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The question

Is one excused by ignorance who says of himself that he is a disbeliever, while he does not know that this statement expels him from the fold of Islam?

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Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Whoever intentionally and knowingly utters a statement of disbelief, understanding its meaning, exits Islam, even if he was jesting. The excusable ignorance is ignorance of the ruling and the meaning, not ignorance of the statement being disbelief. Whoever utters a word of disbelief jokingly or playfully disbelieves according to all scholars, and whoever utters it knowingly and intentionally disbelieves according to all scholars. However, whoever utters it by mistake or under duress does not disbelieve. The disagreement concerning one who utters it voluntarily but is ignorant of its being disbelief applies to expressions whose like is unknown to be disbelief, not to clear and explicit expressions. Jurists have explicitly stated that whoever utters a word of disbelief disbelieves, even if he did not intend its meaning, especially if he was jesting or playful. However, whoever utters a word of disbelief not knowing it is disbelief, then is informed of it and retracts it, is not ruled to be a disbeliever.

Summary from Ftawy's records · added here

Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.

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Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
168624
Added here
. This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
Text
Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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Read the full answer on Ftawy