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His elder brother calls him with worst names

Question

Assalaamu alaykum. In a conversation with my brother, he got angry with me and called me " Fir‘awn" (pharaoh) and said that I am acting like God. My brother, who is my elder brother, always rebukes my mother and says filthy words to her and to my father. He does not pray at all, except for the Friday prayers. So What is the ruling on one who calls anyone Dajjaal (the Antichrist), Abu Jahal (the father of ignorance [which was the nickname of one of the worst enemies of early Islam]), or Fir‘awn? I pray to Allah to guide my brother and sisters and to guide my parents to the straight path. Can I break the relationship with my brother to make him realize that what he said to me (Firaun) is not correct and that I am hurt by his words?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

You have mentioned some evil matters about your brother, among which is him abandoning the prayer with the exception of the Friday prayer, being disobedient to his parents, having bad manners, and insulting you with those ugly words.

He is indeed upon very serious danger unless Allah has mercy upon him.

The most important thing that we advise you to do is to be patient with him and to supplicate Allah to guide him and enable him to regain his senses.

We stress the importance of the supplication of the parents for him, as it is answered. Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said, "There are three supplications that will undoubtedly be answered (by Allah): the supplication of a victim of injustice, the supplication of a traveler, and the supplication of a parent for his child." [Ibn Maajah]

You must advise him in a kind and gentle manner, out of compassion for him, hoping that he would become righteous and return to his Lord.

If this happens, praise be to Allah; otherwise, there is nothing wrong with deserting him if a valid benefit is expected from doing so. Otherwise, it would be better not to desert him.

For more benefit, please refer to fatwas 125131, 18611, and 347560.

If a person calls another Dajjaal, Fir‘awn, or Abu Jahl, then there is no doubt that he has committed a clear sin. If you are asking whether this is included in declaring one’s fellow Muslim a Kaafir (disbeliever), then the answer is that this is not necessarily so. Perhaps he only meant drawing a resemblance in having bad traits.

In addition to this, some scholars interpreted the hadeeth about the threat for someone who says to his brother, ‘O Kaafir’, to mean minor Kufr.

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said in Al-Istiqaamah, “The Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) called him a 'brother' when he said so, and he said that it will fall on him it if it does not apply to the other person. If either of them goes completely out of the fold of Islam, he would not be considered as 'his brother' [i.e. the Prophet would not have said 'his brother'].

Besides, Ibn Qudaamah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said in Al-Mughni, “These ahaadeeth are meant to strongly deter (someone) and resemble him to the Kaafirs, but they do not mean that he really is a Kaafir.

Allah knows best.

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