Excommunication

Audio transcript:

>>STEVE ST. GEORGE: Hello. I'm Steve St. George. And this is your crash course in Islam. Today we discuss excommunication in Islam. Traditionally a person is excommunicated from Christianity and Judaism when he or she commits a sin that disrupts the religious community or is simply unforgivable. Not so in Islam. There is no formal structure in Islam to excommunicate a Muslim. However there are signs that are considered unforgivable. The core belief in Islam is that there is only one God. And nothing else can be associated with God, like the Christian first commandment you shall have no other gods before me. Muslims must believe in Allah as the supreme being, extremely unique unlike anything else imaginable. Associating Allah with anything or turning to a false idol is considered to be an unforgivable sin. However this does not mean that you will be excommunicated. It simply damages your relationship with Allah beyond repair. So you may still be part of the religious community. But Muslims believe that you have abandoned Islam in your heart by committing this sin. For crash course in Islam, I'm Steve St. George.

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