, you have disbelieved (i.e rejected faith) after you believe. If We pardon one faction of you– We will punish another faction because they were criminals.” (At Tawba/The Repentance: 65-66)
– Refusing the truth of The Qur’an, even if it is just 1 letter
– Mocking Allah, His messenger -peace and blessings of Allah may be upon him- or mocking his physical appearance.
– Refusing one of the names of Allah, His qualities, or His deeds which were mentioned in His Book or in hadtihs.
– Disbelieve in all messengers of Allah. Allah declared,
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنْ رُسُلِهِ
“The messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and (so have) the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” (Al Baqara/The Cow: 285)
– Abandoning the laws from Allah, and preferring the laws of man-making. Allah decreed,
وَمَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ
“And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the disbelievers.” (Al Maida/The Table Spread: 44)
– Submitting to the laws of disbelievers and refusing Islamic law. Allah decreed:
فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
“But no, by your Lord, they will not (truly) believe until they make you (O Muhammad), judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in (full, willing) submission.” (An Nisaa/The Women: 65)
– Forbidding what Allah has legalized, or legalize things forbidden by Allah.
اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُم وَ رُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ
“They have taken their scholars and monks as lords beside Allah.” (At Tawbah/The Repentance: 31)
– Apostate (Reverting religion). Allah decreed:
وَمَنْ يَرْتَدِدْ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَيَمُتْ وَهُوَ كَافِرٌ فَأُولَئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَأُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
“And whoever of you reverts from his religion (to disbelief) and dies while he is a disbeliever – for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the fire, they will abide therein eternally.” (Al Baqara/The Cow: 217)
– Assisting the disbelievers to defeat the believers
لَا يَتَّخِذِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْكَافِرِينَ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ فَلَيْسَ مِنَ اللَّهِ فِي شَيْءٍ إِلَّا أَنْ تَتَّقُوا مِنْهُمْ تُقَاةً وَيُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللَّهُ نَفْسَهُ وَإِلَى اللَّهِ الْمَصِيرُ
“Let not believers take disbelievers as allies (i.e supporters or protectors) rather than believers. And whoever of you does that has nothing (i.e no association with Allah), except when taking precaution against them in prudence. And Allah warns you of himself, and to Allah is the (final) destination.” (Ali Imran/The Family of Imran: 28)
Do not attributing ‘disbeliever’ for those who are clearly disbelieve in the teaching of prophet Muhammad -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- such as: the Jews, Christians, and atheists. Allah declared:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أُولَئِكَ هُمْ شَرُّ الْبَرِيَّةِ
“Those who disbelieve among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists were not to be parted (from misbelief) until there came to them clear evidence.” (Al Bayyina/The Clear Proof: 6)
– Insulting Allah the Exalted, for example:
The saying of some of the soofis: The dogs and pigs are but our Lord, The monk in the church is but Allah.
– Believe that Allah has granted magnificent power upon some of His creations to rule the weather or one part of the world. This is the belief of some of the soofis.
– Believe that there are people among the awliya of Allah allowed to stay out of the teaching of prophet Muhammad -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him-, as prophet Khidir was allowed to disobey the teaching of Moses -peace be upon him.
All of those invalidate Islam are stately similar to what invalidate wudu (ablution). Whoever commits one of those things must renew his state of Islam, leave those things, and repent to Allah before he dies.
Among the supplication to prevent from committing shirk is:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنّا نَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ أَن نُشْرِكَ بِكَ شَيئًا نَعْلَمُه، وَنَسْتَـغفِرُكَ لِمَا لَا نَعْلَمُ
“O Allah, I take refuge in You, lest I should commit shirk with You knowingly, and I seek your forgiveness for what I do unknowingly.”
Article of whatisquran.com