The Prohibition of Multiple Evils When One Is Unable to Prohibit Them All

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. A person may find himself in situations where there is more than one evil and more than one error, and he is unable to prohibit all the evils. For example, someone sits with a group of men who have beards, are shaving their sideburns, and are engaged in backbiting, and perhaps he is unable to leave the gathering. So what should he do?

Answer:
The action begins with the most important, then the next most important. One begins with the most dangerous of the sins. For example, shirk (associating partners with Allah), or speaking about the rulers, because this is more dangerous than backbiting about individual people. Speaking about the rulers causes chaos and fills hearts with hatred toward the rulers, and in the end, it leads to rebellion against the rulers in this manner, just as Ibn Sabaa (may Allah curse him) did when he started speaking about 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), saying this and that, until the matter ended with the killing of the Caliph of the Muslims, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him). So the one who sees these matters should start with the most dangerous of them and prohibit it. This is more dangerous than shaving the beard and more dangerous than letting the garment hang below the ankles. He should prohibit this matter because if it is made easy and left alone, it will spread and become widespread, and in the end, matters will lead to the destruction of the nation. There is no power and no strength except with Allah.

The presenter:
May Allah grant you success