وعن ابي ايوب رضى الله عنه ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم قال: لا يحل لمسلم ان يهجر اخاه فوق ثلاث ليال يلتقيان فيعرض هذا ويعرض هذا وخيرهما الذى يبدا بالسلام متفق عليه
Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “It is not lawful for a Muslim to cut off relations with his brother for more than three days. When the two meet, one turns his face away and the other turns his face away. The better of the two is the one who initiates the greeting of peace.”
Takhrij:
Benefits:
➊ From the statement “it is not lawful beyond three nights” it is clearly evident that cutting off speech between two people for more than three nights is forbidden. This is because when one ceases conversation, one has lost all the rights that they owed to one another, such as greeting, accepting invitations, visiting the sick, responding to a sneeze, and so on.
It is permissible to refrain from mutual conversation for three nights, because displeasure and anger are part of human nature. Keeping this in view, this concession has been granted so that on the first day the anger may settle, on the second day a person may reflect, and on the third day return. Generally, anger ends or diminishes within three days. If one cuts off relations for longer than this, it entails cutting off rights.
➌ The cutting of relations, which is forbidden, is ended by giving the greeting of peace. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا يكون لمسلم ان يهجر مسلما فوق ثلاثة فإذا لقيه سلم عليه ثلاث مرار كل ذلك لا يرد عليه فقد باء بإثمه
“It is not lawful for a Muslim to forsake a Muslim for more than three days. So when he meets him, he should greet him with peace three times. If (the other person) does not return the greeting each time, then he will return with his sin.”
Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said that if the other brother is distressed by his not speaking, then the cutting of relations does not end merely by greeting, but ends by restoring the previous relations. However, the above hadith indicates that what is forbidden is the situation in which the two meet but turn away and do not even greet each other. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the relationship which religious brotherhood demands can only be attained by fully restoring the previous relations.
➍ It is permissible to cease speaking with someone because of disobedience to Allah. As the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the Muslims from speaking to Ka’b bin Malik and his companions because they had stayed behind in the Battle of Tabuk. It appears that this cessation of speech is for sincere companions who are affected by the cessation of speech and who are going to return to the truth; otherwise, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Muslims did not cease speaking with disbelievers and hypocrites. The cutting of relations with disbelievers and hypocrites is in the heart, not in the tongue. However, with sincere Muslims, the outward displeasure is expressed by ceasing speech, but the cutting of relations is not in the heart.
