The First Issue

Some have interpreted the statement (of Ibn ’Abbās) «هي به كفر» "it is an act of disbelief" as referring to major disbelief (kufr akbar). However, this interpretation is incorrect for four reasons: 1. The Prophet ﷺ used similar wording, and the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah have unanimously agreed that it refers to minor disbelief (kufr aṣghar). This is evident in the ḥadīth: ((اثنتان في الناس هما بهم كُفْرٌ؛ الطعن في النَّسَب، والنِّيَاحةُ على الميت)) "There are two things in people that are acts of disbelief: slandering one's lineage and wailing over the dead." [Muslim 224]. Their consensus that the disbelief mentioned in the ḥadīth is minor disbelief serves as evidence that the disbelief in the narration of Ibn ’Abbās is of the same nature. Memorise this, as this is an important. 2. The interpretation of the disbelief mentioned in the Āyah as minor disbelief has been confirmed by two of Ibn ’Abbas's companions, namely Ṭāwūs and ’Aṭā' (may Allāh have mercy on them), as previously mentioned (p. #). The views of a Sahabi are understood from the madh-hab of his companions. 3. Ibn Ṭāwūs (may Allāh have mercy on him) also interpreted this disbelief as minor, and the narrator is generally the most knowledgeable about the meaning of what he narrates. 4. No scholar has ever attributed the interpretation of major disbelief to Ibn ’Abbās. Instead, they understood that he intended minor disbelief. Thus, opposing this understanding is deviation, a distortion, and a misinterpretation unknown to the scholars.