Admiring good quality in disbeliever or sinner

3-1-2018 | IslamWeb

Question:

if I have a good opinion or appreciation about the intelligence, potential, talent, shining in life (study, job, other fields etc.) of a sinner who is a Muslim/disbeliever (male or female) while not liking their sins, is it enough to protect my faith? Or do I need to hate their intelligence, shining in life, and all good qualities because of their sins (not wearing hijab, disbelief, etc.)?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is no harm in admiring a good quality in a disbeliever or sinner. There is no significant difference between admiring someone for a good quality in him and admiring the quality itself. It is prohibited to like and admire the disbeliever for his Kufr (disbelief) and the falsehood which he follows. As for liking him and admiring him for a lawful worldly reason and praising him for it, then this does not fall into the category of the prohibited love and admiration.

It should be noted, though, that it is feared that such admiration might develop and strengthen in the heart of the Muslim until it makes him stop hating the Kufr and falsehood of the disbelievers and sinners because of a talent they have or the like. Shaykh Saalih Al-Fawzaan wrote in his commentary on the book entitled At-Tawheed, "Some Muslims with weak faith may admire the disbelievers while ignoring their disbelief and the evil fate that awaits them. Such a misguided attitude may drive them to think highly of the disbelievers and imitate their manners and evil habits instead of imitating them in their perseverance and preparation of the means of power."

Allah knows best.