AskImamDarul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah (AskImam)

Insulting people when you are chemically imbalanced

Fatwa 37384English
Jurisprudence and Rulings (Fiqh)

Question

Salam.

I have a question. I had chemical imbalance in my brain for which I take medication now and feel much better. But during that period of chemical imbalance I made some mistake by insulting some people. My question is will Allah taala forgive me or will I be punished? I deeply regret now but its too late.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

The fact that you are regretting about your past mistake is a good sign of your sincerity in making tawbah.

In principal, if one is mentally challenged to an extent where one has no control of himself, then he will not be held accountable for his actions. However, it is best to apologize to the people you have insulted and explain to them about your situation. [1]

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Syed Haneef

Student Darul Iftaa
New York, USA

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

[1] الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (3/ 244)

وكذا يقال فيمن اختل عقله لكبر أو لمرض أو لمصيبة فاجأته: فما دام في حال غلبة الخلل في الأقوال والأفعال لا تعتبر أقواله وإن كان يعلمها ويريدها لأن هذه المعرفة والإرادة غير معتبرة لعدم حصولها عن الإدراك صحيح كما لا تعتبر من الصبي العاقل

Answered by
Syed Haneef
Checked & approved by
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
View original Ask AskImam directly

Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah (AskImam). It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, ask the issuing Darul Ifta directly.