Is it permissible to associate with a Christian?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : O Shaykh, please, I swear by Allah, is it permissible to associate with a Christian?
The Shaykh : Welcome, welcome.
The questioner : Is it permissible to associate with a Christian in terms of sleeping, eating, and drinking?
The Shaykh : If he is able to fulfill the obligation—welcome, how are you, how is it going?
The questioner : What do you mean, Shaykh? What is the obligation that... he has regarding the Christian?
The Shaykh : The obligation is that he should maintain his morals and etiquette, perform the obligations of his worship, and not be influenced by the open sinfulness of his companion. For it was said in the past: "Do not ask about a man, but ask about his companion, *** for every associate is imitated by his associate." And it was also said: "The companion is a drag-along." And it is the prevailing custom that a bad companion influences his righteous companion. And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ; meaning the blacksmith Sahih al-Bukhari 5534 . And there is no doubt that you will at least smell a foul odor from this Christian companion because he does not perform the full ritual bath from major ritual impurity.
The student : ... forbidden, meaning his association.
The Shaykh : It is not necessary, my brother, may Allah guide you. In every matter, it is enough for the scholar to say "forbidden, forbidden." It is sufficient for the matter to be as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Do you understand this hadith, or are you a stranger to it?
The student : No, may Allah break your mouth, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : It seems he is a stranger to it.
The Shaykh : Welcome, welcome.
The questioner : Is it permissible to associate with a Christian in terms of sleeping, eating, and drinking?
The Shaykh : If he is able to fulfill the obligation—welcome, how are you, how is it going?
The questioner : What do you mean, Shaykh? What is the obligation that... he has regarding the Christian?
The Shaykh : The obligation is that he should maintain his morals and etiquette, perform the obligations of his worship, and not be influenced by the open sinfulness of his companion. For it was said in the past: "Do not ask about a man, but ask about his companion, *** for every associate is imitated by his associate." And it was also said: "The companion is a drag-along." And it is the prevailing custom that a bad companion influences his righteous companion. And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The example of a good companion is like the example of a seller of musk; either he gives you some, or you buy from him, or you smell a pleasant fragrance from him. And the example of a bad companion is like the example of the owner of the bellows
مَثَل الجليس الصالح كمَثَل بائع المسك ؛ إما أن يُحذِيَك ، وإما أن تشتري منه ، وإما أن تشمَّ منه رائحة طيِّبة ، ومثل الجليس السوء كمثل صاحب الكيرwill either burn your clothes or you will get a bad smell from him
إما أن يحرقَ ثيابك ، وإما أن تشمَّ منه رائحة كريهةThe student : ... forbidden, meaning his association.
The Shaykh : It is not necessary, my brother, may Allah guide you. In every matter, it is enough for the scholar to say "forbidden, forbidden." It is sufficient for the matter to be as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
And between them are matters of doubt, which many people do not know. So whoever avoids the doubtful matters has protected his religion and his honor. And verily, for every king is a protected area, and verily, the protected area of Allah is His prohibitions. And verily, whoever goes around the protected area is likely to fall into it
وبينهما أمور مشتبهات ، لا يعلمهنَّ كثير من الناس ، فَمَن اتَّقى الشبهات فقد استبرَأ لدينه وعرضه ، ألا وإنَّ لكل ملك حمى ، ألا وإن حمى الله محارمه ، ألا ومَن حام حول الحمى يوشكُ أن يقعَ فيهThe student : No, may Allah break your mouth, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : It seems he is a stranger to it.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.