What are the "nullifiers of Islam"—things that break a person's faith?

Islamic scholarship identifies certain beliefs or actions so fundamentally opposed to Islam's core creed that they nullify a person's standing as a Muslim if done knowingly, willingly, and without coercion. The gravest is shirk—deliberately worshipping, or ascribing divinity or divine attributes to, anything besides Allah—which the Quran states voids a person's good deeds and is unforgivable if a person dies upon it unrepentant. Other commonly cited nullifiers include openly rejecting a matter agreed upon by consensus as fundamental to Islam, such as denying the obligation of prayer; mocking or ridiculing Allah, the Quran, or the Prophet ﷺ; believing that guidance other than the Prophet's ﷺ is superior; practicing or approving of sorcery that involves seeking help from other than Allah; and giving allegiance to and supporting disbelievers against Muslims out of enmity toward Islam. Scholars stress important safeguards before applying these to any specific individual: the person must have acted knowingly and by free choice, without ignorance, coercion, or misunderstanding, and only qualified scholars—not laypeople—should make such a serious judgment, since wrongly declaring a Muslim to have left Islam is itself a grave matter.

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