Words like Kafir, Murtid, Fajir, Fasiq, etc. are alien words in our language. Especially non-Arab Muslims would never want to know the exact meaning of these words. In the back of their mind, they have a remote idea what it could mean but they don’t really know exactly what it means. There is nobody in this world who can give you the right understanding of these words. Why? Because no celestial book whether be it Torah, Bible or Quran can be understood without spiritual, mystical interpretation.
Always remember: you are a multidimensional creature. You’re not just your body. There are many faculties that make a human being, and there are many departments in a human being. You need many experts in order to explain your mythical being. You are a multi-layered creature, so when God addresses you, you need to know what department in you is being addressed.
Sometimes, God is addressing your soul; some other times he is addressing your heart. On some occasions, God is neither addressing your heart nor your soul; he is actually discussing your body and its deeds.
When the Quran is translated, the meaning of these words is taken from the dictionary. The words are not special when they appear in any celestial book. They’re the same words you use in day-to-day life. However, when certain words have religious or spiritual connotation they change their meaning dramatically.
For example there are two words in Arabic, Itteba and Itta’ah. Muslims are confused about it; they think both these words have the same meaning. That is the true. In a similar way, you need to understand what Kafir means, and what Kufr, Nifaq, Fisq, and Fajr are. These words, when they are used in day-to-day life among Arabs, have a different meaning. However, when they carry a religious or spiritual connotation, their meanings change altogether.
The Meaning of Fasiq
According to these half baked religious and so-called Sufi scholars, a Fasiq means someone who allegedly believes in a religion but he doesn’t practise the religion. In simple day-to-day lingo, we call such people non-practising Muslims and non-practising Christians. But I don’t agree to this [interpretation]. If you say, ‘I am hungry,’ but you don’t want to eat, can we say, ‘You are a non-practising hungry man?’ No, because it is impossible - if you are hungry, you must eat. Here is another example: if someone’s bladder is full, and nature’s call is on the edge, it won’t make sense if he says, ‘I can’t even move, my bladder is so full - but I don’t want to pee.’
Similarly, [in religion] either you believe it or you don’t; when you believe it then you practise it. The reason why people believe in a religion today but do not practise it is because they do not have the inner motivation. What the religious scholars describe of the paradise and its beautiful damsels does not lure people in, because people have already done everything in this world. They have seen everything. They want some solid reason to practise the religion.
People have seen the world. Religion is not helping anybody. It is making this world a chaotic place. Religions are dividing humanity, whatever religion that is. A religion is bad when it cannot provide you with a bond between hearts of humanity. A religion is a binding.
Fasiq does not mean somebody who believes in a religion but doesn’t practise it. Then what does it mean? A Fasiq is one who believes in a religion and he wants to practise that religion, but the worship he wants to carry out is not supported by his souls and heart. He is a person who ignores the interpretation of his prophet or messenger. For example, Prophet Mohammad said, ‘There is not salat without the purification of the heart.’ If you completely dismiss this divine advice and without it, you want to continue your practice, then this is Fisq [which would make you a Fasiq].
The Meaning of Mushrik
I have explained the meaning of Mushrik many times. Mushrik comes from the root word Shirakat, which means partnership. Mushrik is a very famous word among Muslims.
Mushrik means, ‘One who appoints a partner with God.’ It is scientifically proven that a human being cannot have two biological fathers at a time. For example, a woman has sexual intercourse with one man; and soon after him, she has sexual intercourse with another man. Then she gets pregnant. Does it mean that the baby which is being conceived in the womb of that woman has two fathers? It is not scientifically possible. It is not the semen itself that will make a woman pregnant; there are live cells inside it. X and Y chromosomes: there are always two cells together - two from male and two from the female. These two cells mingle into each other; this is known as the process of fertilisation. It turns into a zygote and then embryo. Whenever the woman gets pregnant, either two cells from the first man will come into partnership with her cells or two cells from the other one. It is not like the cells of both males got mixed up and then they mingled with the cells of the female. This is how it can never be scientifically, medically or practically possible for someone to have two biological fathers. This is out of question.
Similarly, you cannot have two creators. When God wanted to create, he said the command, ‘Be’ and it was there. There was no partnership; God did it alone. But those who somehow or other appoint another partner with God, who say, ‘God didn’t do it alone. He took help from somebody in creation,’ they are known as Mushrik. They are those who think God did not do it all by himself.
Personally, I haven’t seen a Mushrik. In the eyes of Wahhabis, all Sufis are Mushrikeen.
