Bassam Zawadi #fundie call-to-monotheism.com

The Prophet (peace be upon him) is telling us that we should not be friends or companions of people that can have a negative influence upon our faith. If a person wants to be friends with a non-Muslim then this should only be done out of necessity. For instance, if you have a Non-Muslim friend who you meet and constantly have interfaith dialogues with and your intention is to bring him to Islam then there is nothing wrong with this. If you have a Non-Muslim friend whom you have to meet outside for any important matters (e.g. work related) then again there is no problem with this.

However, if you simply just want to hang around with a non-Muslim while there is no necessity for doing so then this is prohibited. The reason for this is because it could have a negative impact upon your faith. Just think about what things you would be doing with this individual. You are not working on anything important with him nor are you talking about religion. So what are you doing then? If you are wasting your time going out to the movies, picnics, etc. with this person then there is a big chance that you would be committing sins, since he does not believe that everything that is haram for you is also haram for him.

Also, over time your heart might soften too much for the person that you may begin to disbelieve that Allah could possibly place such a person in Hell fire. To have such a belief is kufr. Thus, it is advised to avoid these kinds of friendships in order to protect one's faith.

I must also stress on the fact that this same logic applies to Muslims as well. It is forbidden for you to be friends with a non-practicing Muslim who could negatively influence you in regards to practicing your faith. I would associate with a non-Muslim who is willing to speak about matters of faith rather than associate with a Muslim who drinks alcohol and wants to drag me down to his level as well.

We should be friends with people that would encourage us in staying away from inequities and not the other way around.

Allah punished those Israelites who did not positively influence their friends:

Surah 5:78-79
Curses were pronounced on those among the children of Israel who rejected faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses. Nor did they (usually) forbid one another the iniquities which they committed: evil indeed were the deeds which they did.

Thus, we ought to choose to not befriend and be close to those who will not try to positively influence us. This applies to non-practicing Muslims (they are sinning and will influence you to sin) and to non-Muslims (what interest do they have in ensuring that you practice your faith?)

In conclusion, we are allowed to be friends with non-Muslims in the sense that we don't have to wage war against them and we can have peaceful relations with them and engage in friendly dialogue with them. However, we are not permitted to be close friends with them in the sense that they are our companions because this might have a negative impact upon ourselves. The exception to this is that you can be close friends with them if you have the ability to influence and not be influenced and try to have the person come to Islam or you can also associate with them for important matters such as work.

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