Mocking Allah, His names and attributes, His verses, His Messenger ﷺ, the Qur’an, or anything from the religion is one of the nullifiers of Islam. Ibn Abd al Wahhab said that whoever mocks anything from the religion of the Messenger ﷺ, or the reward of Allah, or His punishment, has disbelieved, and he quoted:

“Say, Was it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking. Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith.” (al Tawbah 65 to 66, Nawaqid al Islam 3)

These verses were revealed about those who described the Prophet ﷺ and the believers during Tabuk as greedy in their stomachs, lying in their tongues and cowardly in battle, then excused themselves by saying they were only talking and playing, yet Allah said: “You have disbelieved after your faith.” (al Tawbah 65 to 66, Jami al Bayan 10/172, al Sahih al Musnad min Asbab al Nuzul 126)

Ibn Baz said this verse is a clear text and decisive proof for the disbelief of whoever mocks Allah the Most Great, His noble Messenger ﷺ or His clear Book, and that the scholars in all ages and lands have agreed on the disbelief of whoever mocks Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, His Book or anything from the religion. (Majmu al Fatawa wa al Maqalat 28/367)

Many scholars transmitted consensus that insulting or belittling the Prophet ﷺ is kufr that requires execution, and that whoever doubts such a person’s disbelief has also disbelieved. (Majmu al Fatawa 6/330)

Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Mocking Allah and His verses and His Messenger is disbelief by which its doer disbelieves after his iman.” (Majmu al Fatawa 7/273)

Al Nawawi said: “If a person mocks a name from the names of Allah, the Exalted, or His command, or His promise, or His threat, he disbelieves.” (Rawdat al Talibin 10/66)

What Counts as Mockery of the Religion

Istizaa of the deen includes every speech or action that belittles or ridicules:

Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, the Qur’an, His commands, His promise or His threat. (Majmu al Fatawa 7/273, Rawdat al Talibin 10/66)
The rulings and rites of the Sharia, such as the prayer, the two testimonies, zakah, fasting, Hajj, the beard, trimming the moustache, hijab and niqab, dutifulness to parents, maintaining ties of kinship, and jihad. (As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/4, Sharh Nawaqid al Islam Ibn Baz 136 to 154)
The prescribed punishments for theft, zina and hirabah, when described as harsh, savage or unsuitable and rejected as if modern civilisation is above them. (Sharh Nawaqid al Islam al Barrak 29 to 31)
The Sunnahs and recommended acts, when they are lowered and described as the outer shell of the religion and not its core, such as siwak, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and shortening the garment. (Sharh Nawaqid al Islam al Barrak 29 to 31)
Treating the mushaf lightly by urinating on it, stepping on it, sitting on it or smearing it with filth while knowing that it is the Book of Allah, which is His speech. Ibn Taymiyyah said such treatment is disbelief by consensus because it is open belittling of Allah. (Majmu al Fatawa 1/44 and 8/425, Sharh al Aqidah al Tahawiyyah 1/17)
Using verses of the Qur’an as material for humour and to make people laugh, such as reciting “Eat and enjoy yourselves for a little, indeed you are criminals” over food as a joke. (al Mursalat 46, Sharh Nawaqid al Islam al Barrak 29 to 31)

These forms are described as boldness against Allah and His Sharia, contempt for His promise and His threat, and signs of a heart whose spring of iman has dried up and which has been overtaken by desire and Shaytan. (Sharh Nawaqid al Islam al Barrak 29 to 31)

Ibn Baz said: “Whoever mocks the religion disbelieves in his own person. Everyone in whom a nullifier is found disbelieves in his own person. As for killing, that is another matter; killing requires seeking repentance.” (As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/79) He also said: “Mocking the prayer is an independent disbelief by consensus of the Muslims.” (As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/79)

States of the One Who Mocks and the Role of Intention

Shaykh Abd al Rahman al Sa’d explained that the one who mocks Allah, the Messenger ﷺ or the religion of Islam has three states, and each has its ruling. (Khuturat al Istihza bi al Din 21 to 24)

The First State: Mockery with Belief

This is when a person actually believes in the insult and affirms it in his heart, so his heart is bound upon contempt and belittling. This is the most severe type of kufr because it joins corrupt belief to open mockery.

Ibn Taymiyyah said that if a person affirms the oneness of Allah in divinity and the messengership of Muhammad ﷺ, but this affirmation is not followed by the reverence and honour in the heart whose effect appears on the limbs, and instead it is joined with belittling and contempt in speech or action, then this belief becomes like nothing and loses its benefit, because true beliefs of iman purify and rectify the soul; if they do not purify and rectify, then they have not taken root in the heart nor become a firm attribute of the soul. (al Sarim al Maslul 369)

The Second State: Deliberate Mockery without Belief

This is when a person does not believe the insult, but intends mockery and making fun. The people of Tabuk described the Prophet ﷺ and the believers as greedy, lying and cowardly, then said they were only conversing and playing, yet Allah declared their kufr after iman:

“If you ask them, they will surely say, We were only conversing and playing. Say, Was it Allah, His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking. Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith.” (al Tawbah 65 to 66, Jami al Bayan 10/172, al Sahih al Musnad min Asbab al Nuzul 126)

Al Sa’d explained that these men did not actually believe what they said about the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions; their words were lying and mockery as a joke, as shown by their own admission: “We were only conversing and playing.” (Khuturat al Istihza bi al Din 21 to 24) Even so, they intended mockery, and the ruling upon them is kufr.

From this, it is concluded that the ruling of the one who intends mockery, whether he believes the insult or not, is one: he is a disbeliever in Allah the Most Great, because mockery cannot be combined with iman in Allah, His Messenger ﷺ or His religion. For this reason Allah said: “Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith.” (al Tawbah 66, Khuturat al Istihza bi al Din 21 to 24)

Ibn Baz said: “As for mockery, its content is denial. The one who mocks, within his words there is denial. For this reason he disbelieves according to everyone. The one who mocks is a disbeliever according to everyone, because his mockery shows a disease in his heart and doubt in his heart.” (Sharh Kitab al Tawhid 1/8, As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/79, Fatawa al Lajnah al Da’imah 1/406 second collection)

The Third State: Slip of the Tongue without Intention

This is when mockery occurs from a slip of the tongue and a mistake, such that a person intends to say a word without mockery, but his tongue precedes him to a different word that contains wrong meaning, by mistake and without intention. This is not kufr.

The proof is the hadith of the man who lost his riding animal in a barren land, with his food and drink upon it, then despaired, lay down under a tree, and suddenly found it again.

Out of extreme joy he took hold of its reins and said: “O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord.” The Prophet ﷺ said that he erred because of extreme joy. He was not taken to account because he did not intend that statement; his tongue preceded him to it by mistake. (Muslim 2747, Khuturat al Istihza bi al Din 21 to 24)

Alongside this, there is condemnation of one who lies to make people laugh. The Messenger ﷺ said: “Woe to the one who speaks and lies to make the people laugh. Woe to him, woe to him.” (Musnad Ahmad 2/5 and 7, Abu Dawud 4990, al Tirmidhi 2315, al Nasa’i al Kubra 11126)

Joking with Statements of Disbelief

Using statements of kufr as a joke is itself kufr when done deliberately. Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al Arabi said: “Joking with statements of disbelief is disbelief, and there is no difference of opinion about this in the ummah. Seriousness is the companion of knowledge and truth, and joking is the companion of falsehood and ignorance.” (Ahkam al Qur’an 2/543)

Ibn Baz explained the phrase of Ibn Abd al Wahhab in Kashf al Shubuhaat, “a word he says with his tongue without his heart”, by giving examples: a person who says as a joke “Muhammad is a liar” or “a player”, or who says “Allah is not in the heaven”, disbelieves even if he claims he is only playing and does not believe what he said. (Sharh Kashf al Shubuhaat 2/B al Bardain, As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/93)

He also said: “Whoever insults Allah, the Most High, and insults His Messenger, has disbelieved, even if he says: I do not believe the insult in my heart.” (al Fawaid al Jaliyyah 27)

On this basis, when deliberate istizaa of the deen takes place, the excuse “I was only joking” or “I did not believe it in my heart” does not remove the ruling of kufr. If a person knowingly chooses words that insult or belittle Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, the Qur’an or the Sharia, this is major disbelief even if he presents it as humour or play. (al Tawbah 65 to 66, Ahkam al Qur’an 2/543, Sharh Kashf al Shubuhaat 2/B al Bardain)

Mocking the Religion and Making Light of Sins

There is a distinction between istizaa of the deen and merely committing sins or making light of sins. Ibn Baz was asked about those who say that the one who commits a major sin deserves to be called a disbeliever. He answered that the position of Ahl al Sunnah wal Jama’ah is that such a person is a sinner with deficient iman, even if he is lax, and that those who are reckless take sins lightly. (Sharh al Aqidah al Tahawiyyah 1/25 and 1/17, ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, at Tahdheer min al Bida)

Openly committing sins is not kufr unless the person declares them permissible, such as saying that zina or drinking wine is permissible, and this istihlal is disbelief and apostasy. His making light of sins shows weakness of faith and that he is in danger of leaving Islam. (Sharh al Aqidah al Tahawiyyah 1/25 and 1/17, ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, at Tahdheer min al Bida)

At the same time, Ibn Baz warned that sins are very dangerous because they involve taking Allah’s command lightly, taking His right lightly, and daring to transgress His sacred limits, and that many sinners have been dragged by their sins to disbelief, when that leads them to mocking Allah, mocking His religion and scoffing at what the prophets brought. (As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/93)

So not every major sin is istizaa of the religion, and not every sinner is a disbeliever. Kufr lies where there is mockery and belittling of Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, the Qur’an or the rites of Islam.

Overall Principle on Intention in Mockery of the Religion

Bringing these points together gives a clear rule about when something is istizaa of the deen and how intention affects the ruling:

Deliberate mockery of Allah, His verses, His Messenger ﷺ, the Qur’an, the rites and rulings of Islam, or the mushaf, is major kufr that nullifies Islam, even if the speaker calls it play, joking or humour and claims not to believe it in the heart. (al Tawbah 65 to 66, Nawaqid al Islam 3, Ahkam al Qur’an 2/543, Sharh Kashf al Shubuhaat 2/B al Bardain, Majmu al Fatawa 7/273, Khuturat al Istihza bi al Din 21 to 24)
A slip of the tongue without intention, when the person does not mean the statement and his belief is opposite to the words, is not kufr, as in the hadith of the man who said: “O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord” out of extreme joy. (Muslim 2747, Khuturat al Istihza bi al Din 21 to 24)
Mocking a practising Muslim becomes istizaa of the deen and apostasy when the intention is to belittle the religion he is practising. When the mockery is directed only at the individual, it remains a serious sin but is not kufr. (Majmu Fatawa wa al Maqalat 28/367)

Deliberate istizaa directed at Allah, His verses, His Messenger ﷺ and His religion can never be gathered with sound iman in the heart. For that reason, “Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith” remains the decisive, repeated ruling for all who knowingly make the deen a subject of ridicule. (al Tawbah 65–66)

Full Article

Ruling on Mocking the Religion, with Evidence and Explanation

Shaykh al Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (d. 1206 AH) said in Nawaqid al Islam:

“He who mocks anything from the religion of the Messenger, or the reward of Allah, or His punishment, has disbelieved. The proof is His saying, the Most High:”

وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ إِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوضُ وَنَلْعَبُ قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ ۝ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ إِنْ نَعْفُ عَنْ طَائِفَةٍ مِنْكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَائِفَةً بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا مُجْرِمِينَ

“If you ask them, they will surely say, We were only talking and playing. Say, Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking. Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith. If We pardon a group of you, We will punish a group, because they used to be criminals.” (al Tawbah 65–66) (Nawaqid al Islam 3)

These noble verses are among the clearest verses that set out the ruling on mocking the religion and that it is one of the things that nullify Islam, and that the ruling of mocking the religion is disbelief that takes a person out of the religion, we seek refuge with Allah from that.

Ibn Baz (d. 1420 AH) said: “The noble Book of Allah has spoken of the disbelief of whoever mocks the great Messenger or anything from the clear Book of Allah and His wise Sharia. Allah the Exalted said:

قل أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ
“Say: ‘Was it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking? Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith.’” (Surah at Tawbah, 65–66)

This noble verse is an apparent text and a decisive proof for the disbelief of whoever mocks Allah the Most Great or His noble Messenger or His clear Book.

The scholars of Islam, in all ages and lands, have agreed upon the disbelief of whoever mocks Allah or His Messenger or His Book or anything from the religion.

They have agreed that whoever mocks anything of that while he is a Muslim becomes by that a disbeliever, an apostate from Islam, and it becomes obligatory to kill him; because of the saying of the Messenger ﷺ: “Whoever changes his religion, then kill him.”

And from the decisive proofs for the disbelief of whoever mocks Allah or His Messenger or His Book is that mockery is a belittling and despising of the one mocked.

Allah, glorified, possesses the attribute of perfection, His Book is from His speech, and His speech is from His attributes of perfection, and His Messenger Muhammad ﷺ is the most perfect of creation, their leader, the seal of the messengers, and the close friend of the Lord of the worlds.

So whoever mocks Allah or His Messenger or His Book or anything from His religion has belittled Him and despised Him, and despising anything of that and belittling it is clear disbelief, open hypocrisy, enmity towards the Lord of the worlds, and disbelief in His trustworthy Messenger.

More than one of the people of knowledge has transmitted the consensus of the scholars on the disbelief of whoever insults the noble Messenger or belittles him, and on the obligation of killing him.

Imam Abu Bakr ibn al Mundhir (d. 318 AH), may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The groups of the people of knowledge have agreed that the prescribed penalty for one who insults the Prophet is execution. Among those who said this are Malik (d. 179 AH) and al Layth (d. 175 AH) and Ahmad (d. 241 AH) and Ishaq (d. 238 AH), and it is the madhhab of ash Shafi’i (d. 204 AH).”

His words “the ‘awaam” is the plural of “’aammah”, and “’aammah” here means “group”, so what he meant, may Allah have mercy on him, is that groups of scholars have agreed upon the obligation of killing whoever insults the Prophet.

There is no doubt that insulting takes many forms, and there is no doubt that mocking him ﷺ, belittling him, and likening him to a base animal is from the ugliest forms of insult and the greatest belittling. So the one who does that is a disbeliever whose blood and wealth are permissible.

Qadi Iyad (d. 544 AH), may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The ummah has agreed on killing the one who belittles him, from among the Muslims, and insults him.”

Muhammad ibn Sahnun (d. 256 AH), from the imams of the Malikis, said: “The scholars have agreed that the one who abuses the Prophet and the one who belittles him is a disbeliever. The threat has come concerning him of the punishment of Allah upon him, and his ruling with the ummah is execution, and whoever doubts his disbelief and his punishment has disbelieved.”

Shaykh al Islam Abu al Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah , may Allah have mercy on him, after he transmitted the sayings of the scholars about the one who insults the Messenger and belittles him in his book As Sarim al Maslul ala Shatim ar Rasul, said, as the summary of the matter:

“The one who insults him, if he is a Muslim, disbelieves and is killed without disagreement. This is the madhhab of the four imams and others.” Hanbal ibn Ishaq (d. 273 AH) said: “I heard Abu Abdillah, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH), say: Whoever insults the Messenger ﷺ or belittles him, whether he is a Muslim or a disbeliever, then the penalty upon him is execution, and I hold that he is to be killed and not asked to repent.”

The words of the scholars on this matter are many, and in what we have brought from them is sufficiency for the seeker of the truth. (Majmu al Fatawa 6/330.)

He also said:

“And indeed Allah, glorified, has informed in His noble Book about His enemies from the disbelievers and the hypocrites that they mock the messengers and the believers and laugh at them. Allah said:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا كَانُوا مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يَضْحَكُونَ وَإِذَا مَرُّوا بِهِمْ يَتَغَامَزُونَ
“Indeed, those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed; and when they passed by them, they would wink at one another.” (Surah al Mutaffifin, 29–30)

and the following verses.

And He, glorified and exalted, said:

إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِي يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا آمَنَّا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّاحِمِينَ فَاتَّخَذْتُمُوهُمْ سِخْرِيًّا حَتَّى أَنسَوْكُمْ ذِكْرِي وَكُنتُم مِّنْهُمْ تَضْحَكُونَ إِنِّي جَزَيْتُهُمُ الْيَوْمَ بِمَا صَبَرُوا أَنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ
“Indeed, there was a party of My servants who used to say, ‘Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us and have mercy on us, and You are the best of the merciful.’ But you took them in mockery until it made you forget My remembrance, and you used to laugh at them. Indeed, I have rewarded them this Day for their patience, that they are the successful.” (Surah al Mu’minun, 109–111)

And He, the Most High, said about His Messenger Nuh عليه السلام and his people:

وَيَصْنَعُ الْفُلْكَ وَكُلَّمَا مَرَّ عَلَيْهِ مَلَأٌ مِّن قَوْمِهِ سَخِرُوا مِنْهُ قَالَ إِن تَسْخَرُوا مِنَّا فَإِنَّا نَسْخَرُ مِنكُمْ كَمَا تَسْخَرُونَ فَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ مَن يَأْتِيهِ عَذَابٌ يُخْزِيهِ وَيَحِلُّ عَلَيْهِ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيمٌ
“And he was constructing the ship, and whenever an assembly from his people passed by him, they mocked him. He said, ‘If you mock us, then indeed, we will mock you just as you mock. And you are going to know who will get a punishment that will disgrace him and upon whom will descend a lasting punishment.’” (Surah Hud, 38 to 39)

And He, the Most High, said:

الَّذِينَ يَلْمِزُونَ الْمُطَّوِّعِينَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي الصَّدَقَاتِ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَجِدُونَ إِلَّا جُهْدَهُمْ فَيَسْخَرُونَ مِنْهُمْ سَخِرَ اللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
“Those who criticise the contributors among the believers concerning voluntary charities and those who find nothing to give except their effort, so they mock them, Allah will mock them and they will have a painful punishment.” (Surah at Tawbah, 79)

In these firm verses and clear proofs there is an apparent indication and overpowering evidence that mockery of the messengers and the believers is from the attributes of the disbelievers and hypocrites and polytheists, and from their open enmity and clear disbelief.

He also said: “And likewise, whoever mocks the religion and makes fun of it, his ruling is their ruling and his disbelief is major disbelief, as Allah, glorified and exalted, said:

قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ
“Say: ‘Was it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking? Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith.’” (Surah at Tawbah, 65–66)

And likewise, if he treats lightly anything that Allah has made great, out of contempt and disdain, such as treating the mushaf lightly, or urinating on it, or stepping on it, or sitting on it, or the like, then treating it lightly in that way is disbelief by consensus; because by that he is belittling Allah and despising Him, for the Qur’an is His speech, glorified and exalted, so whoever treats it lightly has treated Allah lightly.” (Majmu al Fatawa 1/44 and 8/425. His phrase “treating it lightly” is a description for explanation and clarification, and it is not a restriction in the ruling unless what is meant is to exclude the one who does not intend it or the compelled person and the like. Ibn Taymiyyah said in his book al Iman, p. 57: “Similar to this is His saying, the Most High:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ
‘O you who have believed, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life.’ (Surah al Anfal 24)

He only calls to that, and the restriction here has no implied exception.” Then he mentioned other examples and said: “So restriction in all of this is for explanation and clarification, not for excluding another description. For this reason some of the grammarians say that attributes attached to definite nouns are for clarification, not for specification, and when attached to indefinite nouns they are for specification, meaning in definite nouns that do not need specification.”)

He also said: “Whoever mocks Allah, glorified, or His Messenger ﷺ, or Paradise or the Fire, or the Qur’an, and the like, is a disbeliever by consensus; because this mockery and belittling is proof that his claim to faith is false and that he does not have faith that restrains him from mocking what has been mentioned.

Likewise the one who insults the mushaf or smears it with filth or sits on it while knowing that it is the Book of Allah, this is proof that this man has no faith and only claims faith. If he had sound faith it would restrain him from this action that makes him a disbeliever.

And likewise whoever mocks the messengers, because his mockery of them or some of them is proof that his faith is not sound, rather it is only a claim. Upon this the rest of the affairs that occur from people are measured.” (Majmu al Fatawa 38/3; his treatise Usul al Iman, p. 44, ed. al Hazimi; Sharh al Aqidah at Tahawiyyah 1/25 and 1/17, Dar at Tayyibah; ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, Dar at Tayyibah; at Tahdheer min al Bida, Dar at Tayyibah.)

Al Iman: “For Allah has described the people of faith as those who believe in the ambiguous and return it to what is clear, and as for the people of deviation they follow what is ambiguous from it seeking discord.” (Sharh al Aqidah at Tahawiyyah 1/25 and 1/17, Dar at Tayyibah; at Tahdheer min al Bida, Dar at Tayyibah.)

He also said: “If he affirms the oneness of Allah and believes the messengers, but mocks the Messenger in some matter or belittles him in some matter, or mocks some of the messengers, he becomes a disbeliever by that.” (Sharh al Aqidah at Tahawiyyah 1/25, Dar at Tayyibah; ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, Dar at Tayyibah; at Tahdheer min al Bida, Dar at Tayyibah.)

He said: “So the one who says ‘There is no god but Allah’ and brings the two testimonies or the pillars of Islam, then insults the religion, then insults Allah, glorified, or insults His Messenger, or denies what Allah has made obligatory, or denies some of what Allah has made forbidden, that testimony is nullified and he becomes like the one who invalidates his purification with one of the nullifiers, by consensus of the people of knowledge.

For this reason they have mentioned, in the chapter of the ruling of the apostate, the many nullifiers, and that if he commits one of them his Islam is invalidated and he becomes from the category of the apostates.

However, it is the habit of those with weak insight, or of the one whose aim is not sound, that his habit is to cling to the matters that are unclear and the unrestricted and the general statements, and this is not the way of the people of faith.”

Al Iman: “For Allah has described the people of faith as those who believe in the ambiguous and return it to what is clear, whereas the people of deviation follow what is ambiguous from it seeking discord.” (Majmu al Fatawa 38/3; Usul al Iman, p. 44, ed. al Hazimi; Sharh al Aqidah at Tahawiyyah 1/25 and 1/17; ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah; at Tahdheer min al Bida.)

He said:

“If he treats the mushaf lightly or smears it with filth or spits on it or sits on it, then he is a disbeliever even if he claims to be a Muslim, a disbeliever by consensus.” (Sharh al Aqidah at Tahawiyyah 1/17, Dar at Tayyibah; ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, Dar at Tayyibah.)

Issue: He was asked: It is mentioned by some of the Ash’aris in their books that the one who commits a major sin deserves by it that he is called a disbeliever. Has anyone from Ahl as Sunnah agreed with them on that?

He answered: “I do not know of that. If what is in it is mockery, then he is only committing it because he deserves it, if it were not for his taking it lightly he would not commit it. If it were not for his taking zina and undutifulness lightly he would not commit it.

The position of Ahl as Sunnah wal Jama’ah is that he is a sinner who is deficient in faith, even if he is lax. The ones who are reckless take things lightly.” (Sharh al Aqidah at Tahawiyyah 1/25 and 1/17, Dar at Tayyibah; ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, Dar at Tayyibah; at Tahdheer min al Bida, Dar at Tayyibah.)

He was asked: Is the one who makes light of sin, especially the major sins, a disbeliever, an apostate? And what is the criterion of this making light?

He answered: “Openly committing sins is not disbelief, unless he makes that permissible. However, it is wickedness and very severe wrongdoing, and we seek refuge with Allah, and recklessness.

His making light of sins shows the weakness of his faith and that he is in danger of leaving Islam. As for if he makes them permissible and says: Zina is permissible, or drinking wine is permissible, then this is disbelief and apostasy from Islam, and we seek refuge with Allah.” (Sharh al Aqidah at Tahawiyyah 1/25 and 1/17, Dar at Tayyibah; ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, Dar at Tayyibah; at Tahdheer min al Bida, Dar at Tayyibah.)

He said: “Sins are very dangerous, because they are taking Allah’s command lightly, taking His right lightly, and daring to enter His sacred limits.

Then they drag a person to disbelief in Allah. How many sinners has his sin dragged to disbelief in Allah. He may be from the sinners, then suddenly he is from the disbelievers.

The sin drags him to mocking Allah and mocking His religion and to scoffing at what His prophets brought, so he is joined to the disbelievers, and we seek refuge with Allah from that. His laxity in praying at home drags him until he leaves it, and when he leaves it he falls into disbelief in Allah, and we seek refuge with Allah.” (As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/93.)

He was asked: It was said to him: His saying in Kashf ash Shubuhaat: “Like a word that he says with his tongue without his heart.”

He answered: “An example of a word that he says with his tongue without his heart, meaning as a joke, is that he says: ‘Muhammad is a liar’ or ‘a player’, and even if he does not believe that, he disbelieves. Or that he says: ‘Allah is not in the heaven’, even if he is just playing, and we ask Allah for well being.” (Sharh Kashf ash Shubuhaat 2/B al Bardain; As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/93.)

Issue: He said: “Whoever insults Allah, the Most High, and insults His Messenger, has disbelieved, even if he says: I do not believe the insult in my heart.” (al Fawaid al Jaliyyah, p. 27.)

Issue: And he said about a woman who insults the religion of her husband: “As for her insulting the religion of her Muslim husband, this is major disbelief, and she must hasten to repent from that.” (Majmu al Fatawa 28/221; al Mawsu’ah al Baziyyah, p. 358.)

Issue: Ibn Baz said: “Insulting all of the Sahabah is an independent disbelief.”

Issue: He was asked: It was said to him: Some of the people of tafsir say that he is a hypocrite, while Allah affirmed faith for him.

He answered: “No, he is not a hypocrite. He disbelieved after that and brought out hypocrisy, but the apparent state before that is that he had faith.”

Issue: He said: “Whoever mocks the religion disbelieves in his own person. Everyone in whom a nullifier is found disbelieves in his own person. As for killing, that is another matter. Killing needs seeking repentance.” (As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/79.)

Issue: He said: “As for mockery, its content is denial. The one who mocks, within his words there is denial. For this reason he disbelieves according to everyone. The one who mocks is a disbeliever according to everyone, because his mockery shows a disease in his heart and doubt in his heart.”

The questioner said: The one who mocks, this is not denial, like making people laugh.

He answered: “Even so, it shows that he is taking the religion lightly, and that he does not have faith that stops him, and we ask Allah for well being.” (Sharh Kitab at Tawhid 1/8, Dar at Tayyibah; ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, Dar at Tayyibah; Sharh al Aqidah at Tahawiyyah 16/B, Dar at Tayyibah. His saying “even so” means even if the one who mocks believes in the religion or in that part of the religion which he mocks. The proof of this is Fir’awn and the tyrants of the Arabs who mocked their prophet while believing him inwardly. Allah the Most High said:

وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَتْهَا أَنفُسُهُمْ
“And they rejected them, while their own selves were convinced of them.” (Surah an Naml, 14)

and He the Most High said:

قَدْ نَعْلَمُ إِنَّهُ لَيَحْزُنُكَ الَّذِي يَقُولُونَ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا يُكَذِّبُونَكَ وَلَكِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ يَجْحَدُونَ
“We know indeed that what they say grieves you, but it is not you they deny, but it is the signs of Allah that the wrongdoers reject.” (Surah al An’am, 33). Addition from a fatwa of his together with others in Fatawa al Lajnah ad Da’imah 1/406, second collection; Hiwar hawla Masa’il at Takfir, Ibn Baz, Dar al Minhaj.)

Even if he is joking or intends to upset someone else. (Fatawa al Lajnah ad Da’imah 1/406, second collection.)

Issue: He said: “There is practical disbelief that takes a person out of the religion, such as prostrating to other than Allah and slaughtering for other than Allah. Likewise, if he insults the religion or insults the Messenger or mocks Allah or the Messenger, this is major practical disbelief according to all of Ahl as Sunnah wal Jama’ah.” (Sharh Kitab at Tawhid 1/8, Dar at Tayyibah; ad Dam’ah al Baziyyah, Dar at Tayyibah.)

He said: “Mocking the prayer is an independent disbelief by consensus of the Muslims.” (As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/79.)

He said: “Whoever mocks the religion, mocks what the Messenger ﷺ came with. He mocks the prayer, or the two testimonies, or the zakah, or the fasting, or the Hajj, or the commands of Allah about leaving the beards, and trimming the moustaches, or the commands of Allah about dutifulness to parents and maintaining the ties of kinship, or the commands of Allah about jihad in the path of Allah, or other than that, then he is a disbeliever in Allah even if he fasts by day and stands in prayer by night, and even if he says ‘There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’ every hour.” (As’ilat al Jami al Kabir 1/4. In Fatawa al Lajnah ad Da’imah 25/2 it says: “If the person intends by his saying ‘O beard’ and so on to make fun, then that is disbelief, and if he intends only to identify, then it is not disbelief.”)

Sharh Nawaqid Al Islam By Shaykh Bin Baz page 136–154

The reason for the revelation of these verses is what was reported from Abd Allah ibn Umar رضي الله عنهما that he said:

“A man said in the expedition of Tabuk, one day in a gathering: I have not seen the like of our reciters here; they have the most greedy stomachs, the most lying tongues, and the most cowardly in meeting the enemy.

A man in the gathering said to him, You have lied. Rather you are a hypocrite. I will inform the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

So it reached the Prophet ﷺ and the Qur’an was revealed.

Abd Allah said, I saw him clinging to the strap of the camel of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, stones striking him, and he was saying, O Messenger of Allah, we were only talking and playing. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was saying,

أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ

“Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking.” (al Tawbah 65) (al Sahih al Musnad min Asbab al Nuzul by al Shaykh al Wad’i 126)

The reason for this decisive ruling concerning everyone who mocks the religion is that mocking the religion is in open contradiction with the reality of iman and Islam. It is a bold and shameless act that cannot come from a heart that has been filled with glorification of Allah, worship of Him, and humble submission to Him.

For this reason mocking the religion and treating the commands of the Lord, Blessed and Exalted, lightly has been counted as one of the things that nullify Islam, with no disagreement among the scholars of Ahl al Sunnah wa al Jama’ah.

Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Ahmad ibn Abd al Halim said: “Mocking Allah and His verses and His Messenger is disbelief by which its doer disbelieves after his iman.” (Majmu al Fatawa 7/273)

Al Nawawi, Yahya ibn Sharaf al Nawawi (d. 676 AH), said: “If a person mocks a name from the names of Allah, the Exalted, or His command, or His promise, or His threat, he disbelieves.” (Rawdat al Talibin 10/66)

Shaykh Al Barrak’s Sharh Of The Nullifier

The Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab said: The sixth nullifier is whoever mocks anything from the religion of the Messenger ﷺ, or the reward of Allah, or His punishment, has committed disbelief. The proof is His saying:

If you ask them, they will surely say, We were only conversing and playing. Say, Was it Allah, His verses, and His Messenger that you were mocking? Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your belief. (al Tawbah 9:65–66)

Explanation

Mockery is ridicule. Mockery and ridicule indicate and reveal contempt and hatred. A matter that is revered is a place for praise, honour, glorification, and commendation.

Mockery and ridicule are only directed at something considered lowly by the one who mocks. This was the way of the enemies of the Messengers, who used to mock and ridicule the Prophets of Allah and the believers:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا كَانُوا مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يَضْحَكُونَ

Indeed, those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed. (al Mutaffifin 29)

And He said:

وَلَقَدِ اسْتُهْزِئَ بِرُسُلٍ مِن قَبْلِكَ

Messengers before you were certainly mocked. (al An‘am 10)

Today the situation is repeated. The tongues of the hypocrites have overflowed in newspapers and radio with clear and hidden mockery of the religion of Allah:

وَلَتَعْرِفَنَّهُمْ فِي لَحْنِ الْقَوْلِ

And you will surely recognise them by the tone of their speech. (Muhammad 30)

This is a type of hypocrisy.

A person may appear to be Muslim. He prays, fasts, gives charity, and performs Hajj. Yet situations arise in which he mocks and ridicules the prayer and those who perform it. He says, What is this prayer? The one who prays looks as if he is playing.

The word playing cannot come from the mouth of someone who believes in Allah and His Messenger.

Or he mocks the rites of Hajj and says, What is the benefit of circling around this structure? What is the benefit of throwing these pebbles? This is just a joke. (Lisan al Arab 1/183)

This speech from him is pure disbelief.

Mocking Allah, His Messenger, the Qur’an, or anything brought by the Messenger indicates denial, even if he does not openly declare denial.

Whoever mixes with people or reads what they write will find many examples of this. The media is a stage and arena for the tone of the hypocrites:

وَإِذَا لَقُوا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَوْا إِلَى شَيَاطِينِهِمْ قَالُوا إِنَّا مَعَكُمْ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُسْتَهْزِئُونَ

When they meet those who believe, they say, We believe. But when they are alone with their devils, they say, We are with you. We were only mocking. (al Baqarah 14)

Their statement among the believers, We are your brothers and we are believers, is mockery of the believers. Allah mocks them and leaves them wandering blindly in their transgression.

So beware, beware of a word that a person utters without giving it importance, by which he falls into the Fire, and by which Allah writes for him His anger until the Day he meets Him. (Al Bukhari 6478 from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said: A servant may speak a word from the anger of Allah, not giving it any attention, and because of it he falls into Hell.)

It was mentioned earlier that all causes of apostasy return to contradicting the two testimonies. The two testimonies require reverence for Allah, His Messenger, and what he brought. Mockery is the opposite of that.

The Shaykh mentioned the proof for this nullifier in His saying:

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ إِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوضُ وَنَلْعَبُ قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ إِن نَعْفُ عَن طَائِفَةٍ مِّنكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَائِفَةً بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا مُجْرِمِينَ

These verses were revealed regarding a man who, during the expedition of Tabuk, said in a gathering, We have not seen anyone like these reciters of ours, more greedy in their stomachs, more lying in their speech, and more cowardly at the time of meeting. He meant the Prophet ﷺ and the believers.

So they insulted the Messenger and the best of his companions by calling them cowardly, liars, and greedy in eating. Allah informed His Messenger ﷺ of this. That speaker came to apologise, but he found that the Qur’an had already preceded him. He said, O Messenger of Allah, we were only conversing and playing. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, Was it Allah, His verses, and His Messenger that you were mocking? (Jami al Bayan 10/172)

This man was a believer, or he had the foundation of faith but his faith was weak, so he committed disbelief. Or he was a hypocrite who showed faith outwardly, then he revealed disbelief.

The danger is immense. It is obligatory upon the Muslim to restrain his tongue and not joke about matters of religion, nor about Allah and His names and attributes, nor about the Qur’an, nor the Sunnah, nor the guidance of the Messenger ﷺ. Joking means jest, the opposite of seriousness. Joking, ridicule, and laughter are between people in ordinary matters. But to go beyond that to mock the Lord the Most Great, or His noble Messenger, or His upright religion, takes a person out of Islam into disbelief.

Sharh Nawaqid Al Islam By Shaykh Abdulrahman Al Barrak page 29–31

What Allah says about those who mock

Allah, Blessed and Exalted, does not mention mockery and those who mock in His noble Book except in the context of blame and censure. This is not a trait of obedient believers, nor a mark of those who are humble and turning back to Him. The following are some verses that show the constant habit of the disbelievers in mocking the religion:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَكُمْ هُزُوًا وَلَعِبًا مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَالْكُفَّارَ أَوْلِيَاءَ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ وَإِذَا نَادَيْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ اتَّخَذُوهَا هُزُوًا وَلَعِبًا ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ

“O you who believe, do not take as allies those who take your religion as mockery and play, from those who were given the Book before you and from the disbelievers, and fear Allah if you are believers. And when you call to the prayer, they take it as mockery and play. That is because they are a people who do not reason.” (al Maidah 57–58)

﴿وَنَادَى أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ أَنْ أَفِيضُوا عَلَيْنَا مِنَ الْمَاءِ أَوْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَهُمَا عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ ۝ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَهْوًا وَلَعِبًا وَغَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا فَالْيَوْمَ نَنْسَاهُمْ كَمَا نَسُوا لِقَاءَ يَوْمِهِمْ هَذَا وَمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ﴾

“And the people of the Fire will call to the people of Paradise, Pour upon us some water or from what Allah has provided you. They will say, Indeed Allah has forbidden both of them for the disbelievers, those who took their religion as play and amusement, and the life of this world deceived them. So today We will forget them as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs, and as they used to reject Our verses.” (al Araf 50–51)

﴿وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ لَيَقُولُنَّ مَا يَحْبِسُهُ أَلَا يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ﴾

“And if We delay the punishment from them for a fixed period, they will surely say, What holds it back. Unquestionably, on the Day it comes to them, it will not be turned away from them, and that which they used to mock will envelop them.” (Hud 8)

﴿وَلَقَدِ اسْتُهْزِئَ بِرُسُلٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فَأَمْلَيْتُ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عِقَابِ﴾

“And messengers were mocked before you, but I gave respite to those who disbelieved, then I seized them, so how was My punishment.” (al Raad 32)

﴿ذَلِكَ جَزَاؤُهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ بِمَا كَفَرُوا وَاتَّخَذُوا آيَاتِي وَرُسُلِي هُزُوًا﴾

“That is their recompense, Hell, because they disbelieved and took My verses and My messengers as mockery.” (al Kahf 106)

﴿وَإِذَا رَآكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ يَتَّخِذُونَكَ إِلَّا هُزُوًا أَهَذَا الَّذِي يَذْكُرُ آلِهَتَكُمْ وَهُمْ بِذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ﴾

“And when those who disbelieve see you, they take you only in mockery, saying, Is this the one who mentions your gods, while they themselves, at the mention of the Most Merciful, are disbelievers.” (al Anbiya 36)

﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ﴾

“And among the people is he who buys idle talk to mislead from the path of Allah without knowledge and takes it in mockery. Those will have a humiliating punishment.” (Luqman 6)

﴿وَإِذَا عَلِمَ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا شَيْئًا اتَّخَذَهَا هُزُوًا أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ﴾

“And when he learns anything of Our verses, he takes them in mockery. Those will have a humiliating punishment.” (al Jathiyah 9)

So it is befitting for the Muslim to distance himself from resembling those who have this description, and to stay far away from mockery, amusement and play in general, and from mocking the religion in particular.

Examples of Mocking the Religion

Mocking the religion includes every saying or action whose purpose is to mock Allah, Mighty and Majestic, or His Messenger ﷺ, or to belittle the religion of Islam, or to treat the rulings of the Sharia as insignificant, or to ridicule the scholars of the ummah and those who are upright upon the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ.

It has many forms. We will mention some of them:

From the forms of mocking the religion is open mockery of the Prophet ﷺ, as seen in the actions of some hardened disbelievers who draw offensive cartoons of the Prophet ﷺ. May Allah break them and humiliate them in this life and the next.

From the forms of mocking the religion is ridicule of those who apply the rulings of the Sharia in themselves, or in their homes, or in their ummah, calling them backward, or behind the times, or extreme.

From the forms of mocking the religion is belittling everyone who holds to the apparent guidance, such as the beard, the niqab, and the hijab, and treating them with pride and contempt, and turning people away from them as if they had a contagious illness or a fatal disease.

From the forms of mocking the religion is lowering the worth of the Sunnahs and recommended acts, and describing them as the outer shell of the religion and not its core, such as the siwak, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails, and shortening the garment.

From the forms of mocking the religion is speaking badly of the prescribed punishments of Allah, such as the punishment for theft, for zina, and for hirabah, and describing them as harsh and savage, and claiming that modern civilisation refuses such terrible painful punishments.

In reality the real horror and the real savagery is what the Muslims suffer because they have left the application of the limits of their Lord. Whoever feels safe from punishment dares to behave badly.

From the forms of mocking the religion is making comparisons between the worldly progress of the disbelieving West and the weakness and backwardness of the Muslims, and then scoffing at the verses in which Allah promised people of Islam victory and succession in the earth. Such a person forgets or chooses to forget the conditions for the fulfilment of Allah’s promise, and the causes of victory and honour which the Muslims have abandoned, partly or entirely.

From the forms of mocking the religion is using the verses of the Qur’an in a place that does not suit them, and placing them in a way that does not befit the greatness of Allah’s speech and His verses. For example, a group gathers around food and a person among them says:

كُلُوا وَتَمَتَّعُوا قَلِيلًا إِنَّكُم مُّجْرِمُونَ

“Eat and enjoy yourselves for a little, indeed you are criminals.” (al Mursalat 46)

He says this just to make people laugh and as a joke with them.

These forms and others are acts of boldness against Allah and His Sharia, and contempt for His promise and His threat. They only come from a heart from which the spring of iman has dried up, and which has been taken over by desire and Shaytan. Many Muslims have taken this matter lightly under the name of joking and amusement, and there is no power and no strength except with Allah.

States of the One Who Mocks – Shaykh Abd al Rahman al Sa’d

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Saʿd said: The one who mocks Allah, or the Messenger ﷺ, or the religion of Islam has three states, and each state has its ruling.

The first: that he believes in the mockery and ridicule and affirms it as true. Belief means that the heart is firmly bound upon something.

The second: that it is done deliberately but without belief. The hadith of Ibn Umar has already preceded concerning the man who was in a gathering and said: “I have not seen the like of these reciters of ours, more greedy in their stomachs, nor more lying in their tongues, nor more cowardly at the time of meeting.” A man in the gathering said to him, “You have lied, rather you are a hypocrite. I will inform the Messenger of Allah.” It reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Qur’an was revealed. Abd Allah ibn Umar said: “I saw him clinging to the strap of the she camel of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the stones striking him, while he was saying: O Messenger of Allah, we were only conversing and playing. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was saying:

أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ

Was it Allah, His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking.” (al Tawbah 65)

In this verse there is a ruling of disbelief upon them. If they had believed in what they said, and it will come that they did not believe in what they said, then their mockery would have been based upon belief. If their speech was not arising from affirmation and belief that the Messenger and those with him were upon such a description, rather they only said it as a joke and nothing more, then their speech would be from the category of lying and mockery.

This is what occurred from that group. They were mocking and lying merely as a joke. For this reason Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said:

وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ إِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوضُ وَنَلْعَبُ

If you ask them, they will surely say: We were only conversing and playing. (al Tawbah 65)

They intended mockery but did not believe it.

The ruling of the one who intends mockery, whether he believes it or does not believe it, is one. He is a disbeliever in Allah the Most Great, because mockery cannot be combined with faith in Allah, Mighty and Majestic. It is not possible that a person has faith and mocks Allah, or His Messenger, or His religion. For this reason Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said:

لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ

Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith. (al Tawbah 66)

However, mockery together with belief is more severe in disbelief than mockery without belief.

Abu al Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah said in al Sarim al Maslul 369:

“Whoever affirms the oneness of Allah in divinity and the messengership for His servant and Messenger, then this affirmation is not followed by what it necessitates of reverence and honour, which is a state in the heart whose effect appears upon the limbs, rather it is accompanied by belittling, foolishness and contempt in speech or action, then the existence of that affirmation is like its non existence, and that is a cause for the corruption of that affirmation and removes whatever benefit and rectification was in it.

For beliefs of faith purify and rectify the souls. If they do not bring about purification and rectification of the soul, then that is only because they have not taken root in the heart, nor become a quality and attribute of the soul nor a rectification for it.

If the knowledge of faith which is obligatory is not a necessary attribute of the heart of the person, it does not benefit him. It is like passing thoughts and whispers of the heart. Salvation is only achieved by certainty in the heart, even if it is the weight of a mustard seed. This is between him and Allah. As for outwardly, the rulings are applied according to what appears of his speech and action.

The purpose of this is to show that mockery in the heart and belittling contradict faith in the heart with the contradiction of opposites. Mockery with the tongue contradicts outward faith expressed by the tongue in the same way.

The purpose of this is to show that insult issuing from the heart necessitates disbelief outwardly and inwardly. This is the position of the jurists and others from Ahl al Sunnah wal Jama’ah.” End quote.

The third: that the mockery occurs from a slip of the tongue and mistake, such that a person intends to say a word in which there is no mockery, but his tongue precedes him to another word that contains mockery by mistake and without intention. He is not held accountable for that.

The proof for this is what Muslim 2747 narrated from Ishaq ibn Abd Allah ibn Abi Talhah from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Allah is more joyful at the repentance of His servant when he repents to Him than one of you who was upon his riding animal in a barren land, and it slipped away from him with his food and drink upon it, so he despaired of it and came to a tree and lay down in its shade, having despaired of his mount. While he was in that state, it was suddenly standing before him. He took hold of its reins and then said out of intense joy: O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord. He erred due to extreme joy.”

He was not taken to account for that, because he did not intend that statement. Rather his tongue preceded him to it by mistake.

And the condemnation of one who lies in order to make people laugh has come, as Imam Ahmad 2/5 7, Abu Dawud 4990, al Tirmidhi 2315, and al Nasa’i in al Kubra 11126 narrated from the hadith of Bahz ibn Hakim from his father from his grandfather that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Woe to the one who speaks and lies in order to make people laugh. Woe to him, woe to him.

Khuturat al-Istihza’ bi al-Deen by Shaykh ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Saʿd page 21–24

Mocking the Religion as a Joke

Some Muslims take the religion and its rulings as material for jokes, telling stories and making people laugh, out of ignorance of how serious this is, and that it can fall under mocking the religion, which is one of the things that nullify Islam.

Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al Arabi (d. 543 AH) said: “Joking with statements of disbelief is disbelief, and there is no difference of opinion about this in the ummah.

Seriousness is the companion of knowledge and truth, and joking is the companion of falsehood and ignorance.” (Ahkam al Qur’an 2/543)

https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/20235/%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%82%D8%B5-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86

The noble Shaykh Ibn Baz said: “If his intention was to mock the religion, then this is apostasy, as Allah, the Exalted, said:

قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ ۝ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ

“Say, Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking. Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith.” (al Tawbah 65–66)

“But if he mocks the person himself for other reasons, such as his beard, or his short garment, meaning by that that he is rigid, or if he mocks him for other matters, saying that he is too strict in this or too careless in other matters that are known to be from the religion, and his intention is not to mock the religion but only to mock this person for shortening his garment or for other reasons, then this is another matter.

As for when his intention is to mock the religion and belittle the religion, then this is apostasy. We ask Allah for safety.” (Majmu Fatawa wa Maqalat al Shaykh Ibn Baz 28/367)

So it is fitting for us to watch every word that comes out of our mouths, and to weigh our words by the standard of the Sharia before we utter them. We should remind our brothers of the danger of this matter that has become widespread among Muslims today because they are ignorant of the ruling.

Author

ISHAQ. K

What Is Mockery (Istihza) Of The Religion & Does Intention To Mock Matter?

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Ruling on Mockery of the Religion