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Fatwa CenterDoubting that one committed act of disbelief does not invalidate fast
Question
Assalaamu alaykum.
1. Does saying the statement, 'We will shape our destiny with our own hand', constitute Kufr (disbelief)?
2. If while fasting, I have a doubt as to whether something that I have said or done might constitute Kufr, so in order to be on the safe side, I ask Allaah for forgiveness and pronounce the testimony of faith in case that it was Kufr, will this break my fast?
Regards.
Answer
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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The mentioned statement does not constitute Kufr (disbelief) because it can be interpreted in a way that conforms to religious texts underlining that Allaah, The Exalted, compensates His slaves according to their own actions. For instance, Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means):
- {That is for what your hands have put forth (of evil) and because Allaah is not ever unjust to His servants.} [Quran 8:51]
- {Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them which We had established upon the earth as We have not established you? And We sent (rain from) the sky upon them in showers and made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them a generation of others.} [Quran 6:6]
- {As for he who gives and fears Allaah and believes in the best (reward), We will ease him toward ease. But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need and denies the best (reward), We will ease him toward difficulty.} [Quran 92:5-10]
Fasting is not invalidated by a person's suspicion that he might have committed an act of Kufr; the basic principle is that once the person's Islam is established, he cannot be declared a disbeliever except with certainty. Mere doubts have no legal consequences in this regard, especially if that person suffers from Waswaas (obsessive satanic whisperings), as seems to be the case with the questioner. Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah 
wrote, "Verily, the one whose Islam is established with certainty cannot be declared a disbeliever on account of mere doubt (it can only be done with certainty). Rather, he cannot be called a disbeliever except after establishing the evidence against him and removing all misconceptions that he might have."
‘Ali Al-Qaari wrote:
"Our scholars said, 'If you find ninety-nine reasons to declare a Muslim a disbeliever and you find a single reason to keep him in Islam, then the Mufti and the judge should work based on that one reason, and this is implied from the hadeeth that reads, 'Avoid the legal penalties against Muslims as much as possible. If you find a way out for a Muslim, then let him go, for the Imaam making a mistake by forgiving is better than him making a mistake by punishing.' [At-Tirmithi and Al-Haakim]" [Sharh Ash-Shifa]
Allaah knows best.
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