What is the ruling if the people of a town commit evil and prevent those who enjoin good?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah bless you. If you are in a town and you are obligated to enjoin good to some people, and these people commit evil and do not enjoin good?
The Shaykh : One who enjoins evil? May Allah do you good, that is better.
The questioner : They do it.
The Shaykh : They leave the evil and do not enjoin good, okay.
The questioner : They do it and they enjoin it. The people, the teachers in the known land, the evil is known from it, they do the evil and perhaps
The Shaykh : and they do not enjoin good.
The questioner : And they do not enjoin, rather perhaps good becomes the situation in this case, meaning it is an excuse for the self that if I see a scene I do not change it. In a state where I do not change it, harm befalls me.
The Shaykh : As for what we mentioned, it is necessary to have the ability.
The questioner : The corruption spreads in.
The Shaykh : Okay, and if you do it, will the corruption stop?
The questioner : Perhaps it will.
The Shaykh : You pass by the good, call to Allah with wisdom, say this is forbidden and not permissible, perhaps you speak in the mosque where there is truth.
The questioner : This is informing them.
The Shaykh : Perhaps you speak in a mosque with five hundred people who benefit, but you come to one person and hit him, for example, because he did this evil, so he goes and accuses you to the authority, then the authority imprisons you and harms those behind you, causing harms.
The questioner : I am not speaking about the good with this, mere speech is not accepted, no one speaks except the people of command, and the people of command do not command.
The Shaykh : We told you, may Allah bless you, regarding enjoining good, no one says I cannot except a person who is told: if you command, we will do such and such specifically. Then this becomes coercion to leave the obligatory and to do the forbidden. He does not sin in enjoining good and forbidding evil unless he is told: look, if you enjoin good and forbid evil, we will imprison you, kill you, harm you, harm your family, take your wealth. Then this becomes one who is unable.
The Shaykh : One who enjoins evil? May Allah do you good, that is better.
The questioner : They do it.
The Shaykh : They leave the evil and do not enjoin good, okay.
The questioner : They do it and they enjoin it. The people, the teachers in the known land, the evil is known from it, they do the evil and perhaps
The Shaykh : and they do not enjoin good.
The questioner : And they do not enjoin, rather perhaps good becomes the situation in this case, meaning it is an excuse for the self that if I see a scene I do not change it. In a state where I do not change it, harm befalls me.
The Shaykh : As for what we mentioned, it is necessary to have the ability.
The questioner : The corruption spreads in.
The Shaykh : Okay, and if you do it, will the corruption stop?
The questioner : Perhaps it will.
The Shaykh : You pass by the good, call to Allah with wisdom, say this is forbidden and not permissible, perhaps you speak in the mosque where there is truth.
The questioner : This is informing them.
The Shaykh : Perhaps you speak in a mosque with five hundred people who benefit, but you come to one person and hit him, for example, because he did this evil, so he goes and accuses you to the authority, then the authority imprisons you and harms those behind you, causing harms.
The questioner : I am not speaking about the good with this, mere speech is not accepted, no one speaks except the people of command, and the people of command do not command.
The Shaykh : We told you, may Allah bless you, regarding enjoining good, no one says I cannot except a person who is told: if you command, we will do such and such specifically. Then this becomes coercion to leave the obligatory and to do the forbidden. He does not sin in enjoining good and forbidding evil unless he is told: look, if you enjoin good and forbid evil, we will imprison you, kill you, harm you, harm your family, take your wealth. Then this becomes one who is unable.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، [905] ما العمل إذا كان أهل البلد يرتكبون المنكر ويمنعون من يأمر بالمعروف؟ - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.