The Ruling on Cursing the Companions

Question:
May Allah reward you. Your Excellency the Shaykh, the questioner asks: Is cursing some of the Companions considered apostasy in all cases? I ask for clarification of the legal ruling. May Allah reward you.

Answer:
If he curses the Companions, or some of them, because of their religion, for the sake of the religion, then this is apostasy; this is apostasy from Islam. And this is the common case for those who curse the Companions; they do not hate them for their own sake, but rather they hate them because they are the ones who conveyed the religion, carrying it from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). But if he curses a Companion or disparages him for his personality only, not for his religion, then this is a major sin among the major sins. This is a major sin regarding non-Companions, so how much more so regarding the Companions? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is not permissible to curse the Companions, but it may be disbelief, or it may be a major sin among the major sins.