The Context of Mentioning the Commanding of Good and Forbidding of Evil in the Verse “You are the Best Nation”

The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.

The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner, Salim, says: I hope that Shaykh Salih (may Allah preserve him) will clarify for us the context of presenting this religious practice, the practice of commanding good and forbidding evil, in the mention of the noble verse in His saying, the Exalted: .

The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, this noble verse in which Allah made clear the superiority of this nation over other nations of the earth, and He, Glorified and Exalted is He, mentioned the reason for that: . So performing this religious practice is what caused them this superiority. Commanding good includes calling to Allah, calling to sound creed, forbidding shirk (associating partners with Allah), calling to act according to the Sunnah, and abandoning bid'ah (religious innovation). So "good" includes everything that Allah and His Messenger commanded, for that is what is known as good, whether obligatory, recommended, or voluntary; all of it is part of what is good.
And "evil" refers to everything that Allah and His Messenger forbade, such as shirk, kufr (disbelief), bid'ah, sins, and other transgressions. This is what is meant by evil. This encompasses the entire religion. This nation, because it established this religion, became the best nation brought forth for people. The previous nations, even though there were righteous people among them, the comprehensive meaning of commanding good and forbidding evil was not realized among all of them, but only among some of them. They lived . So there is no doubt that there was good among the previous nations, but this nation surpassed the nations by its unity in commanding good and forbidding evil. This is the secret of its superiority and its continuation. If this nation neglects commanding good and forbidding evil, it loses this superiority, and it also exposes itself to destruction. For if evil is not forbidden and the punishment descends, it will encompass everyone, and no one will be saved except the one who commands good and forbids evil. . So when the punishment descends, no one is saved except the one who commands good and forbids evil.
As for the one who does not command good and does not forbid evil, even if he is a believer, even if he is a Muslim, the punishment encompasses him. . But on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will resurrect them according to their intentions. However, He will take them along with those who directly committed evil and practiced evil if they did not forbid it. For this reason, Allah cursed the disbelievers among the Children of Israel because of their abandonment of commanding good and forbidding evil.
He, the Exalted, said: Then He said: "Do you believe in Allah?" Belief is conviction in the heart, and utterance with the tongue, and conviction in the heart, and action with the limbs. It is continuous, continuous. So whatever good and obedience a person does, this is part of faith, and his faith increases with it. And whatever sins and evils he commits, either his faith disappears completely, or it decreases. "Do you believe in Allah?" You stand firm on what faith requires of obedience and abandoning what is forbidden. Yes.