Insulting a Ruling of the Sacred Law

Question

Some people say that about twelve years ago Zayd, son of Bakr, the imam of the mosque, said: “My father became angry with me because I had made my wife observe the Shar‘i veil, and he said, ‘I urinate on your Shari‘a.’” But Bakr says, “This is sheer slander; I never spouted such an absurd word.” Likewise his son Zayd says, “I never related this to anyone, nor did my father say it; it is sheer slander, and we still observe the veil.

Answer

If the mosque imam did not say this word and his son did not relate it, then both have been slandered, which is a grave sin; the slanderers must repent of it and ask forgiveness of the imam and his son. If it is actually so, then repentance is obligatory on the imam himself, and with the repentance let him also renew his iman and renew his marriage.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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