The ruling on one who deliberately lies about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the scholars' disagreement regarding the ruling on him.

The Shaykh : And for this reason, the scholars, particularly the scholars of hadith, differed regarding the ruling on one who deliberately and intentionally lies about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): is he a disbeliever who has apostatized from his religion, or is he merely an open sinner who deserves the punishment of his Lord, as indicated by this hadith, but he will not remain in the Fire forever because he is a Muslim who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah? They differed in two positions: some ruled that he is a disbeliever, meaning he has apostatized from his religion, while others did not reach that level of the Fire, but rather ruled that he is an open sinner. This second ruling is the stronger position according to the evidence of the Islamic Shari'ah, because he (peace be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: ; meaning: he will not remain in the Fire forever. And by the evidence of the hadiths of intercession, which are very numerous, in which Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) says to His angels after the prophets, the awliya (close friends of Allah), and the righteous have interceded for the people of the Fire, the Lord of the Worlds says: ; therefore, whatever sins and crimes a Muslim commits, he must eventually come out of the Fire. However, no one should take this ruling lightly when the scholars say that some sinners deserve to enter the Fire and be punished in it, but they will come out one day. No one should take this ruling lightly and say, "The matter is easy, as long as he will come out of the Fire one day," because we say that it has come in the authentic hadiths that the Muslims who come out of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection will come out having become black, charred coals, like burnt firewood. So the matter is serious and very serious. Therefore, no man or woman should take committing sins lightly on the pretext that he will come out of the punishment of the Fire one day. We say: this second opinion regarding the ruling on one who intentionally lies about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is for the one who lies while his conscience rebukes him, meaning he admits that this lying is forbidden, prohibited by Allah through the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). But the soul that commands evil, which incites its owner to commit any sin, no matter how great, leaves a remnant of faith in the heart of this one who considers the sin permissible, which is the admission that this is a sin that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has forbidden. So this remaining faith in the heart of this one who commits what Allah has forbidden, any forbidden thing, including what we are discussing now, which is lying about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): if the one who lies about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) feels that he has committed a sin and committed a crime for which he deserves punishment, then this belief will intercede for him on the Day of Resurrection to come out of the Fire after the punishment he deserves. But if he considers lying about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) permissible, then he is an apostate merely by this permissibility; he is an apostate from his religion, and he is in the lowest level of the Fire with the hypocrites, because he appears to be a Muslim while on the other hand he considers lying about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) permissible. A doubt may arise here: if lying about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by one who does not consider it permissible in his heart is open sinfulness, and if this is open sinfulness, what is the difference between lying about the Messenger of Allah and lying about others, which is also open sinfulness? And in that case, whatever open sinfulness a Muslim falls into, if he considers it permissible in his heart, he has apostatized from his religion, whether he lies about Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah or any Muslim who believes in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). If he considers it permissible in his heart, he is an apostate from his religion, and if he does not consider it permissible in his heart, he is an open sinner. So what is the difference in that case between lying about the Messenger of Allah and lying about others, as long as the result is that he does not become a disbeliever by either? The answer: Lying, without doubt, has degrees. Lying is all a sin and a crime, but not every type of lying resembles the other types. Lying has degrees, like every sin and transgression. Unlawful sexual intercourse has degrees, theft has degrees, and so on. The one who steals a dirham is not like the one who steals a dinar, and the one who steals a dinar is not like the one who steals dinars. So the one who lies about a disbeliever, a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah), because he lied, it is a sin, but if he lies about a Muslim, the sin increases. If the one about whom he lies is a Muslim open sinner, and if he is a righteous Muslim, then the lying is a greater sin, and so on, until it reaches lying about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in which case this type of lying is the greatest sin, after which there is only disbelief in Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So this is a word about lying about the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that its owner should prepare himself for the Fire and take a place in it.