Takfir, the declaring a Muslim to no longer be Muslim, is a noxious device practiced by religious extremists to ‘authorize’ the killing of some Muslims at its worst and to still the voices of those who question extremism as its least. We’ve seen Osama bin Laden declare that various Saudi leaders are ‘no longer Muslim’; we see various Sunni clerics claim that the Shi’a are not Muslim.

While the Saudi government has been trying to stop this practice for the past five or so years, the job is not yet done. So, it is conducting a conference in Madinah later this year to address the issue. The conference will join Saudi and foreign Islamic scholars to discuss the issue with the intent to highlight its dangers, its origins, and where it stands within Shariah law. It sounds like a useful endeavor, one that would have been better had it been held 20 years ago.

Madina set to host Takfir conference

JEDDAH – Islamic scholars from within the Kingdom and abroad are scheduled to discuss this year in Madina the danger of “Takfir” (accusing other Muslims of unbelief) to the life of the society and the individual.

The conference, to be patronized by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is being organized by Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz International Prize for the Prophet’s Sunnah and Contemporary Islamic Studies with the participation of Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University, will discuss the causes of Takfir and the ways to deal with it.
…