A married person blasphemed the religion; what is the effect of that on the marriage contract and other related matters?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The scholars have agreed that blaspheming the religion is disbelief in Allah The Almighty. The gravest kind is to blaspheme Allah The Almighty, then to blaspheme the Prophet , then to blaspheme one of the rituals or duties of Islam. Doing any of these is a grave sin and the person who does any of them becomes an apostate.

Proof of this is the saying of Allah The Almighty (what means): {And if you ask them, they will surely say, "We were only conversing and playing." Say, "Is it Allaah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?" Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief.} [Quran 9:65-66] This verse was revealed about some people who did not directly blaspheme Islam, rather, they blasphemed the ones who conveyed the message; they described the Prophet and the reciters of the Quran among his companions as people that ate a lot, told lies and were cowardly when fighting in wars. If this is the case, then what about the person who dare to directly blaspheme the religion?

Scholars have agreed that a married couple have to be separated if either of them apostatizes; they are not allowed to be alone in one place or to have sexual intercourse. However, they disagreed whether or not this is considered a divorce and whether or not they need a new contract after he or she repents. Our advice to whoever commits this action is to perform Ghusl (ritual bathing), utter the Two Testimonies of Faith, repent to Allah The Almighty, do a lot of good deeds and continue asking for forgiveness. He should also know that the doors of repentance are open for whoever wants to repent from his sins, whether they are minor or major. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And those who do not invoke with Allaah another deity or kill the soul which Allaah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty. Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated - Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allaah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allaah Forgiving and Merciful.} [Quran 25:68-70]

Moreover, this person has to remake the marriage contract in the presence of a guardian and two upright witnesses. He must beware of committing this grave sin again, for a sinner does not know when his life will end, and it may be that he dies as an apostate with no time to repent. We ask Allah The Almighty to protect us from this.

He should bear in mind that some scholars hold that such an act necessitates the divorce to be effected as conforms to the Maaliki school's most famous opinion. Consequently, if this occurs three times, his wife will no longer be lawful to him. This also occurs if he does this only once after he has divorced her twice before. We ask Allah The Almighty to guide us all to what pleases Him and to protect us from the whisperings of Satan.

Allah Knows best.