If the father commits a sin, whether major or minor, what should the relationship between the children and their father be?

The questioner:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. The question is from Salih, this listener, regarding the son and the father, and if the father commits a sin, whether that sin is major or minor, what should the relationship between the children and their father be in the situation described? And what is the limit to which the children are permitted to cut off their father because of his committing a type of sin?

The Shaykh:
The son must advise his father, command him to obey Allah, and call him to repentance. This is obligatory for a Muslim toward Muslims in general, so how much more so toward the father? Allah the Exalted said: And Ibrahim (peace be upon him) first began by calling his father to the worship of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, alone, with no partner. This is a right of the father over his son: if he sees him in error or in violation of Allah’s command, he should guide him to the path of correctness and advise him to repent, because this is in the father’s interest. However, if he persists, and if this sin is less than shirk (associating partners with Allah) and less than kufr (disbelief), it does not negate the right of the father and obedience to the father in what is good, but with advice and continued advice and admonition. But if the matter reaches kufr and shirk with Allah, Mighty and Majestic, then the son must hate his father and not love him. You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who have opposed Allah and His Messenger, even if they are their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kinsmen. He hates him because of his sin and because he is an enemy of Allah, just as Ibrahim disavowed his father when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of Allah. But he treats him well; he treats him well in worldly dealings, provides for him, and calls him to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. He said, Glorified and Exalted is He: “And be kind to them in this world” his father, even if he is a disbeliever, but with hatred in the heart. And this kindness is by way of recompense to the father for what he did toward the son in raising him and supporting him when he was small. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. Committing a sin less than shirk does not permit the children to cut off their father because of it, as Salih said. May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh:
But with advice.

The presenter:
But with advice. May Allah reward you with good and do you well.