He cursed Islam in a moment of intense anger

 

A man cursed Islam in a moment of intense anger – what is the ruling on that? What are the conditions of repentance from this action? Is his marriage to his wife annulled as a result?.

Praise be to Allaah.
 

 

The ruling on one who curses Islam is that he is a kaafir, because cursing Islam or making fun
of it constitutes apostasy from Islam and disbelief in Allaah and in His
religion. Allaah tells us of some people who made fun of Islam and then
said. “We were just joking and playing,” but Allaah tells us that this
joking and playing is in fact mocking Allaah, His signs and His Messenger,
and that they were committing kufr thereby. Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning): 

“If you ask them (about this), they declare: ‘We were only
talking idly and joking.’ Say: ‘Was it at Allaah, and His Ayaat (proofs,
evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and His Messenger that
you were mocking?

66. Make no excuse; you disbelieved after you had
believed’”

[al-Tawbah 9:65, 66] 

Mocking the religion of Allaah, or cursing the religion of
Allaah, or insulting Allaah and His Messenger, or making fun of them, is
kufr that puts one beyond the pale of Islam. However there is room for
repentance from that, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Say: O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against
themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of
Allaah, verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft‑Forgiving, Most
Merciful”

[al-Zumar 39:53] 

If a person repents from
any kind of apostasy and his repentance is sincere and meets all the
conditions of repentance, then Allaah will accept his repentance. There are
five conditions of repentance, which are as follows: 

1 – Being sincere towards Allaah in repentance, i.e., the
motive for repentance should not be a desire to show off, or fear of another
person, or the hope for some worldly gain to be made by repenting. If a
person’s repentance is sincerely for the sake of Allaah alone, and the
motive for it is fear of Allaah and fear of His punishment and hope for His
reward, then it is sincerely for Allaah alone. 

2 – He must regret what he has done of sin, by feeling
remorse and sorrow for what has happened in the past, and he should regard
it as a serious matter that he has to give up. 

3 – He must give up the sin and stop persisting in it. If his
sin was omission of an obligatory duty, he must start doing it and make it
up if he can. If his sin was commission of a forbidden action he must give
it up and keep away from it. If his sin had to do with other people, then he
must restore their rights to them or ask for their pardon. 

4 – He must resolve not to go back to it in the future, by
having the determination in his heart not to go back to the sin from which
he has repented. 

5 – His repentance must come at the time when it will be
accepted. If it comes after that time it will not be accepted. The time of
acceptance is general and specific.  

The general time is when the sun rises from the west;
repentance that comes after the sun rises from the west will not be
accepted, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no
good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor
earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith. Say:
Wait you! we (too) are waiting”

[al-An’aam 6:158] 

The specific time is when
death is imminent. When death is imminent repentance will be of no benefit,
because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue
to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: ‘Now I repent;’
nor of those who die while they are disbelievers”

[al-Nisa’ 4:18] 

I say: if a person
repents from any sin – even if that is cursing Islam – then his repentance
will be accepted if he meets the conditions mentioned here. 

But it should be noted that a word may be an act of kufr or
apostasy, but the one who says it may not become a kaafir thereby, if there
is a factor present which means that he cannot be judged to be a kaafir.
Here we have a man who tells us that he cursed Islam whilst in a state of
anger. We say to him: If your anger was so intense that you did not know
what you were saying, and at that point you did not know if you were in
heaven or on earth, and you said words without thinking or knowing what they
were, then these words are not subject to any ruling, and you cannot be
judged to be an apostate, because these words were not spoken intentionally.
If a word is spoken unintentionally, Allaah will not punish a person for it.
Allaah says concerning vows (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Allaah will not punish you for what is unintentional in
your oaths, but He will punish you for your deliberate oaths”

[al-Maa'idah 5:89] 

If this person who spoke
words of kufr in a moment of intense anger did not know what he was saying,
then there is no ruling on his words, and he cannot be judged to be an
apostate in this case. As he is not judged to be an apostate, his marriage
to his wife is not annulled, rather she is still married to him. 

But if a person feels angry he should try to counteract this
anger in the ways prescribed by the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) when a man asked him, “O Messenger of Allaah, advise me.” He said: “Do not get angry,” and he repeated it several times, saying, “Do not get angry.” So he must exercise self-control and seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan. If he is standing, he should sit down; if he is sitting, he should lie down. If his anger grows too intense, he should do wudoo’. All these things will take away his anger. How many people have regretted acting upon their anger, but it was too late.