Tawbah - ,Dought & clear - , If the apostate repents, his repentance is accepted

One of the brothers came to me one day expressing regret and feeling
ashamed of himself because of his bad behaviour towards Allaah - this
is the best that he could call it himself - because one day in a fit
of anger towards his fiancée he reviled Allaah - we ask Allaah to keep
us safe and sound. He came to me in a state of regret and told me that
he had shamed himself, and now he felt too ashamedeven to pray. He is
- praise be to Allaah - a person who is religiouslycommitted.
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. HisLord 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
weremocking?'"
[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 andoutward 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 aremeans 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 thesharee'ah court. Some ofthe scholars said: he
should not be asked to repent, rather he should be executed because
his crime is so great. But themore correct view is thathe 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 shouldbe asked to repent and if he repents (all well and
good), otherwise heshould 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 mockingAllaah and
His Messenger, or Paradise or Hell, or the commandsof 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 heclaims 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 itsauthor 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 Messengerand
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 toturn back from his sin and wants to
repent andseek forgiveness. He should not despair of the pardon and
forgiveness of Allaah. That is what the shaytaan wants from thesinner
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 AbuMoosa (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 ofthose 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 hissin 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
ofrighteous deeds and strive to be better after repentance than he was
before he committed this major sin, and Allaahaccepts the repentance
of the one who repents.
And Allaah knows best.