This means that one who pretends to be a Muslim, whenever he says something that only a disbeliever says or does something that only a disbeliever does, he is considered a hypocrite, not an apostate; because an apostate is a disbeliever who acknowledges his disbelief after Islam, and killing him with this title, before or after repentance, according to what God’s Caliph on the earth sees fit, is permissible based on mutawatir narrations, but a hypocrite is a disbeliever who does not acknowledge his disbelief, but rather he considers himself a Muslim in order to save his life, so killing him as a disbeliever is not permissible according to the rule; because the rule is that whoever says he is a Muslim, his saying is accepted as true, and the reckoning of his deeds lies with God. Yes, if the blasphemous sayings or deeds of a hypocrite are evident and examples of fighting against God and His Prophet and spreading corruption on the earth, then it is permissible to kill him as a fighter against God and His Prophet and a corrupter on the earth, not as a disbeliever, in which case ghusl and prayer will be performed for him as they are performed for Muslims, and he will be buried in Muslims’ cemetery, although direct participation of God’s Caliph in these works is not appropriate; as God has said to him: ﴿وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ مَاتَ أَبَدًا وَلَا تَقُمْ عَلَى قَبْرِهِ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ﴾[1]; “And never perform prayer for any of them who dies, nor stand over his grave, for they disbelieved in God and His Prophet and died while they were sinners.”

[Cognition of a polytheist]

Based on this, whoever considers himself a Muslim is not considered a polytheist because of what he does, even if it is a deed like calling on the dead; because calling on the dead, if it is based on the belief that they will be helpful with the permission of God, is not considered polytheism; because God has the power to provide help by means of the dead, as He has the power to provide help by means of the living; but rather He has the power to bring out the living from the dead and the dead from the living; as He has said: ﴿يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَيُحْيِي الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا﴾[2]; “He brings out the living from the dead and brings out the dead from the living and gives life to the earth after its death,”