Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (14/458)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

such people except through repentance. This indicates that if they repent, Allah pardons them; and mockery is among the gravest forms of revilement.

Second: His statement, “or His Messenger,” means: whoever reviles His Messenger Muhammad—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—by describing him with something that constitutes a deficiency in his regard, a deficiency that impugns the message—and it may also be said, his person—such as describing him as a liar, a sorcerer, one who deceives people, or the like, is an apostate, and his repentance is not accepted, because his sin is so grave that repentance is not accepted from him.

We say, as we said regarding the reviling of Allah, Exalted is He: the preponderant view in this matter is that, if we know his repentance to be sincere and genuine, and we see him thereafter honoring the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—and defending his law, then we accept his repentance. For Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’” [al-Zumar: 53]

However, if we accept his repentance, is execution waived from him or not? This is a matter over which the scholars differ. Some scholars say that if we accept his repentance, we waive execution, because he became liable to execution only due to his apostasy. Once he repents from apostasy, the ruling of disbelief—namely, execution—is lifted, and so he is not executed. Moreover, we judged him a disbeliever because he reviled the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—as the Messenger of Allah, not because of the Prophet’s person; thus, if he repents, execution is waived from him.

The second view on this issue is that if he repents, we accept his repentance, but we are still obliged to execute him; that is, his repentance does not waive execution from him, because his execution is a right due to him—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—and we do not know whether the Messenger—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—pardoned

هؤلاء إلا بالتوبة، فهذا يدل على أنهم إذا تابوا عفا الله عنهم، والاستهزاء من أعظم السب. ثانياً: قوله: «أَوْ رَسُولَهُ» يعني من سب رسوله محمداً ﵊ بأن وصفه بما هو نقص في حقه، نقص يعود على الرسالة، وقد يقال: وعلى شخصه، فلو وصفه بأنه كاذب، أو ساحر، أو يخدع الناس، أو ما أشبه ذلك فهو مرتد، ولا تقبل توبته؛ لأن ذنبه عظيم فلا تقبل التوبة منه. ونقول كما قلنا في سَبِّ الله ﷿: إن القول الراجح في هذه المسألة أننا إذا علمنا صدق توبته، وأن توبته حقيقية، ورأيناه يعظم النبي ﷺ بعد ذلك، ويدافع عن شرعه، فإننا نقبل توبته؛ لأن الله ﷿ يقول: ﴿قُلْ يَاعِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ﴾ [الزمر:٥٣]. ولكن إذا قبلنا توبته، فهل يسقط عنه القتل، أو لا يسقط؟ هذا محل خلاف بين العلماء، فمن أهل العلم من يقول: إذا قبلنا توبته رفعنا القتل عنه؛ لأنه إنما حل قتله بارتداده، فإذا تاب من الردة ارتفع حكم الكفر، وهو القتل فلا يقتل، ولأننا حكمنا بكفره بسب النبي ﷺ؛ لأنه رسول الله لا لشخص النبي ﷺ، فإذا تاب رفعنا عنه القتل. والقول الثاني في المسألة: إنه إذا تاب قبلنا توبته، ولكن يجب علينا أن نقتله، أي: أن توبته لا ترفع القتل عنه؛ لأن قتله حق له ﷺ، والرسول ﵊ لا نعلم هل عفا