What is the ruling on someone who, jokingly and exaggeratedly, commented on the construction of mosques in the UAE by saying: "People will go and perform Hajj there after this," while knowing the impossibility of such a thing? And is his statement considered apostasy or mockery?

This statement is a lapse, containing neither mockery nor disbelief that would lead one out of the fold of Islam. The questioner, who is afflicted with waswasah (obsessive whispering), is advised to disregard these whisperings and not give in to them, as they are a severe illness. The most beneficial treatment for repelling waswasah is to turn to the remembrance of Allah Almighty and to rejoice in the waswasah, for it enrages Satan. The cure for waswasah is to completely turn away from it, considering it a satanic thought, and to fight Satan on that.