Dialogue Against Takfir; Rereading a Concept to Preserve the Islamic Ummah

The issue and term of Takfir developed in the political community when the White House politicians used this term as a weapon to weaken and threaten the expansion of freedom in Islamic lands and the failure to form an Islamic Ummah. Hence, the term Takfir was magnified in political literature.
In some Islamic lands, they created a religion and, using unreasonable emotions, some ambitious individuals killed people. The result of the unreasonable provocations of the emotions of some members of society caused the massacre of thousands of defenseless and oppressed men and women, children and adolescents in several Islamic countries.

The use of disbelief in the Holy Quran
The word "takfir" is not used in this form in the Holy Quran; however, the word "kufr" is used in many different forms. The word "kufr" literally means to cover. Arabs call farmers and farmers "kafir" because they cover the seeds of plants with soil.
This word has been used 524 times in the Holy Quran with its derivatives. The lexical meanings of this word in the Holy Quran are contradictory; it has both a positive and a negative meaning. For example, "kaif takfurun billah" means how do you disbelieve in the divine truth? Or "faman yikfar billtaghut" means the one who disbelieves in rebellious people has grasped the divine rope.
So, using the word "kufr" in its negative dimensions with Quranic criteria requires a parallel; a parallel of the article or the situation. One should also look for evidence in the verses of the Holy Quran and use it according to those evidences.

The use of kufr in narrations
The word takfir means disbelief for individuals or a group regarding the existence of God or the facts contained in Islamic law. To prove it, in addition to referring to the Holy Quran, it is also necessary to refer to the authentic narrations of the Prophet and the Ahlul Bayt of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The people of the Islamic community should be sufficiently informed about the type of usage of this word and the meanings used in the hadiths of the Prophet and the infallible Imams and the intellectuals of the companions of the Great Messenger of Allah (PBUH).
Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (AS) said in a narration: “Disbelief in the Book of Allah has five aspects; among them is ungratefulness. ungratefulness has two aspects, and disbelief in abandoning what Allah has commanded, disbelief in innocence, and disbelief in blessings.”
Imam Jafar Sadiq (AS) has mentioned five meanings for disbelief according to the verses of the Holy Quran:
First, disbelief means denial, which itself is of two types: denial of divine lordship and denial of divine knowledge.
Second, disbelief means abandoning the divine command.
Third, disbelief means innocence.
Fourth, disbelief means ignoring divine blessings.
In this hadith, Imam Jafar Sadiq has explained the meanings of disbelief by arguing with the verses of the Holy Quran. It is necessary and essential for readers to refer to its explanation and explanation.
According to these two Muslim authorities, the use of the word takfir with tasteful criteria is a completely wrong thing.

The Sharia boundaries of takfir
For further explanation, it is necessary to state a few points:
First; When an individual or a group confesses the two testimonies, i.e. "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah", attributing takfir to them is wrong and erroneous. This group of people have departed from kufr, meaning ungratefulness, or denying the knowledge of God or the divine Lordship, and are known as monotheists. Killing such individuals or groups is a major sin and the killer or killers of such individuals must be punished.

Second; If an individual or group departs from the divine command, abandons the obligatory, or commits the forbidden, the type of their actions varies according to the sources of Islamic jurisprudence; that is, not all obligatory or all forbidden actions have the same type of punishment. For example, someone who abandons the obligatory prayer or ignores the command of the ruler of the Sharia, the divine ruling against them is not murder.

Attributing kufr to such individuals does not mean leaving the religion. Islamic schools such as the Ja'fari school, the Hanafi school, the Maliki school, the Shafi'i school, and the Hanbali school do not declare such individuals to be takfir.

Third; Kufr means innocence, meaning distancing oneself from falsehood, the opposite of which is accepting guardianship. This type of kufr has a positive meaning; although it may also be used negatively. In the case of negative use, the ruling of takfir, meaning denial of God's divinity or denial of divine knowledge, is not imposed on it.

Fourth, although disbelief in God's blessings has its own rules at different stages and may progress to the point of apostasy, it is not considered a departure from religion until it reaches the stage of apostasy.

It should not be left unsaid that mere apostasy or disbelief, meaning denial of knowledge or denial of God, is not punishable by death.

Conclusion
Simply attributing takfir to any individual or group does not mean that they leave religion. Those who have killed individuals or groups in various Islamic countries in the past few years out of emotion, far from religious awareness and far from rationality, should await divine punishment.

The Shiite Imamiyya community, "followers of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), is averse to attributing takfir to followers of other Islamic sects.
The important point is that Kharijites and Nawasib are not considered Muslims according to the beliefs of the recognized Islamic sects; But killing them without a religious reason is not permissible. The Islamic Ummah also lives peacefully with other religions.
In conclusion, it must be said that the way to save the Islamic Ummah from the whirlpool of takfir and violence is to return to the Quran and the authentic Prophetic tradition, strengthen religious rationality, and develop a culture of dialogue. Only in the light of such an approach can the repetition of the bitter tragedies of the past be prevented and the ground for peaceful coexistence and the renewed dignity of the Islamic Ummah be prepared.