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Does one fall into apostasy if one laughs upon hearing the repeated cursing of "Yena'an Reek," not out of mockery of the curse itself but of the manner in which it is repeated?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Apostasy does not occur from your laughter, because whoever utters a word whose meaning they do not know is not held accountable and does not become an infidel by it. It is even more appropriate that the listener should not be taken to task. So, one who recounts an act of disbelief they heard, without believing in it, does not become an infidel. Similarly, one who utters a word of disbelief without knowing its meaning, or whose tongue slips unintentionally due to extreme joy or astonishment, is not held accountable. If a non-Arab speaks a word of disbelief or anything else and does not know its meaning, they are not held accountable for anything of it. Similarly, if an Arab utters the equivalent of this phrase in a non-Arabic word whose meaning they do not know, they are not held accountable. And if an Arab speaks Arabic words whose meanings they do not know in Islamic law, they are not held accountable for anything.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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