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Is it Kufr to read oath to obtain my US Citizenship?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by IslamicSolutions.org

Question:
I have emigrated from an arab muslim country to US and lived
there for almost 20 years. I became a US citizens and gave up my original
arab muslim country citizenship even though I can keep both citizenship in
both countries. My original arab muslim country ruled by islamic law but
there is a lot of corruption and in America we have freedom of religion and
we have mosques. I love America, and have my home there, and my understanding
that a muslim should love the land he lives in and be a good role model
citizen and respect the law as long as he is not asked to do anything
prohibited in islam.
I wrote and said the following oath upon taking US
citizenship:” I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely
renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince,
potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a
subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws
of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms
on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform
noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required
by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian
direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely
without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

One day I was searching something on the net and read something that was
concerning, which was a fatwa by someone( I think from Salafi school of
thought) answering someone who asked about the US citizenship oath and the
sheikh said that such oath is an absolute allegiance (Wiliya Mutlaga) and
hence is considered Kufur!!!!!!

I love my religion islam. I also love The United States and alhamduliallah
feel happy there Did I commit any apostasy(kufur) by saying and writing the
above oath? Am I still a muslim!!! Please advise me and Jazzak Allah Khair

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

If your intention was merely to follow the procedures necessary to obtain your citizenship, then that would not constitute Kufr.

You may also refer to “askimam.org” regarding this matter.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mufti Saeed Ahmed Golaub
Islamic Solutions
Jamaica

This answer was collected from IslamicSolutions.org, which is operated by Mufti Saeed Ahmed Golaub from Jamaica. He’s a student of Mufti Ebrahim Desai (rah) from South Africa.

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