He said to his wife, “I am sorry that I am a Muslim”; has he apostatised by doing that and what is the ruling on his marriage?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

The Muslims are not backward; rather the one who is backward
is the one who worships idols, cows and rats. The one who is backward is the
one who does not worship Allah, the One, the Almighty, and worships his own
whims and desires, thus turning from a human being whom Allah has honoured
to an animal who follows his whims and desires and his evil inclinations.

The history of Islam and the Muslims is a glorious history,
filled with great events that stand out in the history of all of mankind.
The one who studies the history of the middle ages and the dark ages that
non-Muslims lived through will become certain that the origin of these human
civilisations, noble principles, refined manners and attitudes, and
beneficial sciences, all came from Islam and its people.

What any Muslim who hears anyone attacking Islam or the
Muslims in general must do is respond to him and explain to him that the
mistakes of some Muslims should not be the basis for passing judgement
against the religion of Allah and its followers, who include noble leaders,
honourable and righteous people, and courageous commanders and troops.

The people of India in particular have no right to speak of
backwardness until they kill the rat that they worship instead of Allah, and
they slaughter the cow that they call upon instead of Allah, and they reject
their numerous idolatrous religions and begin to worship Allah, the One, the
Almighty.

Secondly:

You should not have been embarrassed about belonging to your
religion and you should not have felt sorry for being a Muslim; rather you
should be proud of it and praise Allah for this blessing that Allah has
bestowed upon you and with which He has favoured you, unlike millions of
people around you who disbelieve in Him and worship things other than Him.

Thirdly:

The one who mocks the religion of Allah, or despises it, or
makes fun of its laws, or disavows the Muslims out of resentment towards
their religion, has gone beyond the pale of Islam, whether he said that in
earnest or in jest, because Allah, may He be 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 Allah, and His Ayat (proofs,
evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and His Messenger
(SAW) that you were mocking?’

Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after you had
believed. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others amongst you
because they were Mujrimoon (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, criminals,
etc.)”

[at-Tawbah 9:65-66].

See also the answer to question no.
175838

Fourthly:

Your words to your wife, “I am sorry that I am a Muslim” may
be interpreted in two ways:

1.

That you said that out of resentment and hatred towards the
religion of Allah and rejecting it, in the sense that you wished that you
had been born and lived as a non-Muslim. This is apostasy from Islam, so if
this is what you meant by what you said, then you became an apostate
thereby, so you have to repent sincerely, ask for forgiveness and regret it,
and you have to enter the faith anew by reciting the shahaadatayn (twin
declaration of faith).

With regard to your wife, if you uttered these words before
consummating the marriage with her, then the marriage was annulled with
immediate effect. If it was after consummation, if Allah enabled you to
repent before the end of the ‘iddah, then she is still your wife and the
marriage remains valid. If your repentance and return to Islam came after
the end of the ‘iddah, then the marriage was annulled from the time the
apostasy occurred.

For more information on the impact of apostasy on marriage
before and after consummation, please see the answer to question no.
134339.

2.

That you said that out of resentment towards some of the
Muslims you saw around you who were doing objectionable things and
committing acts of embarrassing foolishness; they were not people who adhere
to the teachings, rulings and etiquette of their religion and they were not
striving to live their lives in a way that would benefit them or others, so
you wanted to express your resentment towards these people and the
embarrassment you felt at belonging to the same group as them, out of
resentment towards them and their objectionable deeds, situation and
attitude, not out of resentment towards their religion. If this is what you
meant, then you did not become a kaafir thereby and your wife did not become
irrevocably separated from you. But you have to ask Allah for forgiveness
for these words and not say such things again, because it is obviously wrong
and because it implies hatred of Muslims and resentment towards them in
general, which is unfair and unjust.

Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:

Is making fun of the religion by mocking beards and
shortening of the thobe regarded as kufr?

He replied:

That depends; if his intention is to make fun of the religion
itself, then it is apostasy, as Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Say: ‘Was it at Allah, and His Ayat (proofs, evidences,
verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and His Messenger (SAW) that you
were mocking?’

Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after you had
believed.”

[at-Tawbah 9:65-66].

But if he was making fun of a particular individual for other
reasons having to do with the beard or shortening of the thobe, meaning that
he is strict, making fun of other matters concerning which this person is
strict but is careless about other matters even though he knows that they
are part of the religion, but it was not his intention to make fun of the
religion itself, and he only intended to make fun of that person, then it is
not apostasy. End quote.

Majmoo‘ Fataawa Ibn Baaz,
28/365.

We ask Allah to pardon you and forgive you, and to guide you
to the straight path.

For more information, please see the answer to questions no.
14231 and
178354

And Allah knows best.