The Ruling on Boycotting Relatives Who Openly Commit Sins and Maintaining Family Ties
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Excuse me. The criterion for boycotting relatives: nowadays, many relatives—may Allah forgive your sins—have sins and very apparent transgressions. So how should one deal with them? One advises them once, twice, and three times, but they do not accept. Yes.
The Shaykh:
It is closer to good. If he sees that continuing in the sin is likely, he should continue advising them, perhaps Allah will guide them. And if he sees that boycotting is the way, he should boycott them.
The questioner:
But how does one reconcile this with maintaining family ties?
The Shaykh:
He maintains the family tie even if he boycotts them. It is not necessary that if he is poor, he gives to him even if he has boycotted him.
The questioner:
But he visits him in his home, sits with him, and keeps him company.
The Shaykh:
If he displays the transgressions openly, no, and he does not accept the advice, this is his wording. Ibn Abd al-Qawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Boycotting one who displays transgressions is a recommended practice (sunnah).” It has been said that if it deters him, it is more obligatory and stronger. It has been said that one should remain silent as long as he is openly defiant, and not throw stones or look at him with a dark, frowning face. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) boycotted some people and left others alone for the sake of public benefit. He boycotted al-Dhakkur for fifty nights and did not boycott Abdullah ibn Abi and his group. Yes.
Excuse me. The criterion for boycotting relatives: nowadays, many relatives—may Allah forgive your sins—have sins and very apparent transgressions. So how should one deal with them? One advises them once, twice, and three times, but they do not accept. Yes.
The Shaykh:
It is closer to good. If he sees that continuing in the sin is likely, he should continue advising them, perhaps Allah will guide them. And if he sees that boycotting is the way, he should boycott them.
The questioner:
But how does one reconcile this with maintaining family ties?
The Shaykh:
He maintains the family tie even if he boycotts them. It is not necessary that if he is poor, he gives to him even if he has boycotted him.
The questioner:
But he visits him in his home, sits with him, and keeps him company.
The Shaykh:
If he displays the transgressions openly, no, and he does not accept the advice, this is his wording. Ibn Abd al-Qawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Boycotting one who displays transgressions is a recommended practice (sunnah).” It has been said that if it deters him, it is more obligatory and stronger. It has been said that one should remain silent as long as he is openly defiant, and not throw stones or look at him with a dark, frowning face. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) boycotted some people and left others alone for the sake of public benefit. He boycotted al-Dhakkur for fifty nights and did not boycott Abdullah ibn Abi and his group. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام [ ابن باز ] [ الشرح الجديد ]، باب الذكر والدعاء — islamhouse.com (4:49)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.