Background of the story:
In the famous book Asbāb An-Nuzūl by Wāhidi, let me give you the background of the story. The Prophet (saws) was heading to Tabūk to fight and on the way there they camped. So there was the close knit with the Prophet (saws) who camped with the Prophet and another group who were further away who camped by themselves. Here is how the story unfolds. Ibn Umar (ra) narrates what happened. He said: during the Battle of Tabūk, a man in the other camp [the second camp] said: "We have not seen like these reciters of the Qur’ān, you see those guys who recite the Qur’ān."
ما رأينا مثل قرائنا هؤلاء، أرغب بطونا
They like to fill their bellies with food, greedy bellies:
أرغب بطونا
ولا أكذب ألسنا
Their tongues are lying tongues. Big bellies and untruthful tongues, they are mocking reciters of the Qur’ān.
ولا أجبن عند اللقاء
And they are the most cowardly when the combat happens. Basically they eat a lot, they lie and they are cowards. They are talking about reciters of the Qur’ān, mocking them and joking around.
فقال رجل في المجلس : كذبت، ولكنك منافق
A man sitting with them said: "you are a liar, you are a hypocrite". Based on what he heard from him, he said: "you are a hypocrite", and the Prophet (saws) never denounced this man for calling him a hypocrite.
لأخبرن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
I am going to go tell the Prophet Muhammad (saws).
فبلغ ذلك النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم
The matter reached the Prophet Muhammad (saws). Either the man went and told him or Allāh had told him or most likely it was both of them, Allāh had revealed and then this man went and told him what that man had mocked the reciters of the Qur’ān with. Abdullāh Ibn Umar (ra) said:
فأنا رأيته متعلقا بحقب ناقة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تنكبه الحجارة
I saw him grabbing the bridle of the horse of the Prophet (saws) and it dragging him. He is grabbing the horse and it is dragging him on the stones, he is hanging because he wants to speak to the Prophet Muhammad (saws). He is telling the Prophet (saws):
وهو يقول: يا رسول الله، إنما كنا نخوض ونلعب
He is saying: "O Prophet of Allāh, it was only idle talk and just play. It was idle talk and just play", note he did not even say we were mocking, he did not even think of it as mocking, he said: "it was idle talk and just play."
أبالله وآياته ورسوله كنتم تستهزئون °°° لا تعتذروا قد كفرتم بعد إيمانكم
Was it at Allāh, and His Āyāt [proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc] and His Messenger that you were mocking? Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after you had believed. [Sūrah at-Taubah: 65-66]
In Allāh, His verses and His revelation and His Messenger do you scoff and mock? You did not find anything else to joke about? Note, these people, did they mock Allāh directly? No. Did they mock the Qur’an directly or verses in the Qur’ān? No. Did they mock the Prophet (saws) directly? No, they mocked the reciters of the Qur’ān. Then why when Allāh was denouncing them did He say, you mock Allāh , the verses and the Messenger? Why did Allāh not say you mock the reciters of the Qur’ān? He said you mock Allāh, the Messenger and the verses, when all they did was mock reciters of the Qur’ān.
→ They mocked the reciters of the Qur’ān because of their Islāmic significance, so it is as if they mocked Allāh, the verses and the Messenger. That is the point Allāh is trying to get to you. See how dangerous it is? It is no joke and it is no game. They mocked reciters of the Qur’ān, Allāh responded saying you mock Allāh, His Messenger and the verses?
What about ignorance of it being kufr?
Another point, there are some matters where as a rule in Takfīr, ignorance of it being Kufr is an excuse. It could be an excuse that I did not know it would cause me to be a Kāfir. Ibn Taymiyyah in Kitāb al-Īmān said: these people here did not think that they were committing Kufr, yet they were still considered kuffār.
He is saying mocking and ridiculing Islāmic matters is Kufr, even if one did not know it will make him a kāfir.
Shaykh Sulaymān al-‘Ulwān said: this verse is clear proof in Kufr of one who mocks Allāh, His Messenger and verses. If he considers it Halāl or if he considered Harām, merely mocking renders one an apostate by ijmā of all the scholars, even if he did not mean the mocking but was merely joking and playing.
This applies to mocking punishments of Allāh like Heaven or Hell or aspects of Hell or aspects of Heaven. This applies to mocking those who ordain the good and forbid the evil and people who go along with that. It applies to mocking Salāh or aspects of Salāh, even Sunnah Salāh, not necessary Wājib Salāh. Even Sunnah Salāh, mocking that or those who pray, because of their Salāh.
What do to in case it happens in a gathering?
فلا تقعدوا معهم حتى يخوضوا في حديث غيره
Do not go near them, do not sit with them until they engage in another talk, until they change the subject. Do not go near them, a clear verse in the Qur’ān. Do not sit and watch a comedian who mocks any aspect of Islām, any tiny aspect of Islām. Do not ever sit with a relative of yours, with a friend of yours who utters a joke pertaining to mocking any Islāmic issue or those who practice it, ever. It only gets worse when you hear those so called Du’āt of ours today in the United States especially, who want to give the look that they are all cool and all that and make their audience think that they are all cool, and then sit and mock issues of Islām forgetting this important aspect of Islām. Allāh tells them:
إنكم إذا مثلهم
If you stay with them you are like them. If you listen to it, you participate in it, you do not walk off, you are like them. Like them what? Kuffār like them. Unless you forbid the Munkar and tell them they are wrong and walk away, then you are like them.
In the famous book Asbāb An-Nuzūl by Wāhidi, let me give you the background of the story. The Prophet (saws) was heading to Tabūk to fight and on the way there they camped. So there was the close knit with the Prophet (saws) who camped with the Prophet and another group who were further away who camped by themselves. Here is how the story unfolds. Ibn Umar (ra) narrates what happened. He said: during the Battle of Tabūk, a man in the other camp [the second camp] said: "We have not seen like these reciters of the Qur’ān, you see those guys who recite the Qur’ān."
ما رأينا مثل قرائنا هؤلاء، أرغب بطونا
They like to fill their bellies with food, greedy bellies:
أرغب بطونا
ولا أكذب ألسنا
Their tongues are lying tongues. Big bellies and untruthful tongues, they are mocking reciters of the Qur’ān.
ولا أجبن عند اللقاء
And they are the most cowardly when the combat happens. Basically they eat a lot, they lie and they are cowards. They are talking about reciters of the Qur’ān, mocking them and joking around.
فقال رجل في المجلس : كذبت، ولكنك منافق
A man sitting with them said: "you are a liar, you are a hypocrite". Based on what he heard from him, he said: "you are a hypocrite", and the Prophet (saws) never denounced this man for calling him a hypocrite.
لأخبرن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
I am going to go tell the Prophet Muhammad (saws).
فبلغ ذلك النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم
The matter reached the Prophet Muhammad (saws). Either the man went and told him or Allāh had told him or most likely it was both of them, Allāh had revealed and then this man went and told him what that man had mocked the reciters of the Qur’ān with. Abdullāh Ibn Umar (ra) said:
فأنا رأيته متعلقا بحقب ناقة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تنكبه الحجارة
I saw him grabbing the bridle of the horse of the Prophet (saws) and it dragging him. He is grabbing the horse and it is dragging him on the stones, he is hanging because he wants to speak to the Prophet Muhammad (saws). He is telling the Prophet (saws):
وهو يقول: يا رسول الله، إنما كنا نخوض ونلعب
He is saying: "O Prophet of Allāh, it was only idle talk and just play. It was idle talk and just play", note he did not even say we were mocking, he did not even think of it as mocking, he said: "it was idle talk and just play."
أبالله وآياته ورسوله كنتم تستهزئون °°° لا تعتذروا قد كفرتم بعد إيمانكم
Was it at Allāh, and His Āyāt [proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc] and His Messenger that you were mocking? Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after you had believed. [Sūrah at-Taubah: 65-66]
In Allāh, His verses and His revelation and His Messenger do you scoff and mock? You did not find anything else to joke about? Note, these people, did they mock Allāh directly? No. Did they mock the Qur’an directly or verses in the Qur’ān? No. Did they mock the Prophet (saws) directly? No, they mocked the reciters of the Qur’ān. Then why when Allāh was denouncing them did He say, you mock Allāh , the verses and the Messenger? Why did Allāh not say you mock the reciters of the Qur’ān? He said you mock Allāh, the Messenger and the verses, when all they did was mock reciters of the Qur’ān.
→ They mocked the reciters of the Qur’ān because of their Islāmic significance, so it is as if they mocked Allāh, the verses and the Messenger. That is the point Allāh is trying to get to you. See how dangerous it is? It is no joke and it is no game. They mocked reciters of the Qur’ān, Allāh responded saying you mock Allāh, His Messenger and the verses?
What about ignorance of it being kufr?
Another point, there are some matters where as a rule in Takfīr, ignorance of it being Kufr is an excuse. It could be an excuse that I did not know it would cause me to be a Kāfir. Ibn Taymiyyah in Kitāb al-Īmān said: these people here did not think that they were committing Kufr, yet they were still considered kuffār.
He is saying mocking and ridiculing Islāmic matters is Kufr, even if one did not know it will make him a kāfir.
Shaykh Sulaymān al-‘Ulwān said: this verse is clear proof in Kufr of one who mocks Allāh, His Messenger and verses. If he considers it Halāl or if he considered Harām, merely mocking renders one an apostate by ijmā of all the scholars, even if he did not mean the mocking but was merely joking and playing.
This applies to mocking punishments of Allāh like Heaven or Hell or aspects of Hell or aspects of Heaven. This applies to mocking those who ordain the good and forbid the evil and people who go along with that. It applies to mocking Salāh or aspects of Salāh, even Sunnah Salāh, not necessary Wājib Salāh. Even Sunnah Salāh, mocking that or those who pray, because of their Salāh.
What do to in case it happens in a gathering?
فلا تقعدوا معهم حتى يخوضوا في حديث غيره
Do not go near them, do not sit with them until they engage in another talk, until they change the subject. Do not go near them, a clear verse in the Qur’ān. Do not sit and watch a comedian who mocks any aspect of Islām, any tiny aspect of Islām. Do not ever sit with a relative of yours, with a friend of yours who utters a joke pertaining to mocking any Islāmic issue or those who practice it, ever. It only gets worse when you hear those so called Du’āt of ours today in the United States especially, who want to give the look that they are all cool and all that and make their audience think that they are all cool, and then sit and mock issues of Islām forgetting this important aspect of Islām. Allāh tells them:
إنكم إذا مثلهم
If you stay with them you are like them. If you listen to it, you participate in it, you do not walk off, you are like them. Like them what? Kuffār like them. Unless you forbid the Munkar and tell them they are wrong and walk away, then you are like them.
[Shaykh Ahmad Mūsā Jibrīl حفظه الله]
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