One may curse the wronging party, but why is the wronged party then cursed, too?

One may curse the wronging party, but why is the wronged party then cursed, too?” The Imam (‘a) answered: لأَِنَّهُ لاَ يَدْعُو أَخَاهُ إِلَى صِلَتِهِ، وَلاَ يَتَغَامَسُ لَهُ مِنْ كَلاَمِهِ.

سَمِعْتُ أَبِي عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ يَقُولُ: إِذَا تَنَازَعَ اثْنَانِ فَعَازَّ أَحَدُهُمَا الآخَرُ فَلْيَرْجِعِ الْمَظْلُومُ إِلَى صَاحِبِهِ حَتَّى يَقُولَ لِصَاحِبِهِ: <أَيْ أَخِي، أَنَا الظَّالِمُ.\حَتَّى يَقْطَعَ الْهِجْرَانُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ صَاحِبِهِ، فَإِنَّ اللهَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى حَكَمٌ عَدْلٌ يَأْخُذُ لِلْمَظْلُومِ مِنَ الظَّالِمِ.

The wronged party may also be cursed because he does not call the other party to reconcile…I heard my father saying, “If two (of our Shi’ah) disagree with each other and one of them prevails over the other, the wronged party should come to the other and confess that he was wrong, so that their disagreement will come to an end.

Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, is surely a fair Judge and will certainly judge for the benefit of the wronged party.” [^9] Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) has also reported on the authority of his father that the Holy Prophet (S) said: أَيُّمَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ تَهَاجَرَا فَمَكَثَا ثَلاَثاً لاَ يَصْطَلِحَانِ إِلاَّ كَانَا خَارِجَيْنِ مِنَ الإِسْلاَمِ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ بَيْنَهُمَا وِلاَيَةٌ، فَأَيُّهُمَا سَبَقَ إِلَى كَلاَمِ أَخِيهِ كَانَ السَّابِقَ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ يَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ.

Verily, any two Muslims that become estranged and refrain from reconciliation within three days will have certainly abandoned the religion of Islam, and their brotherhood-in-faith will be canceled. Hence, the party who precedes the other in making peace will also precede the other in entering Paradise. [^10] (5) Traditions have also highlighted the necessity of accepting the apologies of others. Hence, a true believer must accept the apology of those who had caused him pain.

This trait reflects the significance of maintaining good social relations, blocking the door in the face of all sorts of rupture of relations, and eradicating the traces of the causes and effects of such dispute. Exceptions Islam has determined a set of exceptions in this field so that this concept is complete and the significance of openness emphasized.

In our discussion of the fourth aspect of the Islamic concept of social relations, we referred to some of these exceptions under general social relations.

✦ ✦ ✦