What is the correct opinion concerning Al-Hajjaaj Ibn Yoosuf Ath-Thaqafee? Is he a disbeliever?

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. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

The scholars from the Salaf differed in opinion with regard to Al-Hajjaaj whether he is a Muslim or a non-Muslim. Some of them considered him as a non-Muslim, for instance when Mujaahid Ibn Jabr was asked about Al-Hajjaaj, he replied: 'You are asking me about a non-Muslim old man'; similarly, Ash-Sha’bi considered him as a non-Muslim as he said about him: 'Al-Hajjaaj believes in Al-Jibt [superstition] and Taghoot [false objects of worship] and disbelieves in Allaah, the Al-Mighty.' Other scholars from the Salaf did not consider him as a non-Muslim but all of them hated him, and agreed that he is a transgressor and a dissolute person. Sufyaan Ath-Thawri was asked: 'Do you consider that both Al-Hajjaaj and Abu Muslim Al-Khurasaani to be among the dwellers of Hellfire?  He replied: 'No, if they testify to the oneness of Allaah.'

Finally, we advise the questioner not to investigate the matters that do not benefit him and which do not necessitate any act of worship. Indeed Allaah Says (what means): {That was a nation which has passed on. It will have [the consequence of] what it earned and you will have what you have earned. And you will not be asked about what they used to do.} [Quran 2:134].

Allaah Knows best.