Sitting with and associating with one who abandons prayer
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Question: Is it permissible for me to sit with and associate with one who abandons prayer and is insistent on abandoning it?
Answer: It is not permissible for you to sit with him or associate with him in eating and drinking unless you are advising him and forbidding him from the evil, and you hope that Allah will guide him through your hands. If you are doing this with him, it is permissible for you, or it is obligatory for you to do so with him.
Because this is part of forbidding evil and calling to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), perhaps Allah will guide him through your hands.
As for if you associate with him and sit with him, and eat and drink with him without forbidding the evil, while he is persisting in abandoning prayer, or persisting in some of the major sins, then it is not permissible for you to mix with him.
And Allah has cursed the Children of Israel for something like this,Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Ma'idah: 78, 79] ,
And it was mentioned in the interpretation of the verse: that one of them would see another committing a sin and would forbid him from it, then he would meet him on another day while he was still persisting in his sin, and he would not forbid him, but would mix with him and be his companion in eating, drinking, and sitting. When Allah saw this from them, He struck the hearts of some of them against others, and He cursed them on the tongues of their prophets. Our Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned us against doing this action, so that we might not be afflicted with the punishment that afflicted them. And Allah knows best.
Question: For these people, or others who commit some of the sins, is it better to mix with them and continue advising them in the hope of rectifying their affairs, or to boycott them and leave their gatherings entirely?
Answer: It is better to advise them, unless there is a benefit in boycotting them in that they will be deterred. If boycotting them results, for example, in rebuking them and shaming them, and that is more effective in deterring them, then they should be boycotted.
As for if boycotting them does not benefit anything, then he is between two things: either he mixes with them, advises them, commands them to do good, and forbids them from evil, and if he sees no benefit, he withdraws from them and boycotts them.
Answer: It is not permissible for you to sit with him or associate with him in eating and drinking unless you are advising him and forbidding him from the evil, and you hope that Allah will guide him through your hands. If you are doing this with him, it is permissible for you, or it is obligatory for you to do so with him.
Because this is part of forbidding evil and calling to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), perhaps Allah will guide him through your hands.
As for if you associate with him and sit with him, and eat and drink with him without forbidding the evil, while he is persisting in abandoning prayer, or persisting in some of the major sins, then it is not permissible for you to mix with him.
And Allah has cursed the Children of Israel for something like this,Allah the Exalted said:
(78) Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed. (79) They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did. How wretched was that which they were doing.
لُعِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى لِسَانِ دَاوُدَ وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ كَانُوا لَا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُAnd it was mentioned in the interpretation of the verse: that one of them would see another committing a sin and would forbid him from it, then he would meet him on another day while he was still persisting in his sin, and he would not forbid him, but would mix with him and be his companion in eating, drinking, and sitting. When Allah saw this from them, He struck the hearts of some of them against others, and He cursed them on the tongues of their prophets. Our Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned us against doing this action, so that we might not be afflicted with the punishment that afflicted them. And Allah knows best.
Question: For these people, or others who commit some of the sins, is it better to mix with them and continue advising them in the hope of rectifying their affairs, or to boycott them and leave their gatherings entirely?
Answer: It is better to advise them, unless there is a benefit in boycotting them in that they will be deterred. If boycotting them results, for example, in rebuking them and shaming them, and that is more effective in deterring them, then they should be boycotted.
As for if boycotting them does not benefit anything, then he is between two things: either he mixes with them, advises them, commands them to do good, and forbids them from evil, and if he sees no benefit, he withdraws from them and boycotts them.