He has Shi'ah neighbors, so what is his obligation toward them?
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Question : A questioner says: I have neighbors who are Imami and Ja'fari Shi'ah, and I treat them with kindness, giving them gifts and receiving gifts from them. But people blame me for this, saying that a Sunni Muslim should treat a Khattabi better than a Shi'ite or others, and they want me to abandon my kind treatment of them. What is the ruling?
Answer : Neighbors have rights over one another. A neighbor has a right, the right of neighborliness, even if he is not a Muslim. The scholars have said that there are three types of neighbors: a close Muslim neighbor, who has three rights: the right of neighborliness, the right of kinship, and the right of Islam; a Muslim neighbor who is not a close relative, who has two rights: the right of neighborliness and the right of Islam; and a non-Muslim neighbor, who has one right, which is the right of neighborliness, due to the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1131Hasan (Darussalam) and he who believes in the Hereafter, let him honor his neighbor. If the neighbors are not on the guidance of Allah and His proof, then it is obligatory for you—indeed, it is obligatory—and among the best gifts you can give them is to call them to the truth and clarify the truth for them. But how do we clarify the truth? Do we openly show hostility toward them and insult them for the misguidance, innovations, and disbelief they are upon, or do we clarify the truth for them so that they accept the truth, especially the ignorant among them? Which is more appropriate?
The second is more appropriate: that we clarify the truth and present it to them, because some of them are ignorant and do not know. The callers to evil and misguidance tell them that this is the truth, so they think it is correct. But if the truth were clarified to them in a proper manner, they would not choose the path they are on. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said:[Al-An'am 6:108] So, clarify the truth without insulting what they are upon. Then, if they accept the truth, they will know on their own that they were upon falsehood and will deny the path they were on.
Answer : Neighbors have rights over one another. A neighbor has a right, the right of neighborliness, even if he is not a Muslim. The scholars have said that there are three types of neighbors: a close Muslim neighbor, who has three rights: the right of neighborliness, the right of kinship, and the right of Islam; a Muslim neighbor who is not a close relative, who has two rights: the right of neighborliness and the right of Islam; and a non-Muslim neighbor, who has one right, which is the right of neighborliness, due to the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
Whoever believes in Allah
من كان يؤمن باللهThe second is more appropriate: that we clarify the truth and present it to them, because some of them are ignorant and do not know. The callers to evil and misguidance tell them that this is the truth, so they think it is correct. But if the truth were clarified to them in a proper manner, they would not choose the path they are on. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said:
And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made pleasing to every community their deeds
وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ كَذَٰلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 60 - 79 له جيران شيعة فما واجبه تجاههم - الوصايا العشر - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
