Assalam o Alaikum Dear Sheikh What is the fatwa regarding a person who has been accused of claiming to be a prophet or accused of being associated with someone who considers himself to be a prophet? And if that person publicly denies this accusation publicly in these words: " I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad SAW is the last prophet of Allah and whoever claims to be a prophet after Muhammad SAW is a KAZZAB, a liar. I announce that I have never claimed to be a prophet, and I have never been associated with anyone who claimed to be prophet, this is an accusation." Is that person still considered a Muslim?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

In principle a Muslim is innocent from anything that degrades him, and it is forbidden to rule that he apostated and that he is out of the fold of Islam. If it is confirmed with certainty that someone is a Muslim, then it is not permissible to judge him to be as a non-Muslim except with certainty as well. Allaah Says (what means): {O you who have believed if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful.}[Quran 49:6]

Therefore, if this man denies that he claimed to be a Prophet or that he associated himself with someone who claimed to be a Prophet, then he should be believed unless the contrary is proven. It is even more appropriate to believe him since he uttered the Two Testimonies of Faith in front of the people and he declared himself free from that accusation.

As regards the person who accused this man of disbelief, it should be mentioned that declaring a Muslim as a non-Muslim is a very serious matter. Ibn ‘Umar narrated that the Prophet said: "Whoever says to his Muslim brother ‘O kaafir (disbeliever)’, then one of them will deserve the title.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] In the wording of Muslim there is the following addition: “If it is true, it is as he said, otherwise it (the word of Kufr [disbelief] will revert to him (its sayer)."  For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 87963.

However, the scholars stated that the term “Kufr” in this Hadeeth means that this act (accusing a Muslim of Kufr) implies the minor Kufr. They gave the evidence of the narration by Thaabit Ibn Adh-Dhahhaak who said: The Prophet said: "Cursing a believer is like killing him, and whoever accuses a believer of Kufr, it is like killing him." [Al-Bukhari] Here, declaring a believer as a non-Muslim is likened to killing him and the act of killing is not Kufr. Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah said: “He (the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) called him a brother when the person says so and he [the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] said: “…It will revert to him (its sayer).” If one of them completely goes out of the fold of Islam, then he would not be (called) his brother.”

Moreover, Ibn Qudaamah said: “These Ahaadeeth are to stress the seriousness of the matter, and likening a person to disbelievers does not mean the real disbelief (which takes one out of the fold of Islam).” For more benefit on the conditions of declaring a Muslim as a non-Muslim, please refer to Fataawa 91567 and 84943. 

Allaah Knows best.