Title: Is Belief in the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) Necessary to Qualify someone as a Muslim? Question: Considering that the term al-Islam is a very general and broad concept and that an essential element of its set of beliefs is acknowledgement of all the prophets as humans sent from God to the mankind who were essentially Muslims themselves in the broadest sense of its meaning and in the light of the fact that in the holy Qur'an prophets such as prophet Ibrahim and Yaqub and his progeny have been called Muslims (e.g. 2:132) does a person who does not recognize or believe in our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) necessarily leaves the fold of Islam? The reason why I'm asking this is that there are many people who have been disillusioned by the teachings of the church or other "official" religious institutions and have developed some kind of mistrust towards all religions but still believe in the Almighty and the Creator behind everything in the universe, can they still be considered as Muslims even though they do not folow the Shari'ah of our beloved Prophet (pbuh). I think they can. Dr Yasien in his book " Fitrah , the Islamic concept of human nature" maintains the same position and says: "An individual may be forgiven for not practicing Shari'ah if he had not received the message of Islam, but he will not be forgiven for rejecting tawhid." So our "everyday" common western man probably falls into this category provided he/she believes in One and Only One God. Considering all that has been said a man's salvation and success in the Hereafter does not, in my understanding, depend upon him/her accepting Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as the final Messenger. Am I right? I would really appreciate if you could kindly comment on my reasoning. Adis Duderija Answer: As I have written my opinion regarding the issue in a few of my earlier responses, I agree with the referred opinion of the scholar. However, what you have implied is not exactly the same as expressed by the scholar. It is one thing to say that "a person may be forgiven for not practicing the Shari`ah , if he had not received [or if he was not convinced by] the message of Islam" and quite another to say that such a person can be considered a "Muslim". Considering someone a Muslim, from a legal perspective and for the purpose of the life of this world, rightly carries the connotation of believing in the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh). A person, who does not believe in the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh) shall legally not be considered a 'Muslim', for the purposes of classification during the life of this world. However, in the hereafter, such a non-believer in the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh), if he had a genuine excuse for his lack of belief in the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh) may be among the greatly rewarded for his sincere attitude of complete submission to whatever he truly understood to be God's truth. For further clarification of my point of view regarding the stated issue, please refer to a few of my earlier responses to related questions [1] . I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad December 3, 2001 [1] Some of the more relevant responses may be those posted in the section titled " The Criteria of Success in the Hereafter " and the question titled: " The Word 'Muslim' in the Qur'an ".