Fatwa ID: 08248
Answered by: Maulana Kawsar Ahmed
Question:
I have a question about uttering a kufr statement. If someone has doubt over uttering a kufr statement, do they have to repeat Iman and Nikah?
My problem is that I have been living with severe OCD most of my life. For the past six years (since my marriage), I have a new type of OCD about kufr. I keep feeling that maybe myself or my husband said or did something that might have made us kafir. So I feel very disturbed and keep repeating Shahadah and Nikah. My husband doesn’t like my habit of renewing Nikah (done in front of my dad and brother). However, if I don’t repeat it, I feel very upset and do not want to fulfill my rights as his wife. I often say the words that I am thinking.
More recently, I had a kufr statement that kept coming to mind over and over. The statement was “nahi koi mera Allah” (na‘ūzubillāh), or translated in English, “No one is my Allah.”
I dislike it and do not accept it in the heart.
However, one day whilst doing wudu I said half of it — “Nahi koi mera” / “no one is my” (not sure if I clearly uttered all of it or just lip moved) — and cannot recall for certain saying the remaining word “Allah.” I feel most likely I did not say the word “Allah,” but soon after I started feeling really worried that maybe I have uttered a full clear kufr statement. Now I am very disturbed and keep thinking maybe our Nikah broke.
I read somewhere that if there is doubt over uttering a kufr statement then one doesn’t become kafir, but I keep thinking: what if I actually uttered all of those words clearly?
I don’t want to repeat Nikah because then Shaytan might start playing with my mind and I might start feeling the same over and over. On the other hand, if I don’t repeat Nikah, I might be committing adultery. I feel stuck and badly stressed out. Do I need to repeat Nikah or ignore the thought of committing kufr because I am not sure if I clearly uttered the full statement?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
If a person says things of this nature whilst holding the belief of what they are saying in their heart to be true, then that person could be classified as a disbeliever. What is considered at the time of making these sorts of statements, alongside the actual statement, is the intention which is behind or accompanying that statement. [1]
Another important point to consider is that if a person isn’t fully mentally aware of what they are saying, or there is an illness/condition which is causing them to say this — essentially anything altering their state of mind, consequently influencing what is uttered by that individual — which can be the case with people who suffer from severe cases of OCD [2]
then their statements will not have any legal ramifications. [3]
Since in your specific scenario you don’t actually mean what you have said but rather it is an outcome of your illness, then this would mean that you are not a disbeliever and hence your marriage will not be nullified every time you make these sorts of statements, and you will not be considered a disbeliever.
Only Allah knows best.
Writtren by Maulana Kawsar Ahmed
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
REFERENCE:
[1] (قَوْلُهُ وَعِنْدَنَا عَلَى الْعُرْفِ) لِأَنَّ الْمُتَكَلِّمَ إنَّمَا يَتَكَلَّمُ بِالْكَلَامِ الْعُرْفِيِّ أَعْنِي الْأَلْفَاظَ الَّتِي يُرَادُ بِهَا مَعَانِيهَا الَّتِي وُضِعَتْ لَهَا فِي الْعُرْفِ كَمَا أَنَّ الْعَرَبِيَّ حَالَ كَوْنِهِ بَيْنَ أَهْلِ اللُّغَةِ إنَّمَا يَتَكَلَّمُ بِالْحَقَائِقِ اللُّغَوِيَّةِ فَوَجَبَ صَرْفُ أَلْفَاظِ الْمُتَكَلِّمِ إلَى مَا عُهِدَ أَنَّهُ الْمُرَادُ بِهَا فَتْحٌ (قَوْلُهُ فَلَا حِنْثَ إلَخْ) صَرَّحَ صَاحِبُ الذَّخِيرَةِ والمرغيناني بِأَنَّهُ يَحْنَثُ بِهَدْمِ بَيْتِ الْعَنْكَبُوتِ فِي الْفَرْعِ الْمَذْكُورِ– كتاب رد المحتار، ج٣/ ص٧٤٣ دار الفكر
[2] Check: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/symptoms-of-ocd/
[3] بَعْدَ وُجُودِ الْإِيمَانِ وَشَرَائِطُ صِحَّتِهَا الْعَقْلُ فَلَا تَصِحُّ رِدَّةُ الْمَجْنُونِ وَلَا الصَّبِيِّ الَّذِي لَا يَعْقِلُ وَأَمَّا مَنْ جُنُونُهُ مُتَقَطِّعٌ فَإِنْ ارْتَدَّ حَالَ الْجُنُونِ لَمْ يَصِحَّ وَإِنْ ارْتَدَّ حَالَ إفَاقَتِهِ صَحَّتْ وَكَذَا لَا تَصِحُّ رِدَّةُ السَّكْرَانِ الذَّاهِبِ الْعَقْلِ وَالْبُلُوغُ لَيْسَ بِشَرْطٍ لِصِحَّتِهَا مِنْ الصَّبِيِّ عِنْدَهُمَا.
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ص129 – كتاب البحر الرائق شرح كنز الدقائق ومنحة الخالق وتكملة الطوري – باب أحكام المرتدين
