What is the ruling on harassing disbelievers in the streets and roads, pressuring them, and harming them?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah forgive you, some of the young men harass disbelievers in the roads.
The Shaykh : How do they harass them?
The questioner : They harass disbelievers in the roads and may harm them. Is this permissible?
The Shaykh : Harassing disbelievers with whom we have a covenant and a treaty is forbidden and not permissible. However, honoring them and making room for them is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, as he said:Bulugh al-Maram 16:10.
The meaning is not that one should harm them or press them against a wall or the like, because the disbelieving Jews were present in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in Madinah, and he did not treat them with such treatment of harm. Rather, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) treated them in accordance with what the covenant required.
The Shaykh : How do they harass them?
The questioner : They harass disbelievers in the roads and may harm them. Is this permissible?
The Shaykh : Harassing disbelievers with whom we have a covenant and a treaty is forbidden and not permissible. However, honoring them and making room for them is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, as he said:
Do not initiate the saluting of Jews and Christians (when you meet them), and if you meet any of them on the road, force him to go to the narrowest part of the road (i.e. do not give way for them to pass, but keep going).
لا تبدؤوا اليهود والنصارى بالسلام وإذا لقيتموهم في طريق فاضطروهم إلى أضيقهThe meaning is not that one should harm them or press them against a wall or the like, because the disbelieving Jews were present in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in Madinah, and he did not treat them with such treatment of harm. Rather, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) treated them in accordance with what the covenant required.