Question:
Wa ‘alaikum as-salaam wa Rahmatullah wa barakatuhu,
Mufti Sahib,
Alhamdulillah, I now understand that having a very close, hearty relationship with the Kuffaar is Haraam and that having a strictly business relationship with them is also permissible; but I did not quite grasp how a relationship is classified as Muwaasaat and Mudaaraat (i.e. the second and third types).
Answer:
Muwaalaat (the first type) is a hearty relationship i.e. a bond based on each others love. Muwaasaat, as formerly explained, is an inferior form of friendship in which love does not play a role e.g. an academic relationship.
The third type (Mudaaraat) is a pretended relationship. One usually maintains such a relation with a disbeliever in order to attract him to the Deen of Islam.
And Allah Ta’ala knows best
Ebrahim bin Zainul Abedeen Backus
Attested to as correct by:
Mufti Muhammad Ashraf
Darul Iftaa
Jameah Mahmoodiyah
Springs
24 February 2005
15 Muharram 1426