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Making fun of Quranic Verses

Question

What is the ruling of a person who uses Quranic verses to make jokes?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

Undoubtedly, believing in the heavenly Books of Allaah is a basic belief in Islam that implies respecting them. Thus, belittling or using them in jokes to make others laugh contradicts such respect, which is necessary to demonstrate a person’s belief.

Therefore, if a person does so with the Quran, which is the best of the revealed books, he goes out of the fold of Islam and becomes an apostate. Whoever apostates must be asked for three days to repent. If he repents, this will be accepted from him. Otherwise, a Muslim ruler must kill him on the fourth day after sunset. This ruling of apostasy applies equally to the person who belittles seriously or in jest. Allaah Says (what means): {And if you ask them, they will surely say, "We were only conversing and playing." Say, "Is it Allaah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?" Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you - We will punish another faction because they were criminals.}[Quran 9:65-66]

Shaykh Abdul ‘Azeez Al-Hanafi understood from this verse that the person who speaks words of disbelief jestingly will be regarded as a disbeliever because he makes fun of Islam, not because of his belief in what he makes fun of. Ibn Qudaamah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him from the Hanaabili School of jurisprudence, stated that a person who insults Allaah The Almighty jokingly or seriously, or mocks Allaah, His verses, His messengers or His Books is a disbeliever. Allaah Says (what means): {And if you ask them, they will surely say, "We were only conversing and playing." Say, "Is it Allaah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?" Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief.}[Quran 9:65-66] He also added that this person must be severely disciplined.

Allaah Knows best.

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