Unwarranted doubts about committing disbelief
Fatwa No: 365689

Question

Assalaamu alaykum. I was watching a video of a Christian family, and in the video, a little girl did not want to pray, so her sister got a toy and pretended that it was speaking and said ' hurry up and pray'. This made me laugh because I found it funny that she made the toy speak. I did not approve of the fact they were praying as Christians. Does me laughing show approval of what the girl said, and does that mean I have committed disbelief? Also, I was speaking with my non-Muslim father on the phone once, and he said something implying that it is part of Islam to get married young. I did not correct him, as I was a bit unsure whether to do so or not. Am I sinful for this? Islam does encourage us to marry youn,g but I am not sure if one can say that it is part of the religion. May Allah bless you.

Answer

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

The fact that you laughed has nothing to do with approving what that girl said, especially given that you mentioned that you laughed because you found it funny that she made the toy speak. This also has nothing to do with disbelief, and we hope that you avoid whispers about disbelief.

In principle, it is certain that a Muslim is a Muslim, and it is not ruled that he committed disbelief except with similar certainty.

The scholars of Fiqh stated the conditions that make a person apostate from Islam. This is in addition to the fact that whoever commits an act of disbelief is not judged to be a disbeliever unless some conditions are met while there are no impediments for declaring him as such.

For more benefit on the conditions for declaring someone as a non-Muslim, please refer to fatwas 8106 and 87963.

On the other hand, the general statement that early marriage is part of the religion of Islam is not correct, as it may include a false meaning, especially regarding the malicious allegations that the antagonists spread about Islam regarding marrying a young girl. There are conditions relevant to early marriage; we clarified them in fatwa 116746.

Allah knows best.

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