- Chapter: Venerating the Sanctities of the Muslims, Clarifying Their Rights, and Showing Compassion and Mercy toward Them
Allah the Exalted says: “Whoever venerates the sanctities of Allah—that is better for him with his Lord” (Al-Ḥajj 30); and He says: “Whoever venerates the symbols of Allah—it is indeed a sign of piety in the hearts” (Al-Ḥajj 32); and: “Lower your wing to the believers” (Al-Ḥijr 88); and: “Whoever kills a soul—unless for a soul or for corruption in the land—it is as though he has killed all mankind” (Al-Māʾidah 32).
Explanation
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—states: “Chapter: Venerating the sanctities of the Muslims, clarifying their rights, and showing compassion and mercy toward them.” A Muslim enjoys rights over his fellow Muslim—indeed, many rights—which the Prophet ﷺ explained on numerous occasions.
Among those rights is that, when one meets his brother, he should greet him, saying, “Peace be upon you.” It is not lawful for him to boycott his brother for more than three days: they meet, each turning away from the other, and the better of the two is the one who initiates the greeting of peace.
You are, however, permitted to avoid him for up to three days if you believe some benefit lies in doing so; you may even keep away for longer should you find him persisting in a sin and unrepentant, and you think that your boycott will spur him to repent. For this reason, the sound view concerning boycotting is that the concession applies within three days, and anything beyond that must be weighed in light of the potential benefit. If good is likely, then do it; otherwise, do not—even if he is openly sinning. If there is no benefit in boycotting him, then do not boycott him.