I hope that you can tell us how to advise him, and explain the shar’i ruling on what happened to him and how he may expiate for that if expiation is required.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Undoubtedly what your friend did is bad behaviour towards his
Lord, may He be glorified and exalted. His Lord is the One Who created him
in the best form and guided him to the true religion and honoured him with
intelligence, hearing and sight, and then he reviled Him and insulted Him?!
If this was done with regard to any human who had honoured him in some
insignificant worldly matters, that would be counted as a bad attitude and
bad behaviour, so how about with Allaah, may He be exalted, and there is no
comparison between at all the honouring and kindness of a fellow-human and
the honouring and kindness of the Creator, may He be exalted.
This reviling puts a person beyond the pale of Islam and
makes him an apostate. There is no difference on this ruling among the
scholars.
Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Whoever reviles Allaah has committed an act of major kufr
(which puts him beyond the pale of Islam), whether he was joking or said it
in earnest. The same applies to anyone who mocks Allaah, may He be exalted,
or His signs, Messengers or Books. 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
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that
you were mocking?’”
[al-Tawbah 9:65]
al-Mughni (12/298).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said:
Reviling Allaah or His Messenger is inward and outward kufr,
whether the one who reviles them believes that it is haraam or regards it as
permissible, or he is unaware of the ruling. This is the view of the fuqaha’
and all the ahl al-sunnah who say that faith consists of words and deeds.
Al-Saarim al-Maslool (1/513).
In al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (22/184) it says:
The fuqaha’ are unanimously agreed that whoever reviles
Allaah, may He be exalted, is a kaafir, whether he is joking, serious or
making fun.
In (24/139) it says:
The fuqaha’ are unanimously agreed that whoever reviles Islam
or the religion of the Muslims is a kaafir.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said:
Reviling the deen is one of the worst of major sins and the
greatest of evils. The same applies to reviling the Lord, may He be
glorified and exalted. These are two of the gravest things that nullify
Islam and are means of apostatizing from Islam. If the one who reviles the
Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, or reviles the deen is a Muslim, then
he becomes an apostate from Islam thereby, and he becomes a kaafir. He
should be asked to repent and if he repents (all well and good), otherwise
he should be executed on the orders of the authorities via the sharee’ah
court. Some of the scholars said: he should not be asked to repent, rather
he should be executed because his crime is so great. But the more correct
view is that he should be asked to repent so that Allaah may bless him with
guidance and he may adhere to the truth. But he should be punished by
flogging and imprisonment so that he will not go back to such a great crime.
Similarly, if he reviles the Qur’aan or the Messenger or any other Prophet,
he should be asked to repent and if he repents (all well and good),
otherwise he should be executed. Reviling the deen, reviling the Messenger
and reviling the Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, are all things that
nullify Islam. The same applies to mocking Allaah and His Messenger, or
Paradise or Hell, or the commands of Allaah such as prayer and zakaah.
Making fun of any of these things nullifies Islam. Allaah, may He be
glorified and exalted, 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
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)that
you were mocking?’
66. Make no excuse; you disbelieved after you had
believed”
[al-Tawbah 9:65-66]
We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound.
Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz
(6/387).
And he (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Everyone who reviles Allaah, may He be glorified, in any way,
or who reviles the Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) or any other Messenger in any way, or reviles Islam or criticizes
it, or mocks Allaah or His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), becomes a kaafir and an apostate from Islam if he claims to be a
Muslim, according to the consensus of the Muslims, because Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“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]
The great scholar Imam Abu’l-‘Abbaas ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah
have mercy on him) explained the evidence concerning this issue in his book
al-Saarim al-Maslool ‘ala Shaatim al-Rasool (“The unsheathed sword
against the one who reviles the Messenger”). The one who wants to learn more
about the evidence on this issue may refer to this book, as it is very
useful and its author is a great scholar who had vast knowledge of shar’i
evidence, may Allaah have mercy on him.
Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz
(7/77,87).
In the answer to question no. 42505 you will find the fatwa
of Shaykh al-‘Uthaymeen on the ruling on reviling Allaah and His Messenger
and reviling the deen.
Secondly:
Although the sin that your friend has committed is very great
and the rulings concerning it are very strict, Allaah has opened the gate of
repentance to the one who wants to turn back from his sin and wants to
repent and seek forgiveness. He should not despair of the pardon and
forgiveness of Allaah. That is what the shaytaan wants from the sinner and
apostate. Yes, he should feel regret for his sin, but that should not become
a barrier between him and Allaah that prevents him from repenting and
seeking forgiveness.
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]
It was narrated from Abu Moosa (may Allaah be pleased with
him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Allaah holds out His hand at night to accept the repentance of those who
have sinned during the day, and He holds out his hand by day to accept the
repentance of those who have sinned at night – until the sun rises from its
place of setting.”
Narrated by Muslim (2759).
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
It was said to al-Hasan al-Basri: One of us feels too shy
before his Lord to ask forgiveness for his sin then go back to it, then ask
forgiveness then go back (to his sin)? He said: The shaytaan wishes that he
could achieve that with you. Do not tire of seeking forgiveness.
And it was narrated that he said: I think that this is the
attitude of the believers – i.e., every time a believer sins, he repents.
Jaami’ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hukam
(1/165).
Our advice to him is to repent and regret what he did, and to
do a lot of righteous deeds and strive to be better after repentance than he
was before he committed this major sin, and Allaah accepts the repentance of
the one who repents.
And Allaah knows best.
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