[Q 180] Disrespect of Religious Study: Kufr or Sin?

Question

It’s stated that to intentionally disrespect the knowledge of the Talab-ul-Ilm is Kufr.

My question is, many Jāmia Students say to each other the following like: “You are weak in Sarf!”

“Zaid is very dumb, he failed the exams!”

“He is really stupid for getting told off in class!”

Sentence like these also hint to disrespect the student’s knowledge in a way. Is this classified as Kufr?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب بعون الملك الوهاب اللهم هداية الحق والصواب

Answer

The words mentioned in the question are not kufr (disbelief) for a student of knowledge. Kufr is when someone is insulted specifically due to their religious knowledge, but in these examples, the conversation is about the student’s personality, not their religious knowledge. Therefore, this is not kufr.

However, hurting the feelings of a Muslim or backbiting is forbidden (haram). In this context, the one uttering these sentences would be sinful.

Answered by: Mufti Sajid Attari

Translated by: Shaheer Attari

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