What is the religious ruling on blasphemous utterances made by a person suffering from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, knowing that he is unsure whether he was fully conscious at the moment they were uttered, and is the admission of a person with OCD against himself valid in matters of hudud, slander, and apostasy?
A person afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is overwhelmed by their mind, so they are not held accountable for any words or actions that OCD compels them to utter or perform. This is because they are considered to be in a state of compulsion. This is supported by the Prophet's (PBUH) saying: "There is no divorce and no manumission in a state of compulsion." Therefore, a person afflicted with OCD is not held accountable for what they utter, provided they did not intentionally pronounce words of disbelief and their heart was not content with them. The confession of a person with OCD is like the confession of one under duress, because they are not acting by choice in what they say and do. Scholars have stipulated that a confession made under duress is not valid. For instance, if a man is beaten to confess to adultery, he is not subject to the prescribed punishment (حد), nor is adultery proven against him.
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Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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