By Shaykh Aḥmad Mūsā Jibrīl حفظه الله
Walā and Barā series, Part 1: We Are Free From You
فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
(3:32)
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ
(28:77)
فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَدُوٌّ لِّلْكَٰفِرِينَ
(2:98)
Is Allāh saying 'kufr' in any of this? It's Kuffār.
Without Walā and Barā, there's no 'Aqīdah, there's no Tawḥīd, there's no لا إله إلا الله. Deficiency in this matter —Walā and Barā, is saying the enemies of Allāh سبحانه و تعالى, are people who I beloyal and love.
Focus with me on this matter.
Kufr, Shirk, sins are Ḥarām. They are hated. They must be hated. It's part of Walā and Barā. And they must be warned of. Many of the modernists and the Munāfiqīn agree on this apparently, some of them, maybe.
But pay attention: if you look carefully and study the Qur'ān and analyse the verses on this matter— and it's from the wisdom of al-'Alīm, al-Khabīr that the Qur'ān rarely mentions hate towards Shirk or Kufr or sins itself, except in some, even though it's hated and it's part of Walā and Barā. There's few like:
وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْفَسَادَ
(2:205)
Or another one:
وَلَا يَرْضَىٰ لِعِبَادِهِ ٱلْكُفْرَۖ
(39:7)
In general, the verses on Shirk and Kufr are in a deterrent context.
قُلْ تَعَالَوْا۟ أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْۖ أَلَّا تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ شَيْـًٔاۖ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَٰنًاۖ
(6:151)
Allāh سبحانه و تعالى is deterring from the sins generally, when it's in the context of talking about Shirk and Kufr and Ḥarām.
وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ
(16:90)
Another one:
قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّىَ ٱلْفَوَٰحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ
(7:33)
Your Tawḥīd is not Tawḥīd without despising Shirk itself, yes. Yet the overwhelming majority of the verses are focused on mentioning the despising of Kuffār themselves, eventhough despising both is part of Walā and Barā, and part of Islām. The focus is on despising the Mushrikīn and Kuffār themselves. And that is exactly the opposite of what the surrenderist Munāfiqīn are doing today. And they have an agenda behind that.
If there was no verse in the Qur'ān on the Barā'ah from Kuffār themselves, and what they worship other than what Ibrāhīm عليه السلام mentioned, it would be sufficient. More than sufficient.
قَدْ كَانَتْ لَكُمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ فِىٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَٱلَّذِينَ مَعَهُۥٓ
(60:4)
You have an example, an excellent example in Ibrāhīm and those with him.
إِذْ قَالُوا۟ لِقَوْمِهِمْ إِنَّا بُرَءَٰٓؤُا۟ مِنكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ
They said to their people, 'we fully disassociate ourselves from you'.
!إِنَّا بُرَءَٰٓؤُا۟ مِنكُمْ
We free ourselves from you!
!إِنَّا بُرَءَٰٓؤُا۟ مِنكُمْ
We disown you!
!إِنَّا بُرَءَٰٓؤُا۟ مِنكُمْ
We shun you!
وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ
And! And! We free ourselves from your Shirk!
!وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ
We disown ourselves from your Shirk!
!وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ
We shun your Shirk!
So it's them and their Shirk! Emphasis on top of emphasis.
كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ
We reject you. We do Barā'ah from you. We do Barā'ah from you!
Shirk and Mushrikīn, to a Muwaḥḥid, he despises and hates both.
إِنَّا بُرَءَٰٓؤُا۟ مِنكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ
And Allāh سبحانه و تعالى said in the beginning, 'you have an excellent example in Ibrāhīm'.
Someone will say, 'well they shunned them, they hated them, and they said that because they abused them'. You hear that all the time, but the verse is beyond clear.
They said, 'we are free from you', right?
بُرَءَٰٓؤُا۟ مِنكُمْ
Until when? Until when, are we free from you? We disassociate from you, until when? Until you stop oppressing us?! Until you stop torturing us?! Until you stop abusing us?! Until you give us our land back?
كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ وَبَدَا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ ٱلْعَدَٰوَةُ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءُ أَبَدًا حَتَّىٰ تُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَحْدَهُۥٓ
حَتَّىٰ تُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَحْدَهُۥٓ
Enmity and hatred will continue حَتَّىٰ تُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَحْدَهُۥٓ— until you believe in Allāh سبحانه و تعالى alone. It can't get any clearer than that.
Then like I mentioned, the aḥādīth and the scholars statements on this are very clear.
To separate between Shirk and a Mushrik, or Kufr and a Kāfir is basically saying that Jahannam was created as a vacant dwelling in vain. Kufr may enter Jahannam but not the Kāfir. Their deviance means Jahannam will be vacant of mankind.