Sunni fatwas on Shias

Shiaism differs with Sunnism on not only political issues, but also important theological issues. Various attitudes towards Shias can be found among the worldwide majority Sunni community. Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, for example, has noted that it is not the way of Sunni Islam to make blanket takfir of Shias. He writes:

<blockquote>...we only declare someone who denies something necessarily known of the religion to be a kafir--and this is not the case with common Shias.</blockquote>

However, major Sunni scholars have declared the unbelief of Shias who hold certain beliefs. For example, Imam ibn Abidin, a source of authoritative fatwas for Hanafis writes:

<blockquote>There is no doubt in the disbelief (kufr) of those that falsely accuse Sayyida Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) of adultery, deny the Companionship of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr ( Allah be pleased with him), believe that sayyiduna Ali (Allah be pleased with him) was God or that the angel Jibril mistakenly descended with the revelation (wahi) on the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give peace), etc which is apparent Kufr and contrary to the teachings of the Qur'an (Radd al-Muhtar, 4/453).</blockquote>

According to Imam Ahmad Raza, the founder of the...
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