The ruling on some people saying: Establishing the hudud (fixed Qur'anic punishments) exposes Muslims to the mockery of the West

Question : Shaykh, may Allah bless you. A person who is Muslim, upon whom the verse was recited, or to whom the hadith regarding the amputation of the hand of the thief was mentioned, was affected by it and said, "It is not possible to apply such hudud now, and the West mocks us without us being exposed to ridicule." Does this mean that he says this while being one whose words are listened to? So, for example, is it said about him that this makes him a disbeliever? And by Allah, I am afraid.

Answer : I say I am afraid that it is apostasy (riddah), because this is rejecting the rulings of Allah. As for his saying that the West mocks it, we say: Even your saying, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah," the West mocks you for it. So I am afraid that he is an apostate. He must repent to Allah, Mighty and Majestic.