What does Islam say about the one who leaves it? And what about the further step, the one who leaves and then takes pride in it, displaying his disbelief openly and looking down on those who still believe? This page answers both questions from the Qur’an, the Sunnah [the Prophet’s ﷺ teaching and example] and the explanations of the scholars. It states the teaching as the books give it; it names no person and declares no one an apostate. And it does not end with the warning. It ends where the scholars end, with the door back open.
What It Means to Leave Islam
Leaving Islam after having believed in it is called riddah [apostasy, leaving the religion after having been a Muslim]. The scholars count turning away from the religion among the nullifiers of Islam, the matters that take a person out of it. Shaykh Abdul-Azeez ar-Raajihee, explaining the list of nullifiers, gives the tenth:
Tenth: Turning away from Allah’s Religion, not learning it or implementing it (is an act of disbelief). The proof for this is Allah’s saying: “And who does more wrong than he who is reminded of the ayaat (signs/verses) of his Lord, then turns away from them. Verily, We shall extract retribution from the criminals.” [Surah As-Sajdah: 22]
Shaykh Abdul-Azeez ar-Raajihee, Explanation of the Nullifiers of Islam, the Tenth Nullifier (printed p. 21). Asked what this turning away means, he answered: “What ‘turning away’ means is turning away from the religion in its totality – so he does not learn it nor does he act on it.” (Questions and answers, printed p. 33.)
The Qur’an speaks of the one who turns back in the verse of Surah al-Baqarah, which closes with his end if he dies on it:
And if any of you turn back from their faith and die as disbelievers, their deeds will come to nothing in this world and in the hereafter; they will be inhabitants of the fire and will abide therein forever.
Allah’s words in Surah al-Baqarah (2), verse 217, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 1, printed p. 270). As-Sa’di explains who is meant: “those who turn away from Islam, preferring disbelief, and persist in that until they die as disbelievers”, whose deeds come to nothing “because they did not fulfil the conditions of their deeds being accepted, which is being Muslim” (on 2:217, Vol. 1, printed p. 272).
Surah an-Nahl names the same act from the side of the heart:
Whoever disbelieves in Allah after having believed – except one who is compelled while his heart remains steadfast in faith – but for those who open their hearts to disbelief, upon them will be the wrath of Allah, and theirs will be a grievous punishment.
Allah’s words in Surah an-Nahl (16), verse 106, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 5, printed p. 246).
Here Allah tells us of the abhorrent state of those who disbelieve in Allah after having believed, and thus become blind after having seen, and go back to misguidance after having been guided, opening their hearts to disbelief, happy and content with it: they incur great wrath from the Most Merciful Lord Whose wrath, once it is incurred, cannot be resisted and all creatures will be angry with those who incur it.
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafsir as-Sa’di, on Surah an-Nahl (16), verse 106 (Vol. 5, printed p. 247). Ibn Kathir says the same of this verse: they are those “who open their hearts to disbelief finding peace in that, because they understood the faith yet they still turned away from it” (on 16:106).
The verse itself excepts one case: the one forced to speak words of disbelief while his heart stays firm in faith. As-Sa’di writes: “This does not apply to those who are forced and compelled to disbelieve when their hearts remain steadfast in faith and they want to believe, for there is no blame and no sin on them.” (On 16:106, Vol. 5, printed p. 248.) Ar-Raajihee makes the same exception for all ten nullifiers: “However, the one who commits them due to being coerced (is excused).” (Printed p. 21.)
How a Person Slips Away
Shaykh as-Sa’di wrote a whole book for the one who fell away: Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam, written as a discussion between two men who had once practised the faith together. Of the one who changed, he says his friend found “that he had been overtaken by atheistic propaganda that promotes abandoning religion and rejecting what the Messengers brought” (Author’s Introduction, printed p. 4). The book names the causes in the man’s own words.
The first is being dazzled. The man had seen the progress of the disbelieving nations and the weakness of the Muslims, and drawn his conclusion about the truth from what he saw:
So I saw that following their way and modeling myself after them is better and best for me in the long run. That is what changed me as you noticed.
The words of the one who fell away, in Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam (printed p. 7). His friend answers the reasoning before anything else:
What you mentioned of the Muslims’ backwardness does not come from their religion. Anyone with the slightest degree of insight and vision knows that the religion of Islam invites to rectitude and rectification in both religious and worldly affairs and encourages arming one’s self with beneficial sciences and arts.
Shaykh as-Sa’di, Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam (printed p. 7). The state of the Muslims is not the state of Islam, and the glitter of a civilisation is not proof that it is true. He puts the glitter itself on trial:
Would you abandon it because you crave after civilizations and societies erected upon disbelief and atheism, built upon greed, pompousness, cruelty, and oppression of people – that which is void of the spirit of faith and its mercifulness, absent of the light of knowledge and wisdom. It is a culture whose exterior is beautified and decorated while being internally destroyed.
Shaykh as-Sa’di, Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam (printed p. 12).
The second cause is company. When the man is pressed, what holds him back is not an argument but his friends, and an agreement made with them against the religion itself:
I have educated friends and cultured associates who have adopted this as their way and opinion. I have solidified an agreement with them to abide by agnosticism and belittlement of those who adhere to the religion of the Lord of humankind.
The words of the one who fell away, in Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam (printed p. 15).
Behind both causes stands effort from the other side. On the verse of al-Baqarah, as-Sa’di notes that the disbelievers striving against Islam “do their utmost to introduce ideas that make people confused about their religion” (on 2:217, Vol. 1, printed p. 272). And Ibn Kathir explains the word fitnah [persecution] in that verse: “(…and Al-Fitnah is worse than killing.) means, trying to force the Muslims to revert from their religion and re-embrace Kufr after they had believed, is worse with Allah than killing” (on 2:217). Kufr is disbelief. Doubts planted and never answered, desires followed, and the shine of the world: the books treat the one on that road as a sick man to be cured, not an enemy to be written off.
Taking Pride in It: Sin in the Open
Falling away is one matter. Taking pride in it is a further step, and the books treat open display as its own sin, for the sinner and for everyone watching. The Prophet ﷺ described it in the hadith of mujaharah [committing sins openly and boasting about them]:
Every one of my followers will be forgiven except those who expose (openly) their wrongdoings. An example of this is that of a man who commits a sin at night which Allah has covered for him, and in the morning, he would say (to people): ‘I committed such and such sin last night,’ while Allah had kept it a secret. During the night Allah has covered it up but in the morning he tears up the cover provided by Allah Himself.
The Prophet ﷺ, reported by Abu Hurairah, in Ibn Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 3, Hadeeth 241 (printed p. 31); the book records it as reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Ibn Uthaymeen explains that those who expose their wrongdoings are of two kinds: the one who commits the act openly, in public, while people watch; and the one who sins in private, where Allah has concealed him, then goes out and tells people what he did. Of the second he asks why people do it, and his second cause is the very thing this page is about, pride:
The Second Cause: he discusses his acts of disobedience, bragging about it while heedless of the Might of the Creator, refuge is with Allah. So he would wake up discussing the sin, boasting about it as if he won a prize. These set of people, in Allah we seek refuge, are the worst.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 3, on Hadeeth 241 (printed p. 33).
What is said here of open sin holds with greater force for open disbelief, for the one who announces that he has left Islam and mocks those who remain is doing publicly the greatest of wrongdoings, and inviting others to it. Allah warns even about loving to see evil spread among the believers:
Verily those who like to see indecency spread among the believers will have a painful punishment in this world and the hereafter; Allah knows, and you do not know.
Allah’s words in Surah an-Noor (24), verse 19, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 6, printed p. 388).
If this warning is for merely liking indecency to be spread, and finding it exciting, then how about that which is worse than that, of showing that and transmitting it?
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafsir as-Sa’di, on Surah an-Noor (24), verse 19 (Vol. 6, printed p. 393).
Against pride in sin the books set concealment and quiet repentance: “When one repents and turns to Allah, He – the Mighty and Sublime – will conceal him in this world and the Hereafter.” (Ibn Uthaymeen, on Hadeeth 241, printed p. 33.)
What Awaits the One Who Dies Upon It
The warnings gather on one point: dying in that state. Allah shuts the door of acceptance to every path but Islam: “If anyone seeks a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted from him; and in the hereafter he will be among the losers.” (Surah Aal ‘Imran 3:85, Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vol. 1, printed p. 444.) As-Sa’di’s comment is as plain as the verse: “All religions other than Islam are false.” Then the same passage speaks to those who believed and then disbelieved:
How would Allah guide people who disbelieve after having believed and borne witness that the Messenger was true and that clear signs had come unto them? But Allah does not guide people who are wrongdoers. The requital of such people is that upon them is the curse of Allah, the angels and all humankind. They will remain under it forever. Their punishment will not be alleviated, nor will they be given respite.
Allah’s words in Surah Aal ‘Imran (3), verses 86-88, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 1, printed p. 444). As-Sa’di explains their wrongdoing: “These people did wrong and abandoned the truth after having come to know it, and they followed falsehood even though they knew it was false, wrongfully and stubbornly, and on the basis of their own whims and desires.” (On 3:86, printed p. 445.)
But those who disbelieve after having believed – and then continue increasing in their disbelief, their repentance will never be accepted; they are the ones who have gone astray. Verily those who disbelieved and died as disbelievers, not an earthful of gold will be accepted from any such, even if they were to offer it as a ransom. For such there will be a painful punishment, and they will find no helpers.
Allah’s words in Surah Aal ‘Imran (3), verses 90-91, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 1, printed p. 446).
Read the verse as as-Sa’di reads it: it is about the one who goes on. “Whoever disbelieves after having believed, then increases in disbelief by persisting in wrongdoing and misguidance, and persisting in turning away from the path of guidance, his repentance will not be accepted. In other words, they will not be helped to repent in any acceptable manner; rather Allah will let them get carried away in their misguidance.” (On 3:90, printed p. 446.) Ibn Kathir says the same of the like verse in Surah an-Nisa: the one meant is whoever “remains on disbelief and increases in it until death, then he will never have a chance to gain accepted repentance after death” (on 4:137). The door that closes is the door at death; in life, the very passage that warns carries its exception.
The Ruling in This World
Islam does not leave the matter at the heart. The Prophet ﷺ counted the one who reverts from the religion among the three whose blood is not sacred:
The blood of a Muslim who testifies that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah, is sacred, except in three instances. (They are:) life for life, the married adulterer, and whoever reverts from the religion and abandons the Jama’ah (community of the faithful believers).
The Prophet ﷺ, reported by Ibn Mas’ud, in Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), on Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 93; Ibn Kathir records that it is in the Two Sahihs [the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim].
And Ibn Kathir at once fences the ruling off from private hands:
When one commits any of these three offenses, it is not up to ordinary citizens to kill him or her, because this is the responsibility of the Muslim Leader or his deputy.
Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), on Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 93.
This page states the ruling at that level and goes no further. Its detailed rulings, its proof, the call to repent the scholars describe before any judgment, and the judgments themselves, stand in the books of jurisprudence and are not set out here. Two cares belong with what is stated: no individual Muslim carries this ruling out, as Ibn Kathir’s words make plain; and judging that a specific person has left Islam belongs to the people of knowledge and to authority, with its conditions. What the books put first, before any ruling, is the call back, and it is to that call that this page now turns.
The Door Back Is Open
Between the curse of verses 87-88 and the warning of verse 90 stands verse 89, the exception, placed in the same passage for the one who has disbelieved after believing:
Except for those who repent after that, and mend their ways; for verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Allah’s words in Surah Aal ‘Imran (3), verse 89, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 1, printed p. 444).
The return even restores what was lost. On the verse of al-Baqarah, after the words about deeds coming to nothing, as-Sa’di adds:
This verse indicates that if a person apostatises then comes back to Islam, the good deeds that he did before he apostatised will be restored to him. The same applies to one who repents from sin: his previous good deeds will be restored to him.
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafsir as-Sa’di, on Surah al-Baqarah (2), verse 217 (Vol. 1, printed p. 272).
And for the greatest of sins, named together in Surah al-Furqan, the same promise is made to the one who turns back:
Except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds; for them Allah will change their evil deeds into good deeds, for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Allah’s words in Surah al-Furqan (25), verse 70, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 7, printed p. 47). Repentance there is from these sins and others, “by giving them up immediately, regretting what has been done in the past and firmly resolving not to do that again” (as-Sa’di, on 25:70, printed p. 51).
It is in this spirit that as-Sa’di opens his book. Before any argument, on its title page, stands its dedication:
This book is dedicated to all those who have been misled by this world and Shaytan as a kind invitation back to Islam. Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy.
Shaykh as-Sa’di, Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam, dedication (title page). Shaytan is Satan. And inside, when the man wavers between the truth that has become clear to him and the company that holds him, his friend’s word to him is the word of this whole page: “So come back to the truth genuinely and be confident of Allah’s promise. Verily Allah doesn’t break His promise.” (Printed p. 16.)
So, Leaving Islam and Taking Pride in Disbelief
Gathering the page together:
- Leaving Islam is riddah: turning away from the religion in its totality, not learning it and not acting on it, and it stands among the nullifiers of Islam (ar-Raajihee, the Tenth Nullifier).
- The one who turns back and dies as a disbeliever loses his deeds in this world and the hereafter and abides in the Fire (2:217). The one who is compelled, his heart firm in faith, is excepted and carries no sin (16:106).
- The road out, as the books name it, is doubts planted and left unanswered, company that holds a man, and being dazzled by the shine of disbelief’s civilisations, whose exterior is decorated and whose interior is destroyed (as-Sa’di, Sincere Advice).
- Taking pride in it is a further sin: exposing one’s own wrongdoings, boasting about sin as if it were a prize, and loving to see evil spread are each warned against (the hadith of mujaharah; Ibn Uthaymeen; 24:19).
- For the one who dies upon disbelief after believing, nothing will be accepted from him, not an earthful of gold, and his punishment will not be lightened (3:85-91).
- In this world the ruling on the one who reverts belongs to the Muslim leader and his deputy, never to ordinary people, and its details stand in the books of jurisprudence (the hadith of Ibn Mas’ud; Ibn Kathir).
- The door back stands open in this life: the one who repents and mends his ways finds Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful, his former good deeds are restored, and his evil deeds can be changed into good deeds (3:89; 2:217; 25:70).
So Islam does not treat the one who leaves it as a stranger it never knew. It names his act with full seriousness, warns him of exactly where the road ends, fences its ruling away from private hands, and then calls him back, as a kind invitation, with the promise that Allah does not break His promise. Whoever wants to read it in full will find it in Tafsir as-Sa’di and the Abridged Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Surahs al-Baqarah, Aal ‘Imran, an-Nahl, an-Noor and al-Furqan, and above all in Shaykh as-Sa’di’s Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam, written for the very reader this page is about. I hope this page states the teaching clearly, and sends the reader back to those books.
Further Reading
- Does Allah Forgive Every Sin?: the breadth of Allah’s forgiveness and the repentance that reaches it.
- What Is Sharia?: Allah’s law, what it rests on and what it is for.
- Rejecting Capital Punishment in Islam: one ruling of the law treated in full, and what rejecting a ruling means.
- Tawheed (Monotheism): the oneness of Allah that Islam calls to.
References
- Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafsir as-Sa’di. International Islamic Publishing House, English Edition 1, 2018; translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab. Used for: al-Baqarah (2) 217 (Vol. 1, printed pp. 270, 272); Aal ‘Imran (3) 85-91 (Vol. 1, printed pp. 444-446); an-Nahl (16) 106-109 (Vol. 5, printed pp. 246-248); an-Noor (24) 19 (Vol. 6, printed pp. 388, 393); al-Furqan (25) 68-70 (Vol. 7, printed pp. 47, 51).
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), the ten-volume set. Used for: al-Baqarah (2) 217; an-Nisa (4) 92-93 and 137; an-Nahl (16) 106. The held copy prints no page folios for these passages; locations are by surah in the sources file.
- ‘Abd al-Rahman bin Nasir al-Sa’di, Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam. Thaqafa Press, 2018; translated by Umar Quinn; ISBN 9781513638751 (as printed in the held copy). Used for: the dedication (title page); the Introduction (printed p. 4); printed pp. 7, 12, 15 and 16.
- Shaykh Abdul-Azeez ar-Raajihee, Explanation of the Nullifiers of Islam (Nawaqid al-Islam). Al-Ibaanah, First Edition, February 2003; translated by Abu Maryam Isma’eel Alarcon. Used for: the Tenth Nullifier (printed p. 21) and the questions and answers (printed p. 33).
- Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin (Sharh Riyaad as-Saaliheen), Vol. 3. Dar-us-Salam. Used for: Hadeeth 241 (printed pp. 31-33).
Verified on 2026-10-24 against: Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vols. 1, 5, 6 and 7 (IIPH, English Edition 1, 2018); the Abridged Tafsir Ibn Kathir set; Shaykh as-Sa’di’s Sincere Advice to Those Who Fell Away from Islam (Thaqafa Press, 2018); Shaykh ar-Raajihee’s Explanation of the Nullifiers of Islam; and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 3.