obligations or commendable actsin Islam, it is essential that the
benefit therein outweigh its negative consequences. This is the
general spirit of the messages of the prophets and the revealed books,
and Allah does not like chaos and corruption. All that which Allah has
enjoined is beneficial, and theepitome of benefit. Allah has praised "
salah " (the opposite of corruption) and the " musliheen "(reformers,
or those who bring about salah ). And He has praised those who believe
and do good works ( saalihaat) , while condemning corruption ( fasaad
) and those who cause it in many places in the Qur'an. Thus whenever
the adverse effects ( mafsada ) of any act of enjoining or forbidding
are greater than its benefit ( maslaha ), it is no longerpart of what
Allah has enjoined upon us, even if it be a case of neglecting
obligations or committing the forbidden. This isbecause it is upon the
believer to fear Allah in relation to His slaves,and their guidance is
not his responsibility. This is part of the meaning of the verse in
which Allah says:
[O, you who believe, your selves are your responsibility, those who go
astray will not harm you when you stick to guidance.]
"Sticking to guidance" is only accomplished by fulfilling and carrying
out all obligations. Thus,when a Muslim does what is obligatory upon
him by way of enjoining right and forbidding wrong, just as he
fulfilled all other obligations, the going astray of those who go
astray will not do him any harm.
METHODOLOGY OF ENJOINING RIGHTAND FORBIDDING WRONG
Enjoining right and forbidding wrong is done sometimes with the heart,
sometimes with the tongue, and sometimes with the hand (i.e. physical
force). As for practicing it with the heart, it is obligatory upon
everyone in everytime and situation, since its practice brings no
hardship. whoever fails to do even that is not even a believer as in
the full version of the previously cited hadith:
"Whoever of you sees wrong being committed, let him rectify it with
his hand, if he is unable, then with his tongue, and if he usunable,
then with his heart, and this is the weakest of faith -- or inanother
version: beyond this there is not a single mustard seed's weight of
faith ( iman ).
Ibn Masood was once asked:
"Who are the living dead?"
to which he replied:
"He who does not acknowledge the right as such, and does not reject the wrong."
He is referring to the person described in the following agreed-upon
hadith who consistently failed to reject wrong when tested. The
Prophet said:
"Tests are shown to the hearts like a straw mat, straw by straw.
Whichever heart accepts them, and absorbs them, gets a black spot
placed on it, and whichever heart rejects them, gets a white, clear
spot on it. This goes on until the hearts are of two types: a heart
which is white, smooth, and clear like a polished stone which will not
be harmed by further trials or tests for as long as the heavens and
the earth last,and another dark and blemished; it is like a hook
turned over the wrong way on which nothing canbe hung - it neither
acknowledges what is right nor rejects what is wrong, except for that
which happens to coincide with its lusts and inclinations with which
this heart has become fully absorbed."
PITFALLS OF ENJOINING RIGHT AND FORBIDDING WRONG
Two groups of people fall into error in this area:
One group leaves what is obligatory upon them in the area of enjoining
right and forbidding wrong, clinging to an incorrect interpretation of
the aya quoted previously:
[O, you who believe, your selves are your responsibility, those who go
astray will not harm you when you stick to guidance.]
Abu Bakr once explained this error in a khutba saying:
"O people, verily you read this aya, and you apply it where it does
not belong, for I heard the Prophet (sas) say: Verily when thepeople
see the wrong-doer, and do not seize his hand, Allah is about to
inflict them with a general punishment."
The second group desires to enjoin and forbid the people withtheir
tongues and their hands absolutely and in all situations without
sufficient knowledge of the shari'a, nor forbearance, nor patience,
nor regard for that which is beneficial and that which has more harm
than benefit and that which is possibleand that which is not possible.
This is as in the hadith narrated by Abu Tha'laba Al-Khushaniy:
"... rather enjoin on one another what is right and forbid what is
wrong until you see obedience togreed and following of lusts and
preoccupation with this world and the absolute fascination of each one
with his own opinion, and when you see a situation over which you have
no power, what is upon you then is your private affairs. For verily,
the Daysof Patience are coming; patience in those days is like
squeezing a hot coal in your hand. The rewardof one who fulfills all
of his obligations in those days is equal to the reward of fifty such
peopletoday."
This group, then, enjoins and forbids believing that they are in
obedience to Allah ta'ala when in reality they are transgressors of
His boundaries. In this way, manyof the deviant and misguided groups
considered themselves to be enjoiners of right and forbidders of wrong
such as the khawaarij, and the mu'tazilah, and the raafidha (Shi'a),
and others of those who erred in understanding that which Allah gave
them in terms of enjoining right and forbidding wrong, and fighting
jihad, and other issues. The corruption caused by this kind of
enjoining and forbidding is much greater than any good which may
result.
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