The 'opponent of Allaah' in this Qudsi Hadeeth is not a non-believer

23-6-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalammualaikum the Prophet said: "Allaah said: 'I will be the opponent of three persons on the Day of Judgment: a man (i.e. a person) who gave a pledge in My Name and then acted treacherously, a man who sold a free person (as a slave) and consumed his price and a man who hired a laborer and got the full work done by him and did not pay him his wages.’” Regarding to this hadith, when a man hired a laborer and the laborer did his job but the man did not pay him the wages that he deserve, the man is regarded as sinner and opponent of Allah, is this meaning of "opponent of Allah" means that he has become a non believer or a kafir? Or he is regarded as wrongdoer but still muslim?

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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 is His slave and Messenger.

According to the consensus of scholars, the threat that is mentioned in this Hadeeth does not entail that those whom Allaah promised to be their opponent are non-believers. Rather, those acts are sins that do not take a Muslim out of the fold of Islam.

The doctrine of Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah is that sins and acts of disobedience in general do not render a Muslim a non-believer, and a Muslim does not go out of the fold of Islam by committing them.

For more benefit, kindly refer to Fatwa 91110.

Allaah Knows best.