Monday, August 5, 2013

Reward/Virtue of reconciling between two disputing parties

Allah, the Exalted, says:
1.      “So fear Allah and adjust all matters of difference among you, and obey Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), if you are believers” [al-Anfaal 8:1] 

2.      “There is no good in most of their secret talks save (in) him who orders Sadaqah (charity in Allah’s Cause), or Ma‘roof (Islamic Monotheism and all the good and righteous deeds which Allah has ordained), or conciliation between mankind; and he who does this, seeking the good Pleasure of Allah, We shall give him a great reward” [al-Nisa’ 4:114] 

3.      “And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute (with one another) lest you lose courage and your strength departs, and be patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are As‑Saabiroon (the patient)” [al-Anfaal 8:46

4.      “And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur’an), and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s Favor on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islamic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided” [al ‘Imraan 3:103] 
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,
1.      “Reconciling between people is better than observing voluntary fasts, offering voluntary prayers and giving voluntary charity. [Tirmidhi]

2.      “Shall I not tell you something that is better than the status of (voluntary) fasting, prayer and charity?” They said: “Yes.” He said: “Reconciling in a case of discord, for the evil of discord is the shaver, It is the shaver, and I do not say that it shaves hair, but that it shaves (i.e., destroys) religious commitment.” [Tirmidhi]

3.      “He is not a liar who seeks to reconcile between people and says good things.” [Bukhaari, 2490]

4.      “Do not hate one another, do not envy one another, and do not turn away from one another. Be, O slaves of Allah, brothers. It is not permissible for a Muslim to forsake his brother for more than three days.” [Bukhaari, 6065; Muslim, 2559]

5.      “It is not permissible for a Muslim to forsake his brother for more than three days, each of them turning away when they meet. The better of them is the one who gives the greeting of salaam first.” [Bukhaari, 2757; Muslim, 2560]

6.      “The gates of Paradise are opened on Monday and Thursday, and everyone who does not associate anything with Allah is forgiven, except a man who has had an argument with his brother. It is said: ‘Wait for these two until they reconcile, wait for these two until they reconcile, wait for these two until they reconcile.” (“Wait for these two” means wait until they have reconciled and love has been restored between them) [Muslim, 2565]

7.      “Whoever forsakes his brother for a year, it is as if he has shed his blood.” [Abu Dawood]
Commentary:
1.      Islam has permitted telling lies in order to achieve this great purpose. So it is permissible for you to tell each party that the other has said good things about them and praised them so as to encourage reconciliation. This does not come under the heading of lies that are haraam. 
2.      It is forbidden for a Muslim to forsake his brother by not greeting him with salaam and by turning away from him for more than three days, so long as that forsaking is not for a shar’i reason and is not being done in order to achieve some purpose, in which case it is permissible to forsake him for more than three days. 

3.      You have to remind these two disputing parties of these Quranic Verses and haadeeths. Try to reconcile their points of view, and encourage them to forget their differences. You could address each of them directly, or you could write these texts on a piece of paper and give it to them to read. We ask Allah to help you to do that which is good. And Allah knows best.

Thanks; Eng. Burhan

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