Dislike and aversion (kurh)

Kurh is, in the lexicon, hardship, and is the opposite of love; one says he disliked a thing, so it is disliked ¹. Abu Hilal al-Askari distinguishes dislike from hatred: hatred has a wider use, while dislike is used of things hatred does not cover, so one says "I dislike this food", not "I hate it" ².

Dislike is of two kinds: what the nature shrinks from, and what reason or the law shrinks from; so one may say of the same thing that he wants it and dislikes it from different points of view ². The verse "fighting is prescribed for you while it is disliked" (Surat al-Baqara, verse 216) means it is disliked by the nature ².

Dislike may be obligatory, as in hating unbelief and sin; the hadith of the three who taste the sweetness of faith includes that a man should dislike returning to unbelief ³. It may be forbidden, as in hating Islam, the Prophet, the Companions or the righteous, and this includes envy of another's blessing and wishing it gone ³. It may be permitted, as in disliking a decree that is a sin, since a person must accept the decree but need not accept the thing decreed. Al-Qarafi says that resentment at the decree is forbidden by consensus and acceptance of the decree is obligatory by consensus, and that natural distaste for painful events does not contradict acceptance ^{3 4}.

Whoever hates Islam or the Prophet is a disbeliever and, if he does not repent, is to be put to death. Hating the Helpers and Companions for their support of religion and their sacrifice is disbelief; hating them for themselves is disobedience ⁴.

The jurists dislike a man putting himself forward to lead a congregation most of whom dislike him, on the hadith of Abu Umama that three people's prayer does not rise past their ears, one of them being an imam whom the people dislike. The Hanafis dislike it as forbidden if he is faulty or others have better claim; the Malikis forbid it if all or most or the people of virtue dislike him; the Shafi'is dislike it as reprehensible if most dislike him for a blameworthy reason; the Hanbalis dislike it if they dislike him for a just reason, and not if they dislike him unjustly ^{4 5}.

If a husband dislikes his wife for plainness, bad character or poor company, without immorality or disobedience, he is recommended to bear with her and not divorce her, on the verse "if you dislike them, perhaps you dislike a thing in which God has placed much good" and the hadith "a believing man should not hate a believing woman" ⁵. If the wife dislikes her husband for ugliness, bad treatment, or neglect of God's rights, she may seek khul' with a payment, on the verse "if you fear that they will not keep God's limits", and on the report of the wife of Thabit ibn Qays ⁶.