Cursing Islam in a Moment of Intense Anger

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

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

Make no excuse; you disbelieved after you had believed.’” [9:65, 66] 

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

“Say: O ‘Ibadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by
committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily,
Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft‑Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
[39:53] 

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

1
– Being sincere towards Allah 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 Allah alone, and the motive for it is fear of
Allah and fear of His punishment and hope for His reward, then it is
sincerely for Allah 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 Allah 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.” [6:158] 

The specific time is when death is imminent. When death is imminent
repentance will be of no benefit, because Allah 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.” [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 (disbelief) or
apostasy, but the one who says it may not become a kafir (disbeliever)
thereby, if there is a factor present which means that he cannot be judged
to be a kafir. 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, Allah will not punish a
person for it. Allah says concerning vows (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Allah will not punish you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He
will punish you for your deliberate oaths.” [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 Allah be upon him)
when a man asked him, “O Messenger of Allah, 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 Allah from the accursed
shaytan (devil). 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 wudhu
(ablution). All these things will take away his anger. How many people have
regretted acting upon their anger, but it was too late.  

Majmoo’ Fatawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthyameen.

And Allah knows best.