Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Those Who Deny Certain Religious Matters Out of Ignorance or Unintentionally Are Not Considered Apostates

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Those Who Deny Certain Religious Matters Out of Ignorance or Unintentionally Are Not Considered Apostates
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The daily scholarly session of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadiq Husayni Shirazi was held on Saturday, the 23rd of Jumada al-Awwal, 1447 AH.

As in previous sessions, the Supreme Marja responded to attendees’ questions on various jurisprudential issues.

Addressing the issue of individuals who reject certain religious matters, express doubts about them, or mock some aspects of religion, Grand Ayatollah Shirazi stated that if such individuals accept the shahadatayn (the two statements of faith) and do not deny the fundamental necessities of the faith, they are not considered apostates.

Regarding the ruling on someone who denies the obligation of fasting or any other obligatory act, he clarified: such individuals are not classified as apostates, and there are objections to applying the rulings of apostasy to them, as the traditional evidences for apostasy do not extend to these cases.

His Eminence further emphasized that the implementation of Islamic legal rulings—including those related to apostasy—requires specific conditions, and these conditions are often not fully met. Therefore, apostasy does not apply to many of these cases, and the enforcement of such rulings is itself subject to scholarly objection.