Friendship and Company
75 questions
Is it permissible to speak with a man who claims that the origin of man is a monkey, even though he knows about Islam, and would I bear a burden of sin if I continue to converse with him after he has said that?
What is the ruling on saying: "And my Lord is like my friend, He will not abandon me" and "I cannot live without you," and similar phrases?
What is the ruling of Islamic law on not returning a greeting and shunning a person, despite understanding that the cause of the dispute is trivial and despite repeated attempts to end the quarrel?
Is someone who quarrels with another person because the latter is a bad companion considered to fall under the ruling of "one who quarrels" (al-mushahin), mentioned in the hadith about the night of mid-Sha’ban: “Allah looks upon all of His creation on the night of mid-Sha’ban and forgives all of His creation except for a polytheist or one who quarrels”?
Is there a way or a place for spiritual retreat (i'tikaf), worship, studying knowledge, and isolating oneself from people for an entire lifetime, preferably in Makkah?
Is playing with friends who use foul language and joke around with insults and curses considered a "gathering of evil for devils," and should one abandon it despite the scarcity of remaining friends and the fear of being perceived as an extremist, and how can one find a middle ground in this matter?
Is it permissible to cut ties with friends who mock and ridicule the committed (religious person), and is that considered a sin that prevents the acceptance of good deeds?
What is the ruling on commercial and social dealings with effeminate men who openly display their effeminacy, such as hiring them for work or buying from them, and what should be done if it is known that they prepared the food or served the guests at an occasion?
Is it possible to deal with these feelings that go beyond friendship and reach the desire for sexual practice with a friend, which the questioner describes as sexual perversion, while preserving the relationship between the two friends?
What should I do about my friend whose treatment of me changed after I was the cause of his commitment to prayer and memorization of the Qur'an?
How can one spend free time in useful and engaging activities, far from sin, given the difficulty of finding righteous friends?
How do I choose a friend from among my acquaintances?
What is the explanation of the Hadith: "Whoever increases the number of a people is one of them"?
What is the ruling on feeding one who prays only Friday prayers or one who prays according to his whims, taking into consideration the Hadith, "Let none but a pious person eat your food," and the desire to act upon the Hadith of "feeding others"?
Is the difficulty of joining the righteous brethren in the questioner's country, and the fear of harm that might befall him or his family as a result, considered a satanic delusion? And is it advisable to join brethren online as an alternative to a real righteous companion?
Is it permissible to exclude a colleague from one's life, and to encourage friends to do so, considering that he believes pornographic films are not forbidden because they are not mentioned in the Qur'an, does not believe in the Holy Qur'an, follows the Jews, and believes in the existence of multiple suns in the universe?
Is love for the sake of Allah and fulfilling its rights considered an act of worship and a means of drawing closer to Allah? And is its reward like that of Hajj, as Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: "O A'mash, do you not know that going out to fulfill your brother's need is a Hajj after a Hajj?" And will the one who loves for the sake of Allah reach the point of standing in the shade of the Most Merciful and earning His love?
What is the difference between an intimate friend (khalīl) and a companion (ṣāḥib) linguistically and according to Islamic law?
Is the questioner considered to be in error for his decision to boycott two people who habitually backbite, slander, and mock the rituals of Islam, after he advised them repeatedly to no avail?
To what extent is the saying "Three things have no existence: the ghoul, the phoenix, and the loyal friend" true, and what is the ruling of Islamic law regarding the existence or non-existence of a friend?
How should I act after having been exploited in a deviant relationship that caused me psychological and social harm, and led me to abandon my studies and family, and now that I have begun to return to Allah, my ex-friend who caused me this has returned, but this time he is inviting me to return to my family, so should I return to him and rekindle our friendship, or should I leave him as he is?
Is it obligatory for a Muslim to say to his Muslim brother, "Indeed, I love you for the sake of Allah," if he loves him?
What are the characteristics of a good friend?
Which is more correct: "I love you by Allah" or "I love you in Allah," and what is the difference between them?