Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Walaikum assalam,
In general, it is blameworthy to keep the company of the people of bid`a unless there is a clear worldly or next-worldly benefit and one is sure that one will be safe of their negative influence. It is especially dangerous for the unlearned, and with those who call to the bid`a they espouse.
What is the ruling on befriending or keeping company with those who are known to insult or defame the Prophet (peace be upon him), even if they do not do so in your company? I ask because my father has close friends, who he keeps up relations with, who make a habit of speaking about the Holy Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in disparaging terms, and this has been accepted and taken for granted in our family circle... since I was a boy. When I was a boy, I complained about this, and my mother severely rebuked these men and they stopped talking about religion in my company altogether. But I am well aware of how they think, and it bothers me to be showing them respect in polite company given what I know of the hatred in their hearts towards the Best of Creation. I am thinking of telling my parents that I do not wish to show respect to such people, and that I do not want to meet them. Is there a religious ruling to which I can appeal? When I visit my parents, I find it hard to avoid being in the company of these characters.
If it is, in fact, something that is disparaging, then kufr would be feared for such individuals. Or, at the very least, it would be fisq (corruption). In either case, one should take all reasonable means to avoid their company. And if they say something of this nature, it would be obligatory to forbid them from such evil. It would be a case of nahy `an al-munkar (forbidding the evil/wrong), which is an obligation. If one cannot do so, or fears a greater harm in doing so, then one would be obliged to get up and leave the majlis they are in. [see: Ibn Abidin in his Hashiya, Nahlawi in al-Durar al-Mubaha]
Wassalam,
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