ʿAdāwah · Enmity Between Believers

The story

The Companions practiced reconciliation rapidly. Even when major disputes occurred, the three-day limit was honored. The classical adab literature preserves multiple stories of senior Companions making first-move reconciliation toward those who had wronged them, capturing the Prophet's ﷺ 'better of them is the one who initiates salām' criterion.

Why it's named first

ʿAdāwah is enmity between believers: the diseased state of harboring hatred-and-opposition toward another believer. The Prophet ﷺ: 'It is not lawful for a Muslim to abandon (yahjur) his brother for more than three days; whichever of them passes by the other and turns away, the better of them is the one who initiates salām.' (Bukhārī 6077, Muslim 2560, Abū Ayyūb.) The three-day limit is the structural maximum; beyond is sin.

In the Qur'an

وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

“And hold firmly to the rope¹ of Allāh all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allāh upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allāh make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.”

3:103Listen Read 3:103 with tafsir

Svenska: Och grip alla med ett fast grepp om Guds räddningslina och låt er inte splittras! Minns Guds välgärningar mot er: fiendskap hade rått mellan er, men Han lät [viljan till] försoning tränga in i era hjärtan och med Hans välsignelse blev ni bröder. Ja, Han räddade er från randen av en flammande avgrund! Så klargör Gud Sina budskap för er för att ni skall få vägledning

In the Sunnah

Bukhārī 6077, Muslim 2560 (above). Cross-ref Muslim 2565: 'The doors of Paradise are opened on Mondays and Thursdays. Every servant who associates nothing with Allah is forgiven, except a man who has enmity with his brother. It is said: leave these two until they reconcile.' The hadith: ʿadāwah blocks the divine forgiveness-flow on Mondays and Thursdays.

The cure

1. End any enmity within three days. Initiate salām; the Prophetic criterion makes you 'the better.' 2. If three days have passed, end immediately even if delayed. 3. Make duʿāʾ for those you have had enmity with; pray for their guidance. 4. Avoid amplifying others' enmities. 5. Make tawbah for past sustained ʿadāwah.

What is at stake

The believer in sustained ʿadāwah loses Monday/Thursday forgiveness-windows. The diseased state damages the umma's social fabric. The believer's duʿāʾ becomes structurally weaker because of the enmity-stain.