Shaykh ʿAbdullāh Al-Ghunaymān said: Now, among the problems that people are facing today is that there are students of knowledge and shaykhs who say that if a mushrik performs ṭawāf around a grave, and worships the occupant of the grave, but is ignorant, then we do not call him a mushrik. Rather, we call him a Muslim. And they say: his action is shirk, but he himself is not a mushrik. This is a strange matter. They say: his action is shirk, yet he is not a mushrik; rather, he is a Muslim. And if he dies upon that, he is in Paradise, because he is excused, excused in his ṭawāf around the grave and in his ʿibādah of it. This is what the shaykh says: that this is something not known among the earlier generations nor the later ones. It is something uttered only by ignorant scholars, may Allāh grant safety. Meaning: ignorance has taken firm hold in their hearts, and they have become people who do not accept the truth. They argue about such matters. Then regarding someone like this: does the statement of the shaykh apply to him, his saying, “Whoever does not takfīr the kāfir is himself a kāfir”? Because this is shirk and kufr against Allāh, exalted and majestic, and yet he did not takfīr him; rather, he judged him to be a Muslim. Meaning: as for people like these, the existence of doubts must be removed before judging them to be kuffar. But we say: this is ignorance, ignorance that no one preceded them in. If a mushrik falls into shirk, then he is a mushrik. Shirk does not exist independently such that the action is called shirk while its doer is called a Muslim. A person is held accountable for what he does.

The ruling on the one who does not takfīr the mushrikīn Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān was asked: Q: Whoever does not takfīr the mushrikīn, or hesitates regarding judging them, does he become a kāfir, even if he is making taʾwīl (interpretation)? And what is the evidence for that, may Allah preserve you? A: There is no taʾwīl in this matter, and it is not something for which taʾwīl is valid. The mushrikīn must be takfired. The kuffār must be takfired, and there is no taʾwīl in this matter. Whoever hesitates in takfiring them is a kāfir like them, because he did not consider kufr to be kufr. Whoever does not consider kufr to be kufr becomes a kāfir.