Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

A Unique and Major Principle of This Ummah

From the very important principles of this religion — a principle that we often neglect because of a lack of understanding, a lack of study, and a lack of implementation — but it is one of the major principles of this religion, one of the unique features of this ummah of our Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, that Allah praises us for in the Quran, that is repeated time and time again in the book of Allah and in the sunnah of his messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — it is the principle of الْأَمْرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْيُ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ: enjoining the good and forbidding the evil.

This is something which is one of the major features of this ummah, what distinguishes the believer from the hypocrite and the disbeliever — and that is that they don't only want good for themselves, success for themselves, Allah's mercy and forgiveness for themselves, but it's something that they want to extend to others around them. So they enjoin the good and they forbid the evil.

We're familiar with the hadith of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and the verses in the Quran that speak about the brotherhood of iman and Islam — how we should be merciful and kind to one another, how we should advise one another, how we should be like a single body, like a building, and the way that we should behave to one another. A great part of that is dependent upon this principle: enjoining the good and forbidding the evil.

The Believers: Allies to One Another

Allah in the Quran speaks about the believers and He says:

The believing men and the believing women are like allies to one another. An ally is more than a friend — an ally is the one who's going to have your back, who's going to support you, who's going to defend you, who's going to be with you and help you in all of your affairs. That person is the one that you can trust. That is how the believing men and women should be towards one another.

And then Allah mentions five characteristics concerning these believing men and women, and Allah begins with this topic that I'm discussing today: they enjoin the good, they forbid the evil, they establish the salah, they give the zakah, they have obedience to Allah and His messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

But what does Allah begin with? Salah is more important as a pillar of Islam. Zakah is more important as a pillar of Islam. Obedience to Allah and His messenger is more important — it's the cornerstone, the foundation of this religion. But Allah begins with what is unique about this ummah. Because from the past nations there are those who also had aspects of prayer and worship and charity, and also obeyed their prophets of their time. But what makes this ummah unique is الْأَمْرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْيُ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ — they enjoin the good, they forbid the evil.

The Best of Nations

That is why Allah in Surah Al-Imran, in two verses close to one another, speaks about this important principle and emphasizes it:

That there arise from amongst you those who will enjoin the good and forbid the evil, and they will call towards that which is good — those are the successful. And Allah, as some of the scholars of tafsir said, those people first and foremost were the companions رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ — those people who, if in their community they would see something that was wrong, or someone make a mistake, or someone was in need of advice, or they saw that there were innovations creeping into the community, they would speak and they would advise and they would admonish. And sometimes yes, they would be strict and harsh in their words because they saw a danger that was approaching.

That's how the believers are meant to be — not like in our time, where we're very apathetic. People do haram and they do wrong openly in front of our eyes, in our families, amongst our friends, our neighbors, the people that we know, our weddings, our funerals, when we have the birth of our children — bid'ah, innovations, mistakes, sins, sometimes even — وَالْعِيَاذُ بِاللَّهِ — leading to kufr and shirk, acts of disbelief in Allah. But no one speaks, and no one reminds, and no one admonishes.

At the very least you fulfilled your duty. At the very least on Yawm al-Qiyamah you can stand before Allah and say: "O Allah, I tried, I advised." But we don't say anything because we're shy. We don't say anything because we get embarrassed. We don't say anything because we feel the pressure of those around us.

You are the best of people that We brought out from all of the nations — why? Because you enjoin the good, you forbid the evil, and you believe in Allah. Belief in Allah comes before anything else. But Allah in this verse, to show a unique aspect of this ummah, delays its mention and brings forward the enjoining of good and forbidding of evil — and this is from the eloquent styles of the Quran, to speak about that which the Quran wants you to focus and concentrate upon.

The Lesson of Bani Israel

One of the major errors of those who came before us from the past nations is that they would see people doing things which were clearly haram and wrong, and they wouldn't speak. Or if they spoke once or twice, they would feel embarrassed to say it a third and fourth time. And so over time, what happens is that people stop listening, people stop realizing — there's no one to remind them, no one to speak of those issues. And that is then when people start to divert from the path of Allah. Allah tells us in the Quran:

The children of Israel were cursed upon the tongues of their own prophets, Dawood and Isa عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ. Some of the scholars of tafsir said that means that in the Injil, in the Zaboor, in the revelations that Allah gave to those prophets, Allah cursed them. Why? Because of the evil that they did and the transgression that they committed: كَانُوا لَا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ — if someone did something evil, no one would speak out, no one would correct, no one would seek to rectify.

Some of the companions رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ in their tafsir of this verse said that at the beginning of Bani Israel, when someone did something wrong, people would speak and they would remind. But after a while people thought that there wasn't any benefit, or they became embarrassed, or the pressure around them became too much — so they stopped speaking. And that is when Allah cursed them.

This ummah is unique because we're not shy, we're not embarrassed. When we know that something is the truth, we advise — yes, in a good way, in a wise way, in a merciful way, and sometimes yes, even in a harsh way as the Prophet used to do صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ on the appropriate occasion — but we speak and we remind.

But when we don't have the requisite knowledge ourselves, and when we see things that other people are doing and we don't feel that we have the ability to speak — that is when we see so much evil within our community. In our own masajid, sometimes even in the middle of a masjid, you see people doing something which is openly haram and no one will say anything. Or something which is disliked — مَكْرُوهٌ — it's not forbidden but it's not befitting of the houses of Allah — but no one will speak, no one wants to say anything, no one wants to upset the person next to them, no one wants to offend anyone.

And that's another problem — because before, the believers used to understand that this person who approaches me, advises me, speaks to me for the sake of Allah, that person wants good for me, he's merciful towards me, he wants me to correct something, to come closer to Allah. And they wouldn't take offense. But now we get very sensitive, we're offended, we get upset. And yes, sometimes it's because the person approaching doesn't have the right manner, the right way, the right method. But sometimes it's because we're overly sensitive to criticism — and that's a problem also.

The Parable of the Ship

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari put forth an amazing parable — an example — concerning this very situation: those people who speak and those people who refuse to speak, those who advise and enjoin the good and forbid the evil, and those who are not willing to do so.

He said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: the example of the one who is upright when it comes to the commands of Allah — and part of being upright is that they advise others, they enjoin the good, they forbid the evil — and those who are not upright, they transgress, they fall into those errors. Their example — because all of them are part of one ummah, all of them are one community; in every single community, in every family, you have all of these types of people; no one has a perfect family, you will always find people in need of advice and there will always be a need for those to give advice — their example, he said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, is like a group of people that embark upon a ship.

They draw lots as to who should be upon the top deck and who should be on the lower deck. Those on the lower deck — every time they need water, they have to go up and pass by those on the top deck to draw water so that they can drink, make wudu, and do all of those things they need in order to last for this long journey upon the ocean. So after a while, they say: "Why don't we just make a hole at the bottom of this ship so that water comes in directly to us, and therefore we don't need to go back and forth up and down, and we won't harm those who are above us — they are not annoyed, we don't deal with them, they don't deal with us — and we just make a hole at the bottom of the ship."

The Prophet said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: if those people are left to their own desires, their devices, their ideas — everyone is destroyed. Because if the water comes into the lower deck of the ship, they drown, and those above them drown.

And that's what sometimes we think — we think: "We're okay. We pray, alhamdulillah, we read Quran, we come to the masjid, we give zakah — we're okay. Those people outside on the roads, they're the ones that have problems, they're the ones that don't know. Let them deal with themselves, we deal with ourselves." But we don't realize that if they're destroyed, they may take us down as well alongside them.

As in the hadith when the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ spoke about a destruction that takes everyone — punishments of Allah that take everyone. He was asked: even if there are righteous amongst us, O Allah's Messenger — all of us get destroyed? Even those who are praying, reading Quran, fasting Ramadan, doing good? He said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: yes, if the evil and the filth becomes too great, everyone gets involved, everyone is part and parcel of the community, so when the destruction comes it goes upon all of them.

But going back to the hadith of the ship — if those people advise them, admonish them, hold their hands from doing something wrong, they will be saved. Everyone in the ship is saved. And that is the beauty of this religion: when you enjoin the good and you forbid the evil, when you speak and you admonish and you advise — as I said, at the very least you lift off that responsibility from your shoulders.

The Three Levels of Changing Evil

In the hadith of Hudhayfah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ that is collected in the Jami' of Imam al-Tirmidhi, the Prophet said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — amongst those who do the good before they enjoin it and stay away from the evil before they forbid it.

بَارَكَ اللَّهُ لِي وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَالسُّنَّةِ وَنَفَعَنِي وَإِيَّاكُمْ مِمَّا فِيهِمَا مِنَ الْآيَاتِ وَالْحِكْمَةِ قُولُوا قَوْلِي هَذَا وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ جَمِيعِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنْ وَالَاهُ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا أَمَّا بَعْدُ

What is collected in Sahih Muslim on the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, the Prophet said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 49)

Those of you that see something wrong, then let them change it by their hand. And if they can't do so, then by their tongue. And if they can't do so, then at the very least let them disagree with it in their hearts — and that is the lowest, the weakest level of faith.

When you see something wrong, sometimes you have the ability to make a physical change — it's in your home, it's your family, it's your children; you have the ability to stop people. So the Sharia tells you to do that in a wise way, in a good way, because the idea is not to berate people, to humiliate them, to embarrass them in the public domain — but rather that you want good for them, you want mercy for them, you want them to find guidance just as Allah bestowed you with some of that guidance. So you advise them in a way that's going to bring about a good result for you and for them.

And if you can't do it physically, then you do it verbally — you admonish, you advise, you speak, you tell people that even if they're going to do what they're going to do, you won't be a part of that:

If you see a group of people engaging in false, vain speech — they're speaking about evil and haram — then you stay away from them. If you can't change them, go away and don't come back until they change their ways or they speak about something different. Otherwise you're part and party to that which they're doing; you're involved, even if it is just by your silent approval.

So to admonish and to speak — and if you don't have that ability, if you can't even say anything, then at the very least, for your own iman, for your own sake, that's something which you should dislike in your heart. Because one of the problems is when things become the norm and we become desensitized to them and we become accustomed to them — then all of us think that it's okay. And that is when we stop speaking, when we stop advising, when we stop admonishing.

Du'a

We ask Allah that He gives us the strength and the iman to know right from wrong, and to recognize that which is beloved to Allah from that which is displeasing to Him. We ask Allah that He gives us the strength and the iman to do that which is good and upright, and to stay away from that which is wrong — from the innovations and the misguidance and the disbelief that has become prevalent in this ummah. We ask Allah for His safety for ourselves and our families. We ask that Allah showers and strengthens us with iman, that Allah makes easy for our brothers and sisters across the world their affairs, that Allah brings to them relief that is quick and that is full, and that Allah makes their affairs and ours easy.