A takfiri is a Muslim who accuses another Muslim of apostasy. The accusation itself is called takfir, derived from the wordkafir, and is described as when "one who is a Muslim is declared impure." If a person claims to be Muslim but denies any of the basic tenets of Islam, then the one who declares them kafir is not counted as takfiri. This is used for groups like the Ahmadiyya, who are considered kafir by many Muslims because they are accused of denying the basic tenet of the Finality of Prophethood. Accusing other Muslims of being takfiris has become a sectarian slur, particularly since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. In principle, the only group authorised to declare a member of an Abrahamic religion a kafir is the ulema, and this is only done if all the prescribed legal precautions have been taken. However, a growing number of splinter Wahhabist/Salafist groups, classified by some scholars as Salafi-Takfiris, have split from the orthodox method of establishing takfir through the processes of the Sharia. They have reserved to themselves the right to declare any Muslim an apostate, as well as any non-Muslim.
Classification
Takfiris have been classified by some commentators as violent offshoots of the Salafi movement, yet while Salafism is seen as a form of fundamentalist Islam, it is not an inherently violent movement that condones terrorism. Takfiris, on the other hand, condone acts of violence as legitimate methods of achieving religious or political goals. Middle East expert Robert Baer has written that
"takfiri generally refers to a Wahabi Salafi who looks at the world in black-and-white; there are true believers and then there are nonbelievers, with no shades in between. A takfiri's mission is to re-create the Caliphate according to a literal interpretation of the Qur'an."
Takfiris are Wahabi Salafi radicals and suicide bombers who label Christians, Yazidis, Syrian Alawites, Hindus, Shias and even ordinary Sunni populations as kafirs or infidels before killing them.
Beliefs
Takfiris believe in Islam strictly according to their own interpretation of Muhammad's and his companions' actions and statements, and do not accept any deviation from their path; they reject any reform or change to their interpretation of religion as it was revealed in the time of the prophet. Those who change their religion from Islam to any other way of life, or deny any of the fundamental foundations of Islam, or who worship, follow or obey anything other than Islam, become those upon whom the takfiris declare the "takfir", calling them apostates from Islam and therefore no longer Muslim. According to researcher Trevor Stanley, the precedent "for the declaration of takfir against a leader" came from the medieval Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah, who issued a famous fatwa declaring jihad against the invading Mongols. This was not because the Mongols were invading but because they were apostates, apostasy from Islam being punishable by death. Though the Mongols had converted to Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah reasoned that since they followed their traditional Yassa law rather than Islamic Sharia law, they were not really Muslims and were thus apostates. The 18th-century Islamic revivalist Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and 20th-century Muslim authors Maulana Maududi and Sayyid Qutb have referred to Ibn Taymiyyah when condemning self-proclaimed Muslims as not being real Muslims. Al-Wahhab condemned the practices of Shia, Sufi and other Muslims as bid'a, and al-Wahhab's followers slew many Muslims for allegedly pagan practices. In his influential book Milestones, Sayyid Qutb argued not that some Muslims should no longer be considered Muslims, but that the failure of the world Muslim community to obey Shariah law meant "the Muslim community has been extinct for a few centuries, having fallen back into a state of pagan ignorance". Elie Podeh distinguishes between conservative Islamists, "jihadi" Muslims and takfiri groups. Like jihadis, takfiri groups advocate armed struggle against the secular regime, invoking the concepts of jahiliyya,al-hakimiyya, and al-takfir. However, takfiri groups are more extreme, regarding the whole of Egyptian society as kafir, for instance, and therefore completely disengaging from it. Podeh also points out that unlike jihadis, takfiri groups make no distinction between the regime and the ordinary population when employing violence. Takfiris also reject the traditional Muslim duty to obey one's legitimate rulers in all manners that do not contradict the Sharia, as sedition is viewed as a great danger to a nation. However, takfiris consider all political authority that does not abide by their interpretation of Islam to be illegitimate and therefore apostate; this view closely mirrors Qutb's views on jahiliyyah. As such, violence against such regimes is considered legitimate. In his books and Kashf ush-Shubuhaat, Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhāb makes an explicit takfir of people who invoke or implore for help from dead people or, in other words, intercede for themselves with God by seeking intercession from the prophet and his family.
Suicide
Takfiri views on suicide also differ significantly from those of orthodox Islam. Takfiris believe that one who deliberately kills himself whilst attempting to kill enemies is a martyr and therefore goes straight to heaven. According to this, all sin is absolved when a person is martyred, allowing carte blanche for the indiscriminate killing of non-combatants, for example.
Views within Islam
Opponents of the takfiris often view them as modern-day analogues of the Khawarij, a seventh-century offshoot Islamic sect that waged war against the Caliphate.
In mainstream media
The term takfiri was brought to a more public prominence by the BBC investigative journalist Peter Taylor in his 2005 BBC television series The New Al Qaeda.
