Question

Is the following hadith authentic? It has been recorded by Imam Muslim in his Sahih. It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayra: A fornicator who fornicates is not a believer as long as he commits fornication, and no one who steals is a believer as long as he commits theft, and no one who drinks wine is a believer as long as he drinks it, and repentance may be accepted after that.

Answer

The Prophet (sws), we believe, intended to teach the believers that these sins negate our iman. When a person who professes belief in God and the related beliefs commits sins that means that at the time of committing sin he was not mindful of what his belief entailed. Had he fully conscious of his belief in that moment he would not have heeded to the desires of the flesh and would have stayed away from sin. Since his desires and other motives overcame him at that moment he was not in the conscious state of belief.

Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi

Date: 2015-02-13