The procedure of apostasy and its conditions

Apostasy occurs, according to the jurists of the four schools, through belief, through speech or through deed. They define its conditions: knowledge of the ruling, sanity and free will. They also examine the cases that suspend or exclude the ruling: the insane person, the drunkard, the minor, the person acting under coercion, and the one who abandons an obligation out of laziness or denies it while believing it obligatory.

This page sets out the doctrine school by school, with classical references; divergences are reported as they stand, each position attributed to its school, without settling the matter for the reader.

Apostasy by deed

The jurists agree that apostasy, just as it occurs through speech, occurs through deed as well. They also agree that whoever throws a copy of the Quran into a filthy place is an apostate, for such an act is contempt for the words of Allah; likewise prostrating to an idol, to the sun or to other than Allah (al-Bahr ar-Ra'iq 5/131, Ibn Abidin's hashiya on ad-Durr al-Mukhtar 4/222).

The Malikis specify: throwing a copy of the Quran, or part of it, even one word of unbelief, is disbelief; likewise burning it in contempt and not for its preservation, or for a sick person; the same ruling applies to leaving it in a filthy place, even a clean one like saliva, or staining it otherwise than by turning its pages. The same status applies to collections of hadith, to the names of Allah, to books of hadith and to books of fiqh when contempt of the Law is intended. Likewise tightening the zunnar (the belt of the non-Muslims) around the waist, for such an act contains disbelief; likewise performing what belongs to the dress of the unbelievers, together with walking toward a church or the like; and sorcery takes a person out of Islam by learning it as well as by teaching it (at-Taj wa-l-Ikil 5/306, Mawahib al-Jalil 8/267, Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil 8/62-63, al-Sharh al-Kabir with ad-Dasuqi's hashiya 6/281-282, Tahbir al-Mukhtasar 5/315, as-Sawi's hashiya on al-Sharh al-Saghir 10/215).

The Shafi'is write: the deed that takes a person out of Islam is what he commits deliberately in open mockery of the religion or in denial of it, such as throwing a copy of the Quran into a latrine or prostrating to an idol or the sun (an-Najm al-Wahhaj 9/80, Mughni al-Muhtaj 5/423, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj 10/658, Nihayat al-Muhtaj 7/479).

The Hanbalis: disbelief by deed includes prostration to an idol or its like, to the sun, the moon, a tree, a stone or a grave, for that is associating partners with Allah; likewise throwing a copy of the Quran into a latrine; and whoever utters a word or performs an act of open mockery toward the religion legislated by Allah disbelieves. Disbelief likewise befalls whoever is found mocking the Quran, seeking out its contradictions, claiming it is inconsistent or fabricated, or that something like it could be produced, or abolishing its sanctity; Allah said:

Had We sent down this Quran upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and split asunder from the fear of Allah.

Surah al-Hashr 21

If it had come from other than Allah, they would have found in it much inconsistency.

Surah an-Nisa 82

Likewise His word: "Say: if mankind and the jinn gathered together..." to the end of the verse (Surah al-Isra 88) (Kashshaf al-Qina' 6/214, Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat 6/288-289, Manar as-Sabil 3/364).

Apostasy by speech: the Hanafi school

The scholars agree that the Muslim who utters a word of unbelief by his own choice, even in jest, becomes an unbeliever; they listed many statements that take a person out of Islam when spoken or believed.

The Hanafis write: whoever jokes with a formula of unbelief apostatizes even without believing it, on account of the contempt; it is like the disbelief of obstinacy; the formulas by which he apostatizes are, in the proper sense, causes of leaving Islam. The school's enumerated cases are set out below (al-Bahr ar-Ra'iq 5/129 and 5/134, Sharh Fath al-Qadir 6/98, ad-Durr al-Mukhtar 4/222).

• Describing Allah with what does not befit Him; mocking one of His names or one of His commands; denying His promise or His threat; ascribing to Him a partner, a child or a consort; attributing to Him ignorance, powerlessness or deficiency.
• The statement "so-and-so in my eyes is like the Jew in Allah's eyes": the majority declare him an unbeliever; it has been said: no, if he meant the ugliness of the man's deed; it has been said: he disbelieves if he meant the limb and not the power; the sounder view is that of the early generations concerning ambiguous texts such as the hand.
• The statement "it is possible for Allah to do an act devoid of wisdom" takes a person out of Islam; likewise affirming a place for Allah: if he says "Allah is in heaven" while reporting what the texts say outwardly, he does not disbelieve; if he means a place, he disbelieves; if he has no intention at all, he disbelieves according to the majority, and this is the sounder view, on which the fatwa is given.
• Believing that Allah is pleased with disbelief takes a person out of Islam; likewise the statements "if Allah does justice on the Day of Resurrection, I will be recompensed from you", or "if Allah judges on the Day of Resurrection", or "when Allah does justice"; "may Allah bless your lie"; "Allah sat down to do justice" or "rose for him"; "this one never falls ill, he is someone Allah has forgotten, a forgotten one of Allah" on the sounder view; describing Him as above or below; thinking that Paradise and what it contains will perish, according to some; saying to one's wife "you are dearer to me than Allah", it has been said: no; saying "I do not fear Allah, I do not dread Him", according to some; the place of dispute is when there is no intention of mockery.
• Answering "no" to "do you not know Allah?" takes a woman out of Islam on the outward reading; saying "I do not want to swear by Allah, I want to swear by divorce or manumission" takes a person out of Islam according to some, contrary to what people in general hold, and this is the sounder view; "I saw Allah in a dream"; "the nonexistent is not known to Allah"; the oppressor saying "I act without the decree of Allah"; inserting the letter kaf at the end of the name Allah when calling "servant of Allah", even for a scholar, on the sounder view; belittling the name of the Creator deliberately and knowingly; "would that I had not entered Islam until now, so as to inherit from my father"; "if I had done that yesterday I would be an unbeliever", while he knows he did it, when he holds that it takes one out of Islam, and the fatwa is given on that; "Allah knows that I did that" while he knows he did not, according to people in general, if deliberate and not out of fear; "if I had said it I would be an unbeliever", while he knows he said it; "I am innocent before Allah, if..." without completing the condition, contrary to some, by analogy with the triple divorce "you are divorced three times if..." which does not take effect; the woman answering "yes" to "do you learn the unseen?"; contracting marriage taking Allah and His messenger as witnesses.
• It has been said, according to some, that leaving Islam: saying "so-and-so will die of this illness"; or saying, once thirst is quenched, "someone will die", the sounder view being the negation; or saying "I fainted" at the sight of the orbiting sphere; and they disagreed about the one who says "had Adam not eaten the wheat, we would not have become wretched".
• Rejecting a mutawatir hadith takes a person out of Islam; saying "we have heard it many times" in a tone of contempt; wishing that one of the prophets had not been a prophet, intending contempt for him or hostility; not so the statement "if Allah had sent no prophet, wisdom would not have been violated"; saying "I do not love him" when told that the Prophet (peace be upon him) loved the food eaten with cracked fingers; it has been said: he disbelieves if the remark is meant as an insult; the woman answering "yes" when her husband tells her "if the prophets and the angels testified before you, you would not believe them", after she said to him "do not lie"; contempt for a sunna; "I do not know whether the Prophet in the grave is a believer or an unbeliever"; "the Prophet (peace be upon him) did us no good", for the mission is among the greatest favors; accusing only 'Aisha, one of his wives, of the sin from which Allah declared her innocent; denying the companionship of Abu Bakr; denying his imamate, on the sounder view, as denying the caliphate of Omar; not so the statement "without our Prophet, Adam would not have been created", which is an error; leaving Islam through the statements "if Allah commanded me that, I would not do it", "if the qibla changed to this side I would not pray toward it", "if Allah gave me Paradise I would not want it over you", "I would not enter it with so-and-so", "if Allah gave it to me for your sake or for this deed, I would not want it, I would want to see him"; "I do not give up cash for a deferred debt", in answer to "leave this world for the hereafter"; "if Allah imposed on me a zakat above five dirhams, or a fast above a month, I would not do it"; "faith increases and decreases"; "I do not know whether the unbeliever is in Paradise or in the Fire", or "I do not know where the unbeliever goes"; and he is killed.
• Saying "I curse both schools" in answer to "of the two schools, which are you, that of Abu Hanifa or that of al-Shafi'i?" takes a person out of Islam; if he repents he is disciplined; denying the origin of the witr or the sacrificial animal takes a person out of Islam; likewise permitting intercourse with a menstruating woman; not so "I will have no place a span wide in Paradise", for he acts on his own account; nor "the guardian angels write nothing against this man".
• No leaving of Islam: the statement "here is a place where there is no god and no messenger", unless it means denial of the religion; nor the woman answering "I will not learn and I will not pray" to her husband who says "learn"; nor denying the land tithe or the land tax, and he is not even a transgressor, especially in this age; nor "whoever eats what is unlawful has eaten the provision Allah gave him", though he sins; but permitting a forbidden thing whose prohibition is known from the religion, without necessity, takes a person out of Islam, not the mere doing of it without permitting it.
• Saying of something repugnant "it is beautiful" takes a person out of Islam; saying to someone "seeing you is like seeing the angel of death" takes a person out of Islam according to some, contrary to the majority; it has been said that he disbelieves if he says it out of hostility and not out of fear of death; "I do not accept the testimony of so-and-so, were it Jibril or Mika'il"; disparaging an angel or showing contempt for him; not so "I think the angel of death takes my soul without seizing it", figuratively for a long life, unless it means incapacity to cause death.
• Denying a verse of the Quran or mocking a verse takes a person out of Islam, except the two surahs of refuge: their denial is disputed, the sound view being that it is disbelief; it has been said: no; it has been said: the layman disbelieves, not the scholar; placing a foot on a copy of the Quran while swearing, in contempt; reciting the Quran over a frame drum or a stick; believing the Quran created in the real sense.
• Mocking the Quran, for example reciting "and the leg is wound about the leg" while filling a cup; or filling a cup, bringing it and saying "and a cup overflowing"; or saying, when measuring or weighing, "woe to those who give short measure or weight"; it has been said that he does not disbelieve if he is ignorant.
• The statement "the Quran is in a non-Arabic tongue" takes a person out of Islam; if he says "it contains a non-Arabic word", the matter is examined; likewise naming his notebook the instrument of corruption; the reciter saying "O mankind, a proof has come to you from your Lord" while wanting to teach a man named Ibrahim; versifying the Quran in Persian; dissociating from the Quran out of fear of a command he dreads; al-Wabri said: I fear disbelief on his part.
• Denying recitation in prayer is disputed; it has been said: no; the sick man answering "I will never pray" to one who says "pray"; it has been said: no; likewise "I will not pray" when ordered; it has been said he disbelieves only if he means to deny the obligation; the slave saying "I will not pray, for the reward belongs to the master"; answering "pray" with "Allah has diminished my wealth, and I fall further short of His right"; the one who prays only in Ramadan saying "prayer in Ramadan equals seventy prayers"; deliberately abandoning prayer with neither intention of making it up nor fear of punishment.
• Praying other than toward the qibla deliberately, or in an impure garment, or without ablution on purpose: the view adopted is disbelief in the last case only; it has been said: no in all cases; the dispute bears on the absence of contempt for the religion, not on his prostration without purification; joining the festival of the polytheists while leaving the prayer out of reverence for them; saying "I will not pay the zakat" after being ordered, on one view; wishing that Ramadan had not been prescribed takes a person out of Islam; the sound view is that the ruling follows his intention.
• Saying "the heavy month has come" takes a person out of Islam unless he means his own fatigue; showing disdain for the sacred months; saying "these acts of obedience, Allah made them a punishment upon us" without interpretation; saying "had Allah not prescribed these acts of obedience it would have been better for us"; mocking the words of remembrance; pronouncing the name of Allah while eating what is unlawful or committing an unlawful act like fornication; the disagreement concerned praising Allah after finishing the act; saying "I will not say it" when ordered to say "there is no god but Allah" takes a person out of Islam; it has been said: no, if he means "I will not say it on your order"; the sick man who answers "I will not say it" is not an unbeliever; mocking the call to prayer takes a person out of Islam, not the muezzin himself; denying the Resurrection, the rising of the dead, Paradise, the Fire, the scale, the reckoning, the bridge, or the pages on which the deeds of the servants are written takes a person out of Islam, not denying the rising of one particular man; the disagreement concerned the disbelief of a woman who does not know that the Jews will be raised; Abu Yusuf was asked about a woman who does not know that the unbelievers enter the Fire: he said: let her be taught, she is not an unbeliever.
• Denying the vision of Allah after entering Paradise takes a person out of Islam; denying the punishment of the grave; saying "I do not know whether the Jews and Christians, once raised, will be punished by the Fire"; denying the gathering of the children of Adam or others; not so "reward and punishment touch only the soul"; nor "I entrusted it to someone who does not stop the thief", in answer to the one who laid down his clothes saying "I entrusted them to Allah"; disbelief is feared from the one who answers "you are a busybody" to the enjoiner of good, in a tone of rejection; the one who says to him "you are nothing but a meddler" disbelieves; fear falls upon the one who answers "which reaches you faster?" to the question "is one lawful thing dearer to you than two unlawful ones?"; giving charity to a poor man from unlawful property hoping for reward takes a person out of Islam; likewise supplicating Allah for the poor man knowingly, and answering amen to the giver.
• Saying "the unlawful is dearer to me" in answer to "eat of the lawful" takes a person out of Islam; not so "I have need of much wealth, and the lawful and the unlawful are the same to me"; nor saying of an unlawful thing "this is lawful" without believing it; the market seller who says of unlawful merchandise "this is lawful" to move his goods is not an unbeliever.
• The basic rule: whoever holds a forbidden thing lawful is not an unbeliever when the prohibition concerns others, such as another's wealth; if it is specific, he disbelieves if his proof is decisive, otherwise not; it has been said: the distinction applies to the scholar; as for the layman, he does not distinguish the lawful and the unlawful of others and of himself; the difference for him is that the decisive case makes him disbelieve, otherwise not; he disbelieves if he says "wine is not forbidden"; some restricted this to knowing its prohibition; not so "wine is forbidden, but not the kind you claim forbidden"; whoever says "the prohibition of wine is not established by the Quran" is an unbeliever.
• Holding both minor and major sins lawful; permitting intercourse with a menstruating woman outside the final purification, it has been said: outside the first case, which is the sound view; permitting the flesh of a dog or the yield of a seized land; permitting sodomy if he knows its prohibition from the religion; saying "she is lawful to me" when prevented from kissing a woman not related to him; saying "the entire Law is deception or trickery" if he adds "in all the laws", not what goes back to transactions in which lawful devices are valid; it has been said he disbelieves without restriction in the first case.
• Disbelief is feared from him if he insults a scholar or jurist without cause; saying to a scholar "the donkey's name is the root of your knowledge" while seeking religious knowledge; sitting in a high place in the manner of the preachers with a group asking him questions and laughing at him, then striking him with the fire-iron; all of them disbelieve for their contempt of the Law; likewise if he does not sit in a high place but mocks the preachers while walking and people laugh; throwing the fatwa on the ground when his opponent brought it; saying "do not go, and if you go your wife is divorced" in mockery of knowledge and scholars, in answer to "to the assembly of knowledge"; "a dish of tharid is better than knowledge" takes a person out of Islam, not "better than Allah", for he means a blessing from Allah; the first statement has no interpretation other than contempt for knowledge.
• Teaching someone the formula of unbelief so that he speaks it, even in play, takes a person out of Islam; ordering a woman to apostatize so that she leaves her husband; issuing a fatwa to that effect even if she stays Muslim, on the basis that approval of another's disbelief is disbelief; it has been said: no; resolving to command disbelief; deliberately replacing a letter or a verse of the Quran; believing that the land tax is the sovereign's property; not so "I am Pharaoh or Satan", unless he says "my creed is Pharaoh's creed"; whoever praises the speech of the people of whims saying "it is meaningful" or "it is a statement of sound meaning", if it is disbelief in the speaker, the praiser disbelieves; likewise whoever praises the drawings of disbelief.

They agree that whoever doubts his own faith is an unbeliever: that is, one who affirms inwardly but doubts whether this affirmation is faith or disbelief (al-Bahr ar-Ra'iq 5/129 and 5/134; see also Sharh Fath al-Qadir 6/98 and ad-Durr al-Mukhtar 4/222).

Apostasy by speech: the Maliki school

The Malikis write that the Muslim's disbelief occurs through an explicit statement, such as "I associate partners with Allah" or "I disbelieve in Allah"; or through a statement that implies disbelief, that is, which leads to it, such as denying what the religion establishes by necessity, even part of the obligation of prayer; likewise saying "Allah is a body occupying a place".

It also includes the statement about the pre-eternity of the world, that is, of everything other than Allah, for it implies the absence of a Maker: whoever says "the world, that is, everything other than Allah, is pre-eternal" has disbelieved, for it leads to holding that the maker of the world is other than Allah; likewise affirming its perpetuity; pre-eternity here means pre-eternity of essence, not of time; likewise doubting the world's pre-eternity or perpetuity, for it implies denial of the Resurrection, even if he believes it originated, which is belying the Quran.

It also includes denying what the scholars agree upon, such as the obligation of prayer or the prohibition of fornication, or permitting what the consensus establishes as forbidden among what the religion establishes by necessity through a verse or a mutawatir sunna; permitting the acquisition of prophethood through ascetic exercise, for it implies its possibility after the Prophet (peace be upon him); insulting a prophet whose prophethood is agreed upon, or an angel whose angelhood is agreed upon; insulting a prophet or an angel by allusion, as when saying while he is mentioned "as for me, I am no slanderer and no sorcerer"; ascribing to a prophet or an angel a defect, even a bodily one such as lameness or paralysis, or the fullness of his knowledge, for every prophet is the most knowledgeable of the people of his time, and their master (peace be upon him) is the most knowledgeable of creation; or his detachment from the goods of this world (at-Taj wa-l-Ikil 5/306-307, Mawahib al-Jalil 8/267-268, Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil 8/62 and 8/65, al-Sharh al-Kabir with ad-Dasuqi's hashiya 6/281 and 6/285, Tahbir al-Mukhtasar 5/314 and 5/316, as-Sawi's hashiya 10/215 and 10/218).

Apostasy by speech: the Shafi'i school

Among the Shafi'is, apostasy occurs through the intention of disbelief, through a word of disbelief or through a deed that takes one out, whether said in mockery, in obstinacy or in belief.

The school's enumerated cases are set out below:

• Denying the existence of Allah; denying the sending of the messengers by saying "Allah did not send them"; denying the prophethood of a prophet; claiming prophethood after our Prophet (peace be upon him) or believing the claimant; saying "the Prophet (peace be upon him) was black, or red-haired, or not of Quraysh"; saying "prophethood is acquired" or "its rank is reached through purity of hearts", or "it was revealed to me" without claiming prophethood; belying a messenger or a prophet, insulting him, belittling him, or belittling his name, or the name of Allah, one of His commands, His promise or His threat; denying a verse of the Quran upon which the scholars agree, or adding to it a verse believing it part of it; showing contempt for a sunna, as when one is told that the Prophet (peace be upon him) licked his three fingers while eating and answers "that is not good manners", or is told "trim your nails, it is a sunna" and answers "I will not do it even if it is a sunna" intending mockery; saying "if Allah and His messenger commanded me that, I would not do it", "if Allah set the qibla here I would not pray toward it", "if Allah made so-and-so a prophet I would not believe him", "if a prophet or an angel testified before me to that, I would not accept it"; saying "if what the prophets said is true I am saved", or "I do not know whether the Prophet is a man or a jinn"; saying "he is a jinn"; belittling one of his members out of contempt; belittling the name of Allah; saying "I do not know what faith is" out of contempt; saying to the one who says "there is no might nor power but in Allah" that it does not shield from hunger, or "if Allah made prayer obligatory upon me with this illness of mine, He would have wronged me"; the wronged man saying "this is by Allah's decree" and the oppressor answering "I act without His decree"; urging a Muslim to disbelief, or urging an unbeliever who wants Islam to persist in disbelief; failing to teach the shahada to the one who asks for it, or delaying it by saying "be patient a while"; declaring a Muslim an unbeliever without interpretation, or through the ingratitude of blessings; pronouncing the name of Allah over a drink of wine or an act of fornication; permitting a forbidden thing on which the scholars agree, such as fornication, or forbidding its contrary; denying the obligation of what the scholars agree upon, such as prayer and zakat, or the reverse; resolving upon disbelief tomorrow, or hesitating about it: all of this takes one out of Islam (Rawdat at-Talibin 6/487-489, an-Najm al-Wahhaj 9/77-80, Mughni al-Muhtaj 5/419-423, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj 10/655-658, Nihayat al-Muhtaj 7/476-479).

Apostasy by speech: the Hanbali school and its extensions

Apostasy occurs through speech, even in mockery, such as insulting Allah, His messenger or His angels, for no one insults them without denying them; or mocking Allah, His books or His messengers; Allah said:

Say: was it at Allah, His signs and His messenger that you were mocking? Make no excuse: you have disbelieved after your belief.

Surah at-Tawbah 65-66

It is not fitting to be satisfied, with the mocker, by leaving him within Islam for a rebuke that would deter him: if the one who insulted the Prophet (peace be upon him) is not let off with repentance alone, then the mocker deserves this all the more.

Denying Allah's lordship or His oneness takes a person out of Islam, for the denier is a polytheist; denying an essential attribute does the same, like denying the oneness; ascribing to Him a consort or a child takes a person out of Islam, for He declared Himself above that and excluded it; claiming prophethood or believing a claimant takes a person out of Islam, for it belies the word of Allah "but the messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets" (Surah Luqman 40) and the Prophet's word (peace be upon him):

There is no prophet after me.

narrated by al-Bukhari (3455) and Muslim (1842)

Denying a prophet whose prophethood is agreed upon takes a person out of Islam; denying a book of Allah or a part of it does the same, for denying a part is like denying all of it, the whole coming from Allah; denying the angels or one of those whose angelhood is established takes a person out of Islam, for it belies the Quran; denying the resurrection takes a person out of Islam, by belying the Book, the Sunna and the consensus of the community; hating the messenger or what the messenger brought, by agreement, takes a person out of Islam; setting up between oneself and Allah intermediaries whom one relies upon, invokes and petitions takes a person out of Islam by consensus, for it resembles the act of the idol-worshippers who say "we only worship them that they may bring us near to Allah" (Surah az-Zumar 3); prostrating to an idol, the sun, the moon or a star takes a person out of Islam, for it is association; any word or act of open mockery toward the religion legislated by Allah takes a person out of Islam, according to the verse cited above.

Mocking the Quran, seeking out its contradictions, claiming it inconsistent or fabricated, or that something like it could be produced, or abolishing its sanctity, takes a person out of Islam, according to the verses of Surah al-Hashr 21, an-Nisa 82 and al-Isra 88 cited earlier; denying Islam takes a person out of Islam; Allah said: "the religion with Allah is Islam" (Surah Ali 'Imran 19); denying the testimony of faith or one of its two parts takes a person out of Islam, for it is denial of oneness or of the message; any statement that takes one out of Islam, such as declaring oneself a Jew, a Christian or a Magian, disavowing Islam, the Quran or the Prophet (peace be upon him), saying one worships the cross, or worships other than Allah, makes one an unbeliever; slandering the Prophet (peace be upon him) or slandering his mother takes a person out of Islam; believing the pre-eternity of the world, that is, of everything other than Allah, or the originatedness of the Creator, takes a person out of Islam, by belying the Book, the Sunna and the consensus of the community; mocking Allah's promise or threat takes a person out of Islam, for it is mockery of Allah; failing to declare an unbeliever the one who follows a religion other than Islam, such as the Christians and Jews, doubting their unbelief, or approving their doctrine, takes a person out of Islam, for it belies the word of Allah "whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be among the losers" (Surah Ali 'Imran 85); any statement by which one misleads the community takes a person out of Islam, for it belies the consensus that the community never gathers upon misguidance; any statement by which one declares the Companions unbelievers without interpretation takes a person out of Islam, for it belies the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his saying "my Companions are like the stars".

Ibn Taymiyya writes: whoever believes that the churches are houses of Allah, that Allah is worshipped in them, that what the Jews and Christians do is worship of Allah and obedience to Him and to His messenger, loves that or approves of it, is an unbeliever, for it contains belief in the validity of their religion, which is disbelief; whoever helps them open the churches and establish their religion there, believing it a means of nearness to Allah or obedience, is an unbeliever, for the same reason; whoever believes that visiting the protected people in their churches is a means of nearness to Allah is an apostate; if he did not know it was forbidden, he is informed, and if he persists he becomes an apostate, for it contains belying the word of Allah "the religion with Allah is Islam" (Surah Ali 'Imran 19). Ibn Taymiyya adds: the statement "there is nothing there but Allah", if it means what the partisans of the unity of being say, that nothing exists but Allah, who say "the existence of the Creator is the existence of the creature", "the Creator is the creature and the creature is the Creator, the servant is the Lord and the Lord is the servant", and similar meanings whose nullity is agreed upon, calls for the person to be summoned to repent; if he repents he is spared, otherwise he is killed; likewise those who say "Allah, in His essence, is in every place" and mingle Him with the creatures are to be summoned to repent; if they repent they are spared, otherwise they are killed; these sects have spread the trial and corrupted many of the creeds of the people of oneness: we ask Allah for pardon and well-being.

Whoever abandons an obligation or denies it

The status of apostate reaches the man as well as the woman. This applies to whoever grew up among the Muslims; as for the one whose Islam is recent, or who grew up in a desert far from the Muslims, such that the obligation may have escaped him, he does not disbelieve by mere denial: he is taught the obligation, and if he denies it afterward he is an apostate (al-Majmu' 3/15).

The jurists disagreed about the one who abandons prayer while believing in its obligation: is he an unbeliever killed as an apostate, or not an unbeliever yet killed under a legal punishment, or neither, only imprisoned and beaten? Three views exist:

The first view, that of the Hanbalis within the school, the choice of Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn al-Qayyim and some Shafi'is: the one who abandons prayer out of laziness and disdain is summoned by the imam or his deputy to perform it, for he may have abandoned it for an excuse that removes the obligation, such as illness; he is threatened: "pray, or we will kill you"; if he refuses until the time of the following prayer ends, killing him becomes obligatory; he is not killed until he is granted three days, like other apostates; if he repents by performing the prayer he is released; otherwise he is killed by the sword, for he is an unbeliever like the apostate: he is not washed, nor shrouded, nor buried among the Muslims, and no one inherits from him nor he from anyone (al-Mughni 3/180 and 3/184, Kashshaf al-Qina' 1/267 and 1/269, Matalib Uli an-Nuha 1/282, al-Majmu' 3/16).

The second view, that of the Hanafis and of al-Muzani among the Shafi'is: the one who deliberately abandons prayer out of laziness is a transgressor: he is imprisoned until he prays, for he is imprisoned for the servant's right upon Allah, and the right of a right is stronger; he is beaten until blood flows, as an emphatic deterrent; he is not left neglected: his state is monitored through exhortation, deterrence and beating, until he prays or dies in prison; he is not an unbeliever for that, and this is his worldly recompense; in the hereafter, if he dies upon Islam in disobedience, he will have a long punishment in a valley of Jahannam, its most intense in heat and deepest in depth, with wells into which pus and blood flow, prepared for the one who abandons prayer. But if he holds prayer in contempt, or utters what leads to that, his ruling becomes that of the apostate: his doubt is removed, he is imprisoned, then killed if he persists; the same ruling applies to the one who abandons the fast of Ramadan (ad-Durr al-Mukhtar 1/352-353, Majma' al-Anhar 1/218, Durrar al-Hukkam 1/219, at-Tahawi's hashiya, p. 373).

The third view, that of the Malikis, the Shafi'is and some Hanbalis such as Abu Abdillah Ibn Batta and Ibn Qudama: the one who abandons prayer out of laziness and disdain is summoned to repent; if he repents he is spared, otherwise he is killed under a legal punishment, not as an apostate: he is washed, prayed over, buried among the Muslims, and his Muslim heirs inherit from him (al-Istidhkar 2/151 and 2/153, Bidayat al-Mujtahid 1/133-134, al-Hawi al-Kabir 2/526 and 2/528, al-Muhadhdhab 1/51, al-Majmu' 3/14 and 3/17, al-Mughni 2/157-158, al-Ifsah 1/79 and 1/82). The question has been treated in detail in the book of prayer.

The minor who apostatizes

The Malikis and the Hanbalis: if the boy reaches maturity without returning to Islam, he is summoned to repent; if he repents he is spared, otherwise he is killed, for he has become liable to sanction (adh-Dhakhira 12/15, al-Furuq 1/393, al-Mughni 9/24, al-Muharrar 2/167, Kashshaf al-Qina' 6/213, Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat 6/286, Manar as-Sabil 3/368). Imam al-Shafi'i says: only the one who professed faith after puberty and reason is killed; whoever professed faith before puberty, even with reason, then apostatized before or after it, then did not return after puberty, is not killed, for his faith did not exist while he was of age; he is ordered to faith and compelled without being killed if he does not comply (al-Umm 6/159).

The hadith of the lifting of responsibility concerning three persons, among them the child until puberty, implies that no sin is written against him; had his leaving Islam been valid, it would be written against him; likewise, the reason of the child in acts of pure harm is assimilated to nonexistence, which is why his divorce, manumission and donations are invalid, and apostasy is pure harm; yet the imam threatens the discerning child without killing him: the rulings of apostasy do not attach to one not subject to the legal charge (Badai' as-Sanai' 7/134, Mukhtasar al-Waqi'a 2/366-367, Ibn Abidin's hashiya 4/257, adh-Dhakhira 12/15, al-Furuq 1/393, al-Bayan 12/39, Rawdat at-Talibin 6/495, an-Najm al-Wahhaj 9/83, Mughni al-Muhtaj 5/425, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj 10/680, al-Mughni 9/24).

All who accept the validity of the child's apostasy, and others besides, agree that he is not killed during childhood, whether or not his leaving Islam is held valid, for the boy bears no legal sanction, as shown by the fact that fornication, theft and the other punishments do not attach to him and he is not killed in retribution. They disagreed when he reaches maturity in unbelief: is he killed or not? Abu Hanifa and Muhammad hold that he is imprisoned and not killed, for killing is not a necessary consequence of apostasy in their view, as shown by the woman apostate not being killed among them while apostasy exists (Badai' as-Sanai' 7/134, Mukhtasar al-Waqi'a 2/366-367, Ibn Abidin's hashiya 4/257).

Apostasy of the insane person

The people of knowledge agree that the apostasy of the insane person is not valid: if he was a Muslim then became insane and apostatized during his madness, he is not held accountable and remains upon his Islam; the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "responsibility is lifted from three: from the insane person until he recovers his reason" (a sahih hadith, cited earlier). Ibn al-Mundhir said: all those from whom we transmit, among the people of knowledge, agree that the insane person who apostatizes during his madness remains a Muslim as he was before, and if he is killed intentionally, blood money is due if his heirs demand it (al-Ijma' of Ibn al-Mundhir, no. 718, al-Ishraf 8/58).

Ibn Qudama says: apostasy is valid only from one possessing reason; whoever lacks reason, like the undiscerning child, the insane person, and the one whose reason is suspended by fainting, sleep, illness or the drinking of a permitted medicine, his apostasy is not valid and his words have no effect, without disagreement.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

Responsibility is lifted from three: from the child until he reaches puberty, from the sleeper until he wakes, and from the insane person until he recovers his reason.

narrated by Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi; a hasan hadith

For he is not subject to the legal charge, so his words are not imputed to him, just as they are not in his declaration, his divorce or his manumission (al-Mughni 9/17).

Ibn Taymiyya says: the statements of the insane person and the child without discernment are, in the Law, idle words: from them comes neither faith nor disbelief nor any contract, by the agreement of the Muslims (Majmu' al-Fatawa 14/115). Ibn al-Humam says: the apostasy of the insane person is not valid, by consensus (Sharh Fath al-Qadir 6/98).

Insulting the Companions of the Prophet

Ibn Taymiyya says: as for the one who insults any of the Companions of the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), of his family or others, Imam Ahmad said without restriction that he is beaten with an exemplary beating, and he suspended judgment on his disbelief and killing. Abu Talib said: I asked Ahmad about the one who insults the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him); he said: kill him? I abstain from saying that, but I beat him with an exemplary beating. Abdullah said: I asked my father about the one who insults a Companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him); he said: I see that he be beaten; is there a fixed punishment? he did not settle on a fixed punishment, but he said: he is beaten, and: I do not consider him upon Islam. Ahmad said: the Rafidites are those who insult or abuse Abu Bakr and Omar (may Allah be pleased with them).

In the letter transmitted by Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ya'qub al-Istakhri and others, Ahmad says: the best of the community after the Prophet (peace be upon him) is Abu Bakr, then Omar after Abu Bakr, then Uthman after Omar, then Ali after Uthman; a group of people halted concerning Uthman and they are rightly guided successors; then the Companions of the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) after these four are the best of people; it is not permitted for anyone to mention any of their faults, nor to attack any of them with a flaw or deficiency; whoever does that, it is incumbent upon the ruler to discipline and punish him, with no power to pardon: he punishes him and summons him to repent; if he repents he accepts it from him; if he persists he inflicts the punishment again and keeps him imprisoned until he dies or returns. Imam Ahmad reported this from the scholars of his time; al-Karmani reported it from him, from Ishaq, al-Humaydi, Sa'id ibn Mansur and others. Al-Maymuni said: I heard Ahmad say: what have they to do with Mu'awiya? we ask Allah for well-being; and he told me: O Abu al-Hasan, if you see anyone speaking ill of the Companions of the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), suspect his Islam; he specified the disciplinary punishment and the summons to repentance until return through flogging, and failing that imprisonment until death or return; he said: I do not consider him upon Islam and I suspect his Islam; and he said: kill him? I abstain from saying that.

Ishaq ibn Rahawayh said: whoever insults the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is punished and imprisoned; this is the view of many of our associates, among them Ibn Abi Musa; whoever abuses the predecessors among the Rafidites is not a valid witness and is not given in marriage; whoever accuses 'Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) of the sin from which Allah declared her innocent has departed from the religion, and no marriage is contracted for him with a Muslim woman until he repents and shows his repentance; this, in sum, is the view of Omar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Asim al-Ahwal and others among the successors. Al-Harith ibn Utba said: a man who had insulted Uthman was brought to Omar ibn Abd al-Aziz; he asked: what made you insult him? he answered: I hate him; he said: you hate a man, so you insult him? He ordered that he be flogged thirty lashes. Ibrahim ibn Maysara said: I never saw Omar ibn Abd al-Aziz strike anyone except one who had insulted Mu'awiya, and he struck him with lashes; both reports are transmitted by al-Lalaka'i. It has been reported that Omar wrote concerning a man who had insulted him: none is killed except the one who insults the Prophet (peace be upon him), but flog him above his head with lashes; had I not hoped it better for him I would not have done it.

Ahmad transmitted from Asim al-Ahwal: a man who had insulted Uthman was brought to me; I struck him ten lashes; he returned to his words, I struck him ten more; he did not cease insulting him until I had struck him seventy lashes. This is the well-known position of Malik's school: Malik said: whoever insults the Prophet (peace be upon him) is killed, and whoever insults his Companions is disciplined. Abd al-Malik ibn Habib said: whoever among the Shiites goes to the extreme of hating Uthman and dissociating from him is severely disciplined; whoever adds hatred of Abu Bakr and Omar incurs a harsher punishment: his flogging is repeated and his imprisonment prolonged until he dies; execution is reached only in insulting the Prophet (peace be upon him). Ibn al-Mundhir said: I know of no one who makes killing obligatory for whoever insults anyone after the Prophet (peace be upon him). The qadi Abu Ya'la said: what the jurists agree upon concerning insulting the Companions: if he deems it lawful, he is an unbeliever; if not, he is a transgressor and not an unbeliever, whether he declared them unbelievers or attacked their religion while acknowledging their Islam. A group of jurists of Kufa and elsewhere ruled the killing of the insulter of the Companions and the disbelief of the Rafidites: Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Firyabi was asked about the one who insults Abu Bakr; he said: an unbeliever; he was told: is prayer performed over him? he said: no; he was asked how he is to be treated while saying "there is no god but Allah"; he said: do not touch him with your hands, push him with wood until you cover him in his grave. Ahmad ibn Yunus said: if a Jew slaughtered a sheep and a Rafidite another, I would eat the Jew's slaughter and not the Rafidite's, for he is an apostate from Islam (as-Sarim al-Maslul 3/1055-1062).

The accusation against 'Aisha and insulting the wives of the Prophet

Whoever intended to say "Allah, You are my Lord and I am Your servant" and said by mistake "You are my servant and I am your Lord" does not disbelieve, according to the hadith: "my community has been pardoned for error and forgetfulness" (Kashshaf al-Qina' 6/214-215).

The people of science agree that whoever accuses 'Aisha, mother of the believers (may Allah be pleased with her), of the sin from which Allah declared her innocent, is an unbelieving apostate. The shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya transmits from the qadi Abu Ya'la: whoever accuses 'Aisha of the sin from which Allah declared her innocent is an unbeliever without disagreement, for he belies the text of the Book; the consensus upon this was related by more than one, and more than one imam stated it explicitly. Malik was reported as saying: whoever insults Abu Bakr is flogged, and whoever accuses 'Aisha is killed; he was asked why; he said: whoever accused her contradicted the Quran; Allah said: "Allah admonishes you never to repeat the like of it, if you are believers" (Surah an-Nur 17). Abu Bakr ibn Ziyad an-Naysaburi said: I heard al-Qasim ibn Muhammad say to Isma'il ibn Ishaq: al-Ma'mun was brought, at ar-Raqqa, two men, one of whom had insulted Fatima and the other 'Aisha; he ordered the killing of the one who had insulted Fatima and spared the other; Isma'il said: the ruling of both is that they be killed, for the one who insulted 'Aisha rejected the Quran; such was the conduct of the people of fiqh and knowledge, of the Prophet's family (peace be upon him) and others (as-Sarim al-Maslul 3/1050 and 3/1054).

Ibn Kathir reports that in the year 241 the caliph al-Mutawakkil ordered the beating of a man among the notables of Baghdad named 'Isa ibn Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Asim; he was given a thousand lashes until he died, after seventeen men testified before the judge of al-Sharqiyya that he insulted Abu Bakr, Omar, 'Aisha and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with them); the matter was raised to the caliph, whose letter reached Muhammad ibn Abdillah ibn Tahir, governor of Baghdad, ordering him to beat him before the people with the punishment of insult, then flog him to death and throw him into the Tigris without praying over him, so that the people of heresy and hostility be deterred; and this was done. Ibn Kathir adds: such a man is an unbeliever if he accused 'Aisha, by consensus; concerning the one who accuses another of the mothers of the believers, two views exist, the sound one being that he is an unbeliever as well, for they are the wives of the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and Allah was pleased with them. As for insulting the other wives, two views exist: one likens it to insulting a Companion, for lack of a specific text; the other, which is the sounder, likens it to the accusation of 'Aisha, for it constitutes for the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) an outrage and a wound graver than marriage after him; al-Bahuti writes in the same direction: whoever insults another wife is an unbeliever like the accuser of 'Aicha, for he harms the Prophet (peace be upon him) (Kashshaf al-Qina' 6/218, as-Sarim al-Maslul 3/1050 and 3/1054).

Apostasy of the drunkard

The jurists disagreed about the drunkard who apostatizes during his drunkenness: is his leaving of Islam taken into account or not? The Hanafis, the Shafi'is on one view, and Imam Ahmad in one report: the drunkard's apostasy is not valid, for apostasy is founded upon a change of belief, and the drunkard is known not to believe what he says; Islam and disbelief attach to the belief specific to the heart; Allah said: "except the one who is compelled while his heart remains at rest in faith" (Surah an-Nahl 106); no belief that takes one out of Islam or into it can proceed from the drunkard; he is not subject to the legal charge, so his apostasy is not valid, like the insane person's; the proof that he is not subject to the charge is that reason is a condition of the legal charge and is absent in him; hence his summons to repentance is not valid. The rulings of disbelief are founded upon disbelief as the rulings of faith are founded upon faith; faith and disbelief come down to believing and belying, the declaration being only their proof; the declaration of the drunkard with his reason suspended is no proof of belying (Badai' as-Sanai' 7/134, Sharh Fath al-Qadir 6/98, al-Bahr ar-Ra'iq 5/129, ad-Durr al-Mukhtar 4/224, al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya 2/253, al-Hawi al-Kabir 13/175, al-Bayan 12/39, al-Mughni 9/31-32, al-Kafi 4/155, Sharh az-Zarkashi 3/98).

The majority of jurists, the Malikis, the Shafi'is within the school and the Hanbalis within the school, hold the drunkard's apostasy valid: it is the consensus of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) imposing the legal charge upon the drunkard, for it is related that Omar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) consulted the Companions about the punishment for wine and said: I see the people have flocked to it and taken it lightly; what do you see? Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I see he be given eighty lashes, for whoever drinks becomes drunk, whoever is drunk raves, and whoever raves invents lies: let him receive the punishment of the liar; Omar and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) approved this and gave him the liar's punishment of eighty lashes; they held what he utters in drunkenness to be an invention liable to a legal punishment or disciplinary beating, which belongs to the rulings of the legal charge; were he not subject to the charge, his words would be idle and his invention without effect. Prayer is obligatory upon him as are the other pillars of Islam, and he sins in committing the forbidden: that is the meaning of the charge; the drunkard does not lose his reason altogether: he avoids dangers, rejoices at what pleases him and is distressed by what harms him, and his drunkenness departs in a short time; he resembles the sleeper, unlike the deep sleeper and the insane person. His legal charge being valid, his Islam and his apostasy are valid; whoever's manumission and divorce are valid, his apostasy and Islam are valid like the sober man's; apostasy like Islam is an utterance to which separation attaches, so it must be valid from the drunkard like divorce.

The answer to the objection that he has no belief: in the rulings of the charge he follows the same course as one possessing belief and discernment; that is why his divorce and declaration of zihar take effect; without discernment they would not, as with the insane person.

As for his summons to repentance, it is deferred until he returns to sobriety, so that his reason may be complete and he understand what is said to him, and so that his doubt be removed if he had uttered disbelief believing it, just as the summons of the one suffering intense thirst or hunger is deferred until that intensity passes; killing was instituted as a deterrent, and deterrence is not obtained during drunkenness. Ibn Qudama says: if a killer kills him during his drunkenness, he owes nothing, for his protection ceased with his apostasy; if he dies or is killed, his heirs do not inherit from him; he is not killed until he is granted three days counted from his apostasy; if his drunkenness lasts more than three days, the summons is not accepted until he sobers, then he is summoned after his sobriety: if he repents he is spared, otherwise he is killed immediately (al-Mughni 9/32, al-Ishraf 4/178-179, no. 1534, al-Hawi al-Kabir 13/175-176, al-Bayan 12/39, Rawdat at-Talibin 6/496, an-Najm al-Wahhaj 9/84, Mughni al-Muhtaj 5/425, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj 10/680-681, al-Kafi 4/155, Sharh az-Zarkashi 3/98, Kashshaf al-Qina' 6/223-224, Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat 6/294).

What causes apostasy after faith

The scholars divided the causes of apostasy into four categories. The first is apostasy within belief: the jurists of Islam agree that whoever believes in disbelief is an unbeliever even without uttering it. Imam Ibn Rushd said: they agree that whoever believes in faith in his heart is a believer before Allah even without pronouncing the formula of oneness, and that whoever believes in disbelief in his heart is an unbeliever before Allah even without pronouncing the formula of disbelief (al-Bayan wa-t-Tahsil 3/182). Imam Ala ad-Din al-Bukhari said: if he believes in disbelief in his heart without confirming it with his tongue, he is an unbeliever, his wife is separated from him between him and his Lord, and he is among the people of the Fire (Kashf al-Asrar 4/196). Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said: whoever believes in disbelief in his heart or doubts is an unbeliever, for faith, which is the covenant of the heart joined with confirmation, is gone; when the decisive covenant goes, its very going is disbelief, for faith is an existing fact established in the heart: whatever does not stand in the heart calls forth its opposite, disbelief, as knowledge and ignorance: when knowledge is lost, ignorance ensues; likewise every pair of opposites: when one departs the other follows (Zad al-Ma'ad 5/203).

The Shafi'is add: resolving upon disbelief for the future is disbelief in the present; likewise hesitating over whether it takes one out of Islam or not; likewise conditioning it upon a future event, as in saying: "if my wealth or my child perishes, I will become a Jew or a Christian". Approval of disbelief is disbelief: if an unbeliever who wants to enter Islam asks him to teach him the formula of oneness and he refuses, or signals to him not to enter Islam, or signals to a Muslim to apostatize, he is an unbeliever; by contrast, saying to a Muslim "may Allah strip him of faith" or to an unbeliever "may Allah not grant him faith" is not disbelief, for it is no approval of disbelief, but an invocation against him stressing his punishment (Rawdat at-Talibin 6/488, Mughni al-Muhtaj 5/419).

Whoever is compelled into Islam

The jurists disagreed about the one compelled into Islam although it is forbidden to compel him, such as the protected person or the holder of a safe-conduct: is his Islam valid, and if he apostatizes afterward, is he killed or not?

The Shafi'is and the Hanbalis: if one compels into Islam a person whom it is forbidden to compel, like the protected person or the holder of a safe-conduct, and he enters Islam, the ruling of Islam is not established for him until there appears from him what evidences voluntary Islam, such as persisting in Islam after the coercion ceases; if he dies before that, his ruling is that of the unbelievers; if he returns to the religion of disbelief, his killing and his coercion into Islam are not permitted, for he was compelled into what it is forbidden to compel him into, so the ruling is not established for him, like the Muslim compelled to disbelief. The proof of the prohibition of coercion is the word of Allah: "no compulsion in religion" (Surah al-Baqara 256); the people of knowledge agree that the pact of the protected person who fulfills what he pledged, and that of the safe-conduct holder, may not be broken, nor may he be compelled to what he did not undertake (al-Bayan 12/51, al-Mughni 9/29-30).

The Hanafis: the protected person compelled into Islam has his Islam validated, like the enemy combatant compelled into Islam who enters it, whose validity is agreed upon; Allah said: "to Him submitted whatever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly" (Surah Ali 'Imran 83), Himself naming a Muslim the one compelled into Islam; if the protected person reverts, he is not killed but imprisoned until he enters Islam, for doubt has fallen upon his belief: he may be sincere, in which case he is killed for apostasy, and he may not believe, in which case he remains protected and is not killed; we favored the validity of his Islam at the moment of coercion, giving preference to Islam over disbelief (al-Ikhtiyar 2/129 and 4/185).

The Malikis: I found no specific view with them on this; they do say, however: whoever enters Islam then apostatizes, saying "my Islam was only because of a pretext that befell me and a straitening I was placed in", is listened to if his pretext appears through an indication, provided it is evident that he was constrained by fear, imprisonment or ambiguity, and provided he did not establish himself in Islam after the fear departed; without an apparent excuse he is an apostate, like the one who performed ablution and prayed as imam with the Muslims, then, in safety, manifested disbelief saying "I only did that to protect my person and my wealth through Islam"; this excuse is accepted from him if his words resemble what he says, and whoever prayed behind him always repeats what he prayed. The one who pronounces the testimony of faith without committing to the foundations, that is, the pillars of Islam, is disciplined; if he reverts, his ruling is not that of the apostate; but this does not apply to whoever knows us and knows that prayer and fasting are upon us, otherwise he is an apostate.

The protected sorcerer who bewitches a Muslim is disciplined so long as his sorcery causes no harm to a Muslim; if he causes the Muslim any harm at all, he has broken the pact, and the imam orders in his case killing or enslavement as long as he does not enter Islam; if he causes harm to the unbelievers, he is disciplined so long as he kills none of them, otherwise he is killed. Severity in flogging and imprisonment applies to whoever insults one whose prophethood is not agreed upon, like al-Khidr and Luqman, or Maryam without fornication, or a Companion, including 'Aisha without fornication; if he accuses her of the sin from which Allah declared her innocent, which is fornication, he is killed for apostasy, for he belies the Quran; if he insults one of the Prophet's descendants (peace be upon him), severity in flogging and imprisonment applies to him if he knows he is of his line, not if he insults one he does not know to be of his line (at-Taj wa-l-Ikil 5/312-313, Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil 8/67, al-Sharh al-Kabir with as-Sawi's hashiya 6/290, Tahbir al-Mukhtasar 5/320-321, as-Sawi's hashiya 10/239 and 10/341).

Practical note

These matters belong to the classical fiqh of the four schools, conceived within a state that investigates, proves and judges: none of the cited authors grants an individual the power to qualify or punish. The divergences are reported here school by school, without settling them, and they are considerable, including on the drunkard, the minor and the insulter of the Companions. In the contemporary context no state applies them as such, and the Muslim is bound by his country's laws: leaving Islam is not a penal offense there. What remains of the corpus: the religious gravity of renouncing or mocking the faith, the strict conditions of qualification, and the door of repentance that every school leaves open.