“If I Did That, May I Not Be Granted the Kalima at Death”

Question

Zayd leads the prayer in a mosque and is also a hafiz of the Qur’an. But he has a habit: whenever he does something wrong and people ask him the reason, he at once says, “God forbid! May I not be granted the kalima at the time of death if I did such a thing.” Does iman remain when such words are used, or not? Concerning these words a certain person said that this is shirk. Also, should we pray behind him or not?

Answer

Saying this is not shirk, nor does a person become a mushrik by saying it. Yet to say such a thing at every turn is an extremely blameworthy and ugly act; people themselves take such a man for a liar. If, God forbid, his statement is false, then this is a curse against himself that he not be granted the kalima at death — and if it is accepted, how perilous such an end is!

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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