Making a Conditional Promise to Leave Islam in Certain Contexts

“If you can show me an indisputable mistake in the Qur’an, I will leave Islam.”

Some Muslims are uneasy with this sort of rhetoric, as they feel it lacks adab with the deen of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, despite there not being any serious grievances with the substance of the remark itself (presuming that by “indisputable,” we have eliminated all potential evasions of the anti-Qur’anic argument). They contend that such conditional statements of apostasy are inappropriate.

Nevertheless, we must recognize the different intentions underlying the utilization of such rhetoric. If someone intends to make this statement because he believes that it is possible that Islam is false and is still “exploring the various religions out there,” well then not only is this comment blameworthy, but the Iman of said individual should be probed!

However, if the individual aims to utter this remark to the kuffar because he is confident that they cannot meet this challenge, and he is only nudging them to try in order to expose their inevitable failure and demonstrate the intellectual robustness of Islam, then not only is this permissible but praiseworthy as well. For this is a tactic which Allah directed the Prophet (peace be upon him) to employ himself:

قُلْ فَأْتُوا بِكِتَابٍ مِّنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ هُوَ أَهْدَىٰ مِنْهُمَا أَتَّبِعْهُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Bring then a scripture from Allah which is a better guide than these two so I may follow it, if your claim is true.” [Surah 28, Ayah 49]