Calling a Muslim a Hindu in Jest
بِسْمِ اللہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Ruling on Jokingly Calling Someone a Hindu?
Darulifta Ahlesunnat (Dawateislami)
Question
If one jokingly says, “Living with the Hindus, you have also become a Hindu” to another person, what is the ruling on this?
Answer
In relation to the one who calls a Muslim a kāfir becoming a kāfir themselves, the jurists have mentioned two cases. First case: If one calls a Muslim a kāfir with belief, i.e., he believes in his heart that this person is actually a non-Muslim, even though there is no aspect of Kufr in him, the speaker himself will become a kāfir. This is because, considering a Muslim to be a kāfir, in reality, is considering Islām to be kufr, and the one who considers Islām to be kufr becomes a kāfir. The second case: If a Muslim calls another Muslim “kāfir” as an insult, while not believing in his heart that the person is actually a kāfir, such a person does not become a kāfir himself; however, he will be a grave sinner.
As for the statement mentioned in the question, a person generally does not intend to consider them a kāfir. Instead, his intention is just to say that this person has adopted the habits, practices, and the style of kāfirs because of staying with them. Therefore, if a person jokingly calls a Muslim a kāfir without believing in his heart that he is actually a kāfir, he himself will not be declared a kāfir. This is because calling someone else a kāfir makes that person a kāfir himself when he believes in his heart that he is a kāfir, when in reality there is no aspect of kufr in that person. But this is not the case here; hence, the one who said such will not be declared a kāfir, as is the ruling of the person who says this as an insult to someone, i.e., he is not declared a kāfir. Moreover, saying this to anyone as a joke is impermissible and ḥarām.
Shaykh-e-Muḥaqqiq, Shāh ʿAbdul-Ḥaq Muḥaddith Dehlwī رحمة الله تعالى عليه writes in Lamʿāt al-Tanqīh Fi Sharḥ Miskhāt al-Masābīh:
إذا قال بقصد الكذب والسب من غير اعتقاد بطلان دين الاسلام، فقد يوجه
Translation: Without believing that the religion of Islām is false, if a person calls someone a kāfir as a lie or to insult him, it will be interpreted (i.e., the one who said it will not be declared a kāfir). (Lamʿāt al-Tanqīh, Chapter of safeguarding the tongue, Vol. 08, p. 142, Publ. Dār al-Nawādir, Damascus)
Muftī Aḥmad Yār Khān Naʿīmī رحمة الله عليه writes in Mirʾāt al-Manājīḥ Sharḥ Mishkāt al-Masābīḥ:
مسلمان کو کسی عقیدہ اسلامیہ کی وجہ سے کافر کہنے والا یا ایسے مسلمان کو جس کا اسلام یقینی قطعی ہو کہنے والا خود کافر ہے، بطور گالی کافر کہنے(والا) سخت گنہگار ہے۔
Translation: The one who calls a Muslim a kāfir due to an Islamic belief or calling a Muslim who is certainly and definitely a Muslim a kāfir makes the person a kafir himself. The one who calls someone a kāfir as an insult makes him a grave sinner. (Mirʾāt al-Manājīḥ, Vol. 06, p. 356, Publ. Naʿīmī Kutub Khānā, Gujrāt)
The one who calls another Muslim a kāfir becomes a kāfir himself. The reason for this is due to believing that a Muslim is a kāfir, which results in “considering Islām to be kufr”. But this truly only happens when he believes the person he is addressing is a kāfir, but in reality, there is no aspect of kufr in him. However, if he said this as an insult, he would not become a kāfir. Thus, it is stated in Radd al-Muḥtār ʿAlā al-Durr al-Mukhtār:
وفي الذخيرة المختار للفتوى أنه إن أراد الشتم ولا يعتقده كفرا لا يكفر وإن اعتقده كفرا فخاطبه بهذا بناء على اعتقاده أنه كافر يكفر؛ لأنه لما اعتقد المسلم كافرا فقد اعتقد دين الإسلام كفرا
Translation: It is mentioned in al-Zakhīrah that the Mukhtār Lil-Fatāwā (the chosen opinion according to which Fatawa are given) is that if one intended to insult (by calling someone “kāfir”) but does not believe that he is a kāfir, he will not become a kāfir. But, if he believes that he is a kāfir and addresses him as “kāfir” due to this belief, he will become kāfir himself because when he believed that the Muslim is a kāfir, he actually believed that Islām is kufr. (Radd al-Muḥtār ʿAlā al-Durr al-Mukhtār, Vol. 06, p. 111, Publ. Dār al-Maʿrifah, Beirut)
It is stated in Al-Fatāwā Al-Hindiyah:
والمختار للفتوى في جنس هذه المسائل أن القائل بمثل هذه المقالات إن كان أراد الشتم ولا يعتقده كافرا لا يكفر، وإن كان يعتقده كافرا فخاطبه بهذا بناء على اعتقاده أنه كافر يكفر
(Al-Fatāwā Al-Hindiyah, Vol. 02, p. 278, Publ. Dār al-Kutub al- ʿIlmiyah, Beirut)
If one calls a person a kāfir with an interpretation in mind, the one who said this will not become a kāfir, as is stated in Barīqah Maḥmūdiyah Fī Sharḥ Tarīqah Muḥammadiyah regarding one interpretation:
وفي الروضة عن التتمة قال لمسلم يا كافر بلا تأويل كفر وإن بتأويل كفران نعمة لا كذا في الفيض
(Barīqah Maḥmūdiyah Fī Sharḥ Tarīqah Muḥammadiyah, Vol. 03, p. 176, Publ. Al-Halbi)
Sadr al-Sharīʿah Muftī Muḥammad Amjad ʿAlī Aʿzamī رحمة الله عليه writes in Bahār-E-Sharīʿat:
کسی مسلمان کو کافر کہا تو (کہنے والے پر) تعزیر ہے۔ رہا یہ کہ قائل خود کافر ہو گا یا نہیں ؟ اس میں دو صورتیں ہیں: اگر اسے مسلمان جانتا ہے تو کافر نہ ہوا، اگر اسے کافر اعتقاد کرتا ہے ، تو خود کافر ہے کہ مسلمان کو کافر جاننا ، دین اسلام کو کفر جاننا ہے۔
Translation: If one calls a Muslim a kāfir, he will be given taʿzīr (punishment decided by the judge). As for whether or not the one who said such will become kāfir himself, there are two cases. If he believes that the person is a Muslim, he himself does not become a kāfir. But if he believes that the person is a kāfir, he himself is a kāfir, as considering a Muslim to be a kāfir is considering Islām to be kufr. (Bahar-e-Sharīʿat, Vol. 02, pt. 09, p. 408, Publ. Maktaba-Tul-Madīnah, Karachi)
وَ اللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَ اٰلِہٖ وَ سَلَّم
(Allah Almighty knows best and His Messenger صَلَّی اللہُ عَلَیْہِ وَ اٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم knows best.)
Answered By: Mufti Muhammad Qasim Attari
Ref No: FAM-968
Date: 08th Jumād al-ʾUlāʾ 1447 AH/ 31st October 2025