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Is someone who said to his wife, "I am sorry that I was a Muslim" considered a disbeliever or an apostate, and is he required to pronounce the Shahada anew, and is his marriage invalidated, necessitating a new marriage?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Muslims are not backward; rather, their history is glorious and full of civilizational achievements, and the origin of civilizations and noble values was from Islam. It is incumbent upon a Muslim to defend their religion and clarify that the mistakes of some individuals do not represent Islam. A Muslim should not be ashamed of their religion but should be proud of it. Whoever mocks the religion of Allah, or hates it, or ridicules it, has exited Islam, whether seriously or in jest, in accordance with the Almighty's saying: (And if you ask them, they will surely say, "We were only conversing and playing." Say, "Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?" Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief). The statement "I am sorry that I was a Muslim" bears two possibilities: If it is out of hatred for the religion, then it is apostasy that necessitates repentance and renewing the Two Testimonies of Faith, and it may annul the marriage. If it is hatred for the bad actions of some Muslims without hatred for the religion itself, then it is not considered disbelief, but one must seek forgiveness and avoid such words. Mocking religion is disbelief. However, mocking a person because of their appearance and not because of their religion is not considered apostasy.

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

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