The Difference Between an Act and the Doer

of the proof (itmam al-hujjah), a declaration was made regarding the Quraysh rejecters that, in God’s sight, they had become disbelievers. In other places in the Quran, the words kufr and kafir are also used. For example, it is said: “Among you are those who disbelieve and among you are those who believe” (64:2). Likewise, it is said: “Among them were those who believed, and among them were those who disbelieved” (2:253). In this second type of verse, what is mentioned is the act (kufr), not the actor in a fixed and identified sense. That is, it is stated that a certain action constitutes disbelief, or that one who commits such an act becomes a disbeliever in God’s sight. However, in these verses, no specific group is identified or named, nor is a definitive declaration made that a particular group, as such, is disbelieving. From this distinction in the Quranic mode of expression, an important principle becomes clear. A caller may state that committing a particular act amounts to disbelief. However, no caller or scholar has the right to issue a specific verdict declaring that a particular group or a particular nation is disbelieving. A parallel example helps to clarify this point. A hadith states: “Whoever deliberately abandons prayer