my wife was having a conversation on the telephone with her cousin yesterday and my wife said to her cousin” i have got to go its maghrib time you are a kafir as you dont read your salah” but as soon as my wife said this i heard this and told my wife what she said was a very big sin in islam so my wife realising her mistake apologised to her cousin on the phone and the terminated the call and read her maghrib saying this statement what my wife said would we have to renew our nikah or are we ok she has done tubah for this and surely will not be saying that again to any muslim.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
At the outset, it is important to mention that one should always be careful and think before they speak, as the utterance of certain words may cause grave consequences.
Abdullah ibn Umar (RadiyAllahu Anhuma) says that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said:
« أيما رجل قال لأخيه يا كافر . فقد باء بها أحدهما »
“Whichever person says to his brother, ‘O kaafir’, then surely (these words) will be returned to one of them” (Bukhari)
Another Hadith of similar wording has been narrated in Sahih Muslim. This Hadith shows the great severity of addressing a believer by calling him a kaafir. Fuqahaa however have ruled that if a person calls a believer a kaafir without the intention of actually meaning what he says, then he (the caller) will not be considered a disbeliever. Therefore, the nikah will not be nullified. It is however a repulsive act to call a believer a kaafir, and it is necessary to ask that person for forgiveness. Thereafter, it is incumbent upon the person to make sincere tawbah and istighfaar to Allah Ta’ala.
Alhamdulillah, you have stated that the caller had realized the mistake, apologized to the person, and made tawbah. It is good to see that an effort will be made in the future to prevent such utterances. May Allah Ta’ala protect us all.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, 7/126, Darul Fikr)
(Fathul Bari, 10/631, Qadimi)
(Sahih Muslim, 1/57, Maktaba-e-Thanvi)
قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم : ( إذا كفر الرجل أخاه فقد باء بها أحدهما )
وفي الرواية الأخرى ( أيما رجل قال لأخيه يا كافر فقد باء بها أحدهما إن كان كما قال ، وإلا رجعت عليه ) ، وفي الرواية الأخرى : ( ليس من رجل ادعى لغير أبيه ، وهو يعلمه إلا كفر . ومن ادعى ما ليس له فليس منا ، وليتبوأ مقعده من النار . ومن دعا رجلا بالكفر ، أو قال : عدو الله ، وليس كذلك ، إلا حار عليه ) .
هذا الحديث مما عده بعض العلماء من المشكلات من حيث إن ظاهره غير مراد ؛ وذلك أن مذهب أهل الحق أنه لا يكفر المسلم بالمعاصي كالقتل والزنا وكذا قوله لأخيه يا كافر من غير اعتقاد بطلان دين الإسلام .
(Sharhun-Nawawi ‘Ala Sahih Muslim, 2/237, Darul Ma’rifah)
ومقتضاه أن يعزر لارتكابه ما أوجب الإثم ، وقد جعل المصنف من ألفاظ الشتم يا كافر يا منافق وفي المحيط جعل منه يا يهودي وظاهره أن الشاتم لا يكفر به
(Al-Bahr-al-Raaiq, 5/44, Rashidiyya)
( وعزر ) الشاتم ( بيا كافر ) وهل يكفر إن اعتقد المسلم كافرا ؟ نعم وإلا لا به يفتى
(Darrul Mukhtar, 4/69, HM Saeed)
قال في النهر : وفي الذخيرة المختار للفتوى أنه إن أراد الشتم ولا يعتقده كفرا لا يكفر وإن اعتقده كفرا فخاطبه بهذا بناء على اعتقاده أنه كافر يكفر ؛ لأنه لما اعتقد المسلم كافرا فقد اعتقد دين الإسلام كفرا .
(Raddul Muhtar, 4/69, HM Saeed)
And Allah knows best
Wassalam u Alaikum
Ml. Asif Umar,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In’aamiyyah