Good and forbidding of the wrong

From the serious problems that civilization has created in societies is selfishness and man’s being busy with himself without caring for others, as long as he is at ease and not needy. This is more dangerous than any disease is. When people are selfish, the society is afflicted with paralysis and the welfares of the nation are suspended, and its fates are played with, where there is no one that can offer anything. Then, the values of magnanimity, heroism, the sacrifice for others, altruism, and the fight against injustice and corruption die, and in that case, religion and conscience shall wither and be weak.

The Prophet (a.s.) said:

Either you enjoin the good and forbid the wrong, or Allah will set against you the worst of you, and then the best of you shall pray Allah and it shall not be responded to them.

“The enjoining of good and the forbidding of the wrong” is a necessary matter in the life of the nation that some of the imams have considered it as one the pillars of Islam. Therefore, you see that the first motto that the modern Islamic movements adopt is “the enjoining of the good and forbidding of the wrong”.

However, civilized societies today object seriously to this matter through the foundations created recently such as the democratic societies, the assembly of the human rights, the assembly of woman’s rights, and even the rights of animals. If a government is not responsible for the “enjoining of the good and forbidding of the wrong”, it shall be impossible for a group or individuals to undertake it.

, you see wrongs and corruptions everywhere and you cannot change anything. It is very easy for any girl to bring a suit against you, and in the best condition it shall be said to you: do not interfere in what does not concern you! If you say that you just enjoin the good and forbid the wrong, the answer shall be: ‘and who are you? And by which right you permit yourself to do so? And who has given you this authority?’

I myself have tried these experiments, as have many other Muslims. We got out of those experiments with the bitterness of weakness and failure. I remained confused between beliefs that forced me to carry out that duty and threatened me if not, and the reality we lived that prevented me from this right and threatened me if I try to do it again. I remember that once the governor said to me, “Are you the messenger of Allah that Allah has sent with a new religion to reform people?” I said, “Certainly not.” He said, “Then, be satisfied with yourself and family and keep us away from your evil. It is we who are responsible for the safety and peace of people. If we leave the matter for every nosy one to enjoin and forbid, there shall be anarchy.”[1]

I knew my worth and stopped at borders! I was afraid, and my soul incited me to venture one time and to retire another. I remained so for some years until a tradition of the messenger of Allah (a.s.) attracted my attention. In this tradition, the Prophet (a.s.) said:

 of you sees an evil let him change (repair) it with his hand, and if he cannot do, let him do with his tongue, and if he cannot do, let him do with his heart, and this is the weakest of faith.[1]

The Prophet (a.s.) said:

No prophet that Allah had sent for his nation before me, except that he had from his community disciples and companions who followed his Sunna and obeyed his commands, then after them successors come who say what they do not do, and do what they are not ordered to do; whoever resists them with his hand is faithful, whoever resists them with his tongue is faithful, and whoever resists them with his heart is faithful, and anything else than that is not from faith inasmuch as a grain of mustard.[2]

I praised Allah the Almighty that He has not imposed on us that which we have no capacity to bear. Thus, the Prophet’s traditions explained the Book of Allah, and because Allah knows all things in the past, present, and future, so He knew that a time would come to people where a Muslim would be unable to reject the evil; therefore, He made it easy for Muslims and imposed on them only what they could bear. Therefore, the saying of the Prophet (a.s.), “Whoever of you sees an evil let him change (repair) it with his hand, and if he cannot do, let him do with his tongue…” is a proof on the changing of the Muslim society from the state of powerfulness into the state of weakness, besides that it is a proof that the legal obligation changes from a state into another.

So the duty of one, who is powerful, is to repair the evil by power which is represented by the “hand” in the tradition, and the one, who is powerless, has to repair the evil through speech and breaches which is represented by the “tongue”, and the one,  

who is certain that his speech shall cause him harms and troubles, has to deny the evil in his heart without announcing his opinion openly, and this shall be his legal duty.

Glory be to Allah Who does not impose on a soul except what it can bear, and blessings and peace be on the Prophet of mercy who was more merciful to the believers than they themselves were, and on his generous, immaculate progeny.[1]