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He Thought That His Mother Apostated

Question

Asalaam alaikum,My and my mother were in the living room.. i hadnt prayed dhuhr salaah.. my mum told me on two separate occasions to go and pray it.. but i said i will pray soon to two both occasions because i had a lot of time to pray it because asr wasent until after around 2 more hours.. we had a mini debate in which she said its reccomended to pray salah as soon as possible when the time for salaah comes in. she said only delay if for a reason otherwise pray it soon. i said i will pray it soon because i still had alot of time. Then she said "go and pray, Allah (SWT) is waiting for you" she said this laughingly. I turned around and said not to say that again.. she was still laughing.. then i said it again in a more serious tone, then she stopped laughing. Then i said it again and she replied " ok i heard you". By now the mood in the room changed to serious and we argued about delaying salah. then i said again she shouldnt have said that statement about Allah swt ,to which she replied "yeah and you should not raise your voice at me". This implied she knew what she said was wrong. After a while i went back to the room and apologised to her whilst lovingly rubbing her cheeks. It made her happy and she accepted my apology.. i again apologised and informed her what she said was wrong and she replied "ok how many times are you going to tell me". Me and my mother are on good talking terms now.. yes i know i was wrong for speaking to her in that manner may Allah aza wajal forgive me,ameen. i was just scared that my mother fell into kufr for mocking Allah aza wajal or the salah by her statements. she prays, fasts and pays zakah.. we are going umrah in sha Allah this year. im worried for her. i love my family and i hate for either me or my family to fall into kufr. Is this kufr?. Also my mum prays.. IF AND IF she did fall into kufr.. is it enough for her to pray salah (which includes the shahadatayn) to come back into the fold of islam?. Please answer.Barakhallah feek..

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Ruling a Muslim to be a disbeliever is a very serious matter; it is for this reason that the Sharee’ah warned us against it. Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him narrated that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “If a man says to his (Muslim) brother: ‘O you Kaafir (disbeliever)'; it returns back to one of them.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 323092, 188513, and 87963.

In principle, if a person’s Islam is proven with certainty, then the state of Islam is not removed from him except by such certainty.

The expression which your mother said and laughed after it; it may be that she did not mean to mock Allah. Rather, it can have a sound meaning, like for example, that you are late in responding to what Allah wants from you in hastening to do good deeds and taking the initiative to do acts of worship.

Even if we presume that she meant something by which she becomes a Kaafir, then an apostate is ruled to become a Muslim (again) by him/her performing the prayer.

Ibn Qudaamah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said in his book Al-Mughni: “If an apostate dies and his heirs prove that he prayed after his apostasy, then it becomes permissible for them inherit him.” [End of quote]

Finally, we remind you to avoid doing what you did again because it is undutifulness; for the matter of the mother is great. Allah Says (what means): {And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination.} [Quran 31:14]

Especially that she only asked you to do something good; which is to perform the prayer at the beginning of its prescribed time.

Allah knows best.

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