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The question

Is a Muslim held accountable if he severs ties with a foolish person who is verbally abusive or who backbites him, by avoiding him and not greeting him, or not inviting him, or not accepting his invitation?

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Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

The basic principle is the impermissibility of shunning a Muslim for more than three days, unless there is a legitimate Shariah reason, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "It is not permissible for a Muslim to shun his brother for more than three nights." However, it is permissible to shun for more than three days if associating with the person brings harm, deficiency, or damage to one's religion, self, or worldly affairs. Furthermore, shunning people of sin and desires is مطلوب (required/desirable), unless the interaction is for the purpose of inviting them to guidance and directing them. Greeting a person and avoiding them as much as possible exempts one from the prohibited shunning, based on his (peace be upon him) saying: "If three [days] pass him, let him meet him and greet him." And in shunning people of sin, the overriding benefit should be considered.

Summary from Ftawy's records · added here

Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.

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Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
126308
Added here
. This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
Text
Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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Read the full answer on Ftawy