هَجْر

هَجْر

Hajr in the lexical sense is the opposite of joining; technically it is leaving what must be attended to, and a person's separation from another in body, speech or heart. ^{1 2} Abandoning what God has forbidden is commanded, on the saying 'the emigrant is one who abandons what God has forbidden'. ³ It is forbidden for a Muslim to shun his Muslim brother for more than three nights; most jurists allow shunning for three nights, and some count shunning beyond that among the major sins except toward one who has left the brotherhood of Islam. ^{4 5} Whether shunning ends by written messages to an absent person, or by greeting, the jurists differ. ^{6 7 8 9} The better of the two who shun is the one who greets first. ⁹ Shunning a non-Muslim is allowed, and a husband may shun a rebellious wife in bed until she obeys. ^{9 10} Shunning openly sinful or innovating people as correction is recognised, and the jurists give several rulings on it and three on the one who sins in secret. ^{10 11 12 13 14}