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What is the ruling on one who says "There is no god but Allah" and only affirms the existence of Allah, and what is the classification of this statement among the types of disbelief?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Mere utterance of the word of Tawhid (Oneness of God) is not sufficient for salvation from Allah's torment in the Hereafter. Rather, its requirements must be fulfilled through righteous deeds and abstaining from what contradicts it, along with meeting its conditions such as sincerity and truthfulness. Prophetic narrations have indicated that sincere pronunciation of it leads to Paradise, but uttering it without knowing its meaning or acting upon its implications is unanimously considered unbeneficial. This invalidates the doctrine of the Murji'ah, who believe that mere verbal pronunciation of the two Shahadas (testimonies of faith) is sufficient. As for this world, if a group holding this belief abstains from performing the rituals of religion, then fighting them becomes obligatory, as Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) did with those who withheld zakat, distinguishing between prayer and zakat. However, considering the adherents of this belief as disbelievers is a clear deviation. Yet, the ruling of disbelief is not hastily applied to a person merely for this; rather, it depends on the fulfillment of conditions and the absence of impediments, as takfir (declaring someone a disbeliever) is a serious matter.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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