or he mocks the rites of Hajj, saying, “What is the point of circling around this structure? What benefit is there in throwing these little stones? This is nothing but play!” Such words are sheer disbelief.

To scoff at Allah, His Messenger, the Qur’an, or anything the Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him—brought is in itself a denial, even if one does not openly declare that denial.

Whoever mingles with people or reads what they publish will find many examples of this. The mass media have become a stage and an arena for the warped diction of the hypocrites: “When they meet those who believe they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they withdraw to their devils they say, ‘We are with you; we were only mocking’ (14)” ⦗al-Baqarah⦘. Their statement in the presence of the believers—“We are your brothers and we believe”—is mockery of the believers. “Allah mocks them and lets them wander blindly in their transgression (15)” ⦗al-Baqarah⦘.

So beware—beware of a word a person lets slip without a thought, yet because of it he plummets into the Fire (1), and by it Allah records His wrath against him until the day he meets Him.

We have already explained that every cause of apostasy goes back to contradicting the two testimonies of faith. Those testimonies require veneration of Allah, His Messenger, and all that he brought, whereas mockery is the very opposite. For this nullifier the Shaykh cited as evidence the Almighty’s words: “If you ask them, they will surely say, ‘We were only chatting and playing.’ Say, ‘Was it Allah, His signs, and His Messenger that you were mocking? Do not make excuses; you have lapsed into disbelief after having believed. If We pardon a party of you, We shall punish another party for they were persistently sinful’ (65-66)” ⦗al-Tawbah⦘.

These verses were revealed because, during the expedition of Tabuk, a man said in a gathering, “We have never seen the likes of these reciters of ours—more…"