بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Following is a portion of Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ar Raajihi’s explanation to the following statement of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab (he who revived tawheed in the Arabian Peninsula):
Whoever doesn’t declare the polytheist to be disbelievers, or harbors doubts with regards to their disbelief, or deems their way to be okay has disbelieved by consensus (of the scholars).
Shaykh Abdul Aziz says:
The ruling on whomever says, “Whoever desires to adopt any religion (of his choosing), then he can do so.”
His (Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab) statement, “or deems their way to be okay” like he who says that the Jews are upon a correct religion, or the Christians are upon a correct way. Likewise if a man is asked about the Jews or Christians and he replies, “I don’t have anything to say against them. The Jews are upon a religion, the Christians are upon a religion, and the Muslims are upon a religion. Whoever chooses to adopt Islam, Judaism, or Christianity then he can do so.” This is shirk (polytheism) and he becomes a disbeliever by consensus (of the scholars) due to him deeming the way of the pagans to be okay and not declaring them to be disbelievers.
The ruling on whomever says, “I don’t know if the disbelievers are truly disbelievers or not.”
In addition whenever one harbors doubt and (as a result) he says, “I don’t know if they are disbelievers or not. The Torah was revealed to the Jews, the Gospel was revealed to the Christians, and the Quran was revealed to the Muslims, thus I don’t know, are they disbelievers or not?” This is disbelief that he harbors doubt. It is incumbent for him to have certainty regarding the disbelief of the Jews, Christians, and idol worshipers. The evidence for this is Allah’s statement:
فمن يكفر بالطاغوت و يؤمن بالله فقد استمسك بالعروة الوثقى
“So whoever disbelieves in at-taaghut and believes in Allah then he has grabbed the most trustworthy of handholds…” Al Baqara: 256
Thus whoever does not declare the polytheist to be disbelievers, or harbors doubt in that regard, or deems their way to be correct, then he does not disbelieve in at-taaghut and there is no faith unless it is accompanied by two prerequisites.
The First Prerequisite: Disbelief in At-Taaghut
The meaning of taaghut is all of that which the servant utilizes in going beyond set limits regarding worship, conformity, or obedience. Consequently, whatever opposes the Islamic legislation is taaghut. It was dubbed taaghut as a derivation from (the word) tughyaan and it means transgressing boundaries. So the meaning of disbelief in at-taaghut is to be distant from worshiping other than Allah, negate it, censure it, hate it, have hostility towards it and it’s people. Hence disbelief in at-taaghut is disavowal. Disavowing all that which is deified besides Allah, denial of all worship directed to other than Allah, negating it, hating it and those who due such (obstinately). This is its meaning, it is to disavow all shirk, all religions other than Islam, to deny it, negate it, dislike it, and to have enmity towards it and its people. This is the first prerequisite.
The Second Prerequisite: Faith in Allah
So if you enact these two things then you’re a monotheist. You disbelieve in at-taaghut and you believe in Allah and this is the meaning of (the first testimony) nothing deserves to be worship except Allah, as its meaning is there is no deity in truth except Allah. This is the Islamic monotheistic statement and a statement of piety by which the one who says it fears falling into shirk. It is a statement in which Allah sent messengers in order to fulfill it (what it entails), He divided the people into the prosperous and the wretched and as a result of it He established the legislation of jihad. As a result of it there will be the resurrection, the inevitable event will befall and be confirmed. And as a result of it He created paradise and the fire.
Source: تبصير الأنام بشرح نواقض الإسلام
Translated by Najeeb Al Anjelesi