Dedication of the tape and book to the one who falls short, and establishing the proof against him
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The questioner:
He says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, may Allah preserve you and benefit through you, is giving a tape, or a book, or letters to one who falls short in religion something that clears one’s conscience, and is it sufficient to establish the argument against him?
The Shaykh:
What is this?
The questioner:
Is giving tapes, books, and detailed letters something that clears one’s conscience, and is it sufficient to establish the argument against him?
The Shaykh:
This is part of cooperating in righteousness, dedicating the good tape and book; all of this is part of cooperating in righteousness. But it is not sufficient, because he may not read the book, and he may not listen to the tape. You should advise him, if you are able, with words, saying, “My brother, fear Allah. You did such-and-such. I witnessed you doing such-and-such. You are not excused from such-and-such.” You advise him for the sake of Allah, with gentleness, with good words. Allah the Exalted said:[Ali 'Imran 3:159] And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You advise him with good words and a good manner, and you pray for him for success and guidance. Even if you sent him the other tape. The book—he may not read the book, and he may not listen to the tape. But advice has a great effect if it is done with sincerity for the sake of Allah, with good words, and a good manner. And if you gathered two, three, or four people and visited him at his home and advised him, that would be more complete than one person. If three or four people gathered and visited their brother and said, “We have seen that you are falling short in prayer. We have noticed that you are not careful with the prayers. We have seen that you are undutiful to your parents. We have seen that you are doing such-and-such. We love it when you visit us,” and you visit him and advise him all together, three, four, or five, that is more eloquent, has a stronger effect, and is more beneficial than one person. And this is part of mutual advice and cooperation in righteousness and piety. Yes, yes.
He says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, may Allah preserve you and benefit through you, is giving a tape, or a book, or letters to one who falls short in religion something that clears one’s conscience, and is it sufficient to establish the argument against him?
The Shaykh:
What is this?
The questioner:
Is giving tapes, books, and detailed letters something that clears one’s conscience, and is it sufficient to establish the argument against him?
The Shaykh:
This is part of cooperating in righteousness, dedicating the good tape and book; all of this is part of cooperating in righteousness. But it is not sufficient, because he may not read the book, and he may not listen to the tape. You should advise him, if you are able, with words, saying, “My brother, fear Allah. You did such-and-such. I witnessed you doing such-and-such. You are not excused from such-and-such.” You advise him for the sake of Allah, with gentleness, with good words. Allah the Exalted said:
So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you.
فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لَانفَضُّوا مِنْ حَوْلِكَI am the guarantor of the advice,
أدين النصيحة،
Source
لقاءات لابن باز - لقاء مفتوح - ابن باز - ٢٩-٧-١٤١٧ هـ — archive.org (36:49)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.