The Meaning of the Word 'Ilhad' (Deviation/Atheism)

Question

This letter is from the listener H.A. from Iraq, Erbil governorate, who says: what does the word ilhad mean? And is there a difference between a mulhid and a disbeliever who was once a Muslim, or an original disbeliever such as a Jew or a Christian?

Answer (English translation)

The Shaykh:

The word ilhad has a linguistic meaning and a conventional (customary) meaning. Its linguistic meaning is inclining away from obedience to Allah the Exalted by disobeying Him — whether by abandoning an obligation or committing a prohibition — per His saying: [And whoever intends therein deviation with injustice, We will make him taste a painful punishment] (Surah Al-Hajj 22:25). On this basis, every disobedient person toward Allah the Exalted would be a mulhid. But ilhad divides into two kinds: one that expels from the religion — that which necessitates disbelief — and one that does not expel from the religion — that which necessitates wickedness (fisq).

As for the conventional meaning: conventionally, ilhad is the denial of divinity — that is, denying the existence of Allah, we seek refuge in Him — or the apostasy of a Muslim. This is what I know of the meaning of ilhad in common usage. On that basis, Jews and Christians are conventionally not considered mulhids — but this convention is not correct, because whenever custom contradicts the Sharia it must be discarded and set aside. The correct position is that everyone who opposes Islam and is not a Muslim is a mulhid, whether he affiliates with a religion or not, and whether he acknowledges the existence of the Creator or not. Everyone who is an original disbeliever or an apostate is a mulhid, because disbelief — we seek refuge in Allah — although some of its depths are lower than others, is all one religion in the sense that it constitutes departure from Islam.