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If two people part ways and do not meet again until one of them dies, do they bear the sin of estrangement? Is it incumbent upon those who have severed ties to seek out the other party and greet them to end the abandonment, especially if one party refuses communication, or if they live in distant areas, considering the prohibition of abandonment for more than three days, and the denial of forgiveness for those who are estranged? And what is your clarification of your statement, "severing ties with her to communicate with you is not an injustice to you if she has not harmed you in any way," even though the aggrieved party believes they have suffered emotional harm and a breach of trust?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The religiously forbidden estrangement is removed by offering greetings (salam), and this is the view of the majority of scholars. If two estranged people become distant and do not meet, that is not considered a forbidden estrangement. Rather, what is forbidden is the refusal to greet when they meet. The warning mentioned in the hadith about deeds being presented every Monday and Thursday is specific to those who are estranged, and the warning is lifted from the one who initiates the greeting, even if the other person continues to estrange. As for hurting feelings, it is not absolutely forbidden, as some obligatory or permissible matters may hurt feelings, while Islamic law forbids what is oppressive, such as backbiting and reviling.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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