Ruling on Sitting with the People of Evil

Question:
Some people have become accustomed to shaving their beards, letting their garments hang below the ankles, listening to singing, and watching dramas that contradict the teachings of the pure religion. It has become, may Allah protect us, something ordinary for them. And when advice is offered to them, advice after advice, and they are commanded to do what is right, they are disgusted. Is it permissible to sit with them and visit them? And what is your advice, O Your Eminence, for these people?

Answer:
There is no doubt that the matter today is great and dangerous, and that evil has become heavy, and that the mixing of today has become a mixing of the confused with the clear, the bad with the good, and the disbeliever with the Muslim. This has occurred, and great evil has resulted from it. There is no doubt that the mixing of the wicked with the righteous, and the appearance of evil among people in their homes and in their communities, is among the causes of advice not being accepted, and of people not being affected by the forbidding of evil. This is because these matters have overcome them, and have become a hobby for them and a habit for them. And departing from habits is difficult for souls, except for the one whom Allah guides.
So if the believer finds these things, let him be patient in forbidding evil, let him seek reward from Allah, and let him not despair. And Allah says: [Yusuf: 87] Even if only alleviation is achieved, even if the removal of the entire matter does not occur, even if only alleviation is achieved, it would be a great good.
So a person should not despair, but rather he should forbid evil. He sees the shaving of beards, letting garments hang below the ankles, listening to songs, and entertainment, and the like of that. So let him forbid that to his companions and his family, and let him strive for them to leave this evil, and call them to other good, perhaps they will respond to him.
If they are not affected by that, and do not respond to it, let him leave them, and let him be in another place, and Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is patient with each of them and provides for him from where he does not expect[Surat al-Talaq: 2, 3] So he should not sit with them in the house, nor be their companion, as long as they do not accept his advice, nor are affected by his disapproval, and perhaps they will mock him and criticize him, so he should not be their companion, nor respond to their invitations, nor accept what is related to their gifts, and the like of that, until they respond to the truth, and until they support the truth, and until they respond to the caller to the truth; because by this, good increases and evil decreases, and people know the truthfulness of the caller, and the truthfulness of the one who commands good and forbids evil, except if he sees and knows that his mixing with them, and his advising them, decreases evil and increases good, then he should not cut off ties, not for the sake of his love for them, nor for the sake of their kinship, but for the sake of mitigating and reducing evil.
It may be that he has a connection with them for this purpose, and he does not boycott them, because boycotting them causes the persistence of evil and its increase. If he sees that boycotting them causes the persistence of evil and its increase, and that his connection with them increases good and decreases evil, and perhaps they will respond to his call in every matter, then he should not despair, and he should not hasten to boycott them. Let him continue in the calling to Allah, and the forbidding of evil, and patience with harm, perhaps he will succeed in removing evil from them, and guiding them to good, or at least he will succeed in decreasing evil and increasing good among his community and his family.