Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear brother, we would like to thank you abundantly for showing interest in knowing the teachings of your religion, Islam! We implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake.
In the eyes of Shari`ah, assisting or cooperating with the oppressor is basically rejected in Islam, regardless of whoever happen to be the victim of oppression. This is because Almighty Allah warns us against any sort of cooperation that will lead to spreading evil and mischief on earth: He says, “…help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression…” (al-Ma’idah: 2) Thus, assisting and cooperating with the Americans in attacking Muslims is absolutely forbidden (Haram), as it is a grave crime and heinous sin; yet it does not amount to disbelief and apostasy unless one deems it lawful.
In his answer to the question, Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, Deputy Chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states:
"Treason is a grave sin but does not lead to apostasy:
Undoubtedly, cooperating with the US in attacking Iraq is an act of treachery to Allah, His Messenger and the believers. However, according to the doctrine of Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama`ah (the mainstream of Muslims known as Sunni Muslims), this treason does not amount to leaving Islam, as the jurists unanimously view that apostasy consists of denying the message (or any of the teachings) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and that committing sins, however grave they may be, cannot result in apostasy. It is well-known that it is the Kharijites who were the first to deem that those who commit grave sins are disbelievers (kafirs), differing with the opinion of all people of truth.
In his commentary on Al-`Aqidah At-Tahawiyyah, the Hanafi scholar Ibn al-`Izz stated: “We do not label a Muslim as kafir for committing a sin unless he deems it lawful.” Likewise, Imam an-Nawawi, in his commentary on Sahih Muslim wrote: “The doctrine of the people of truth is that no Muslim should be labeled as kafir for committing a sin, nor should the innovators and those people who follow their whims be deemed as kafirs.”
Imam al-Bukhari stated: “Sins belong to acts of jahiliyyah (ignorance) and one should not be considered kafir for committing them but only for polytheism.” Commenting on this, Ibn Hajr stated in his Fath al-Bari: “Sins are allegorically described as acts of kufr, meaning kufr ni`mah (i.e. denial of Allah's favors), not denial of Allah or disbelief in Him. Such kufr does not place one outside Islam.”
Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “It is not permissible to label a Muslim as kafir for a sin or mistake he has done.” When he was asked if a sin would place a believer outside the pale of Islam, he answered: “A mere sin does not render him an unbeliever, as it is proven by the Qur'an, Sunnah, and the consensus of the predecessors that a fornicator, a drunken person, and a false accuser of adultery are to be flogged not to be killed; also a thief's hand is to be amputated and he is not to be killed. If their sins render them kafirs, then they will be apostates who must be killed. However, the Qur'an, Sunnah, and consensus of the predecessors are against this.” (Al-Fatawa, vol. 7, p. 671)
One of the wonderful statements in this context is the following saying of Imam Ahmad: “Command, prohibition, reward, punishment, and judging someone as kafir or wrongdoer are absolutely restricted to Allah and His messenger and none besides them. People are only to enjoin what Allah has commanded and forbid what Allah has prohibited and believe in all what Allah and his Messenger stated.” (Al-Fatawa, vol. 5, p. 671)
Fighting a Muslim is a grave sin but does not amount to apostasy:
Muslim jurists and schools of Fiqh unanimously agree that fighting a Muslim directly is not considered an act of apostasy, in spite of the authentic Hadith reported by al-Bukhari and others which states that "Abusing a Muslim is fusuq (an evil-doing) and fighting him is kufr (disbelief)."
Scholars have explained that “disbelief” in the above Hadith refers to minor disbelief that does not place one outside Islam; or it refers to disbelief based on deeming fighting a Muslim as lawful. Likewise, they clarified all texts from the Qur'an and Sunnah that judge those committing sins or heinous crimes as kafirs.
Moreover, Allah has described the two fighting parties of Muslims as believers saying: "And if two parties of believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them. And if one party of them doeth wrong to the other, fight ye that which doeth wrong till it return unto the ordinance of Allah; then, if it return, make peace between them justly, and act equitably. Lo! Allah loveth the equitable." (Al-Hujurat 9) Moreover, He has commanded fighting the oppressive party for its wrongdoing and aggression, not for its disbelief. Therefore, if this party returns to the truth and refrains from its oppression, then Muslims are to make peace between them justly.
Assisting the enemies is Haram but not apostasy:
Al-Bukhari and Muslim record the account of Hatib ibn Abi Balta`ah. When Allah's Messenger set out to conquer Makkah, Hatib wrote a letter to the people of the Quraysh giving them some information about this. When Allah's Messenger got hold of the letter, he said, "O Hatib! What is this?" Hatib replied, "O Allah's Messenger! Don't hasten to give your judgment about me. I was a man closely connected with the Quraysh, but I did not belong to this tribe, while the other emigrants with you had their relatives in Makkah who would protect their dependents and property . So, I wanted to recompense for my lacking blood relation to them by doing them a favor so that they might protect my dependents. I did this neither because of disbelief not apostasy nor out of preferring kufr (disbelief) to Islam." Allah's Messenger, said, "Hatib has told you the truth." `Umar said, “O Allah's Messenger! Allow me to chop off the head of this hypocrite." Allah's Messenger said, "Hatib participated in the battle of Badr, and who knows, perhaps Allah has already looked at the Badr warriors and said, 'Do whatever you like, for I have forgiven you.'" Thereupon Allah revealed the Qur'anic verse, "O ye who believe! Choose not My enemy and your enemy for friends…" (Al-Mumtahanah: 1) (Ibn al-Athir, Jami` al-Usul)
The Prophet's saying, "Hatib has told you the truth", is an explicit proof that Hatib's act—that of assisting the enemy against the Muslims by giving them secret information about the Muslims that would force them to abort their plans or expose them to a battle which the Prophet preferred to avoid by a sudden and unexpected siege of the Quraysh—is not an act of apostasy or disbelief but merely a sin, however grave it may be. If it were an act of apostasy, he would have been killed, for killing is the prescribed punishment and the Prophet was not to deal with it lightly. But since it was a sin, the punishment was a discretionary one that was referred to the ruler, and hence the Prophet pardoned him because of his participation in the Battle of Badr.
A second bit of evidence in the same incident is the Qur'anic verse revealed on this occasion. In this verse Almighty Allah addresses Muslims using the phrase “O ye who believe”, which does not deny them belief, although the first person intended by the words is Hatib ibn Abi Balta`ah, who by his act showed loyalty to the enemies of his fellow Muslims. This indicates that a Muslim who commits the sin of assisting the enemies of Muslims is not a disbeliever unless he deems his act lawful."
