The Levels of Forbidding Evil and the Ruling on Enjoining Good
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
What is all this? How can forbidding evil be done through prayer?
The Shaykh:
We mentioned this: forbidding evil occurs in the heart by hating the sin and hating its people. One should distance oneself from them and not eat or drink with them, keeping away from them so that it does not affect him. If he is unable to advise them, or if his advice does not affect them, and he does not praise them?
The questioner:
And if the evil is such that by preserving it, one is saved from an evil that would lead to disbelief, what is the ruling on forbidding that evil?
The Shaykh:
This is what Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: it is a matter of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), meaning a point of disagreement among scholars. Some hold that the obligation of forbidding evil does not drop, while others hold that it does drop because there is no benefit in it. If one evil comes and another evil emerges in its place, it means we have gained nothing.
The questioner:
And because of shirk (associating partners with Allah), Allah informed that He will preserve the one who does not forget... [UNTRANSLATED: biqarn] ... that He preserves him from... [UNTRANSLATED: musannif] ... water... [UNTRANSLATED: hifz al-tasfiq].
The Shaykh:
The apparent meaning of the hadithSahih Muslim 50a is that if one does not forbid evil, it becomes hypocrisy. Forbidding evil is such that the one who does not do it is a hypocrite devoid of faith, and may Allah protect us from that.
The questioner:
And they say that enjoining good and forbidding evil is a fixed ruling among the rulings of Islam. It is known that all the rulings of Islam are...
The Shaykh:
...from the pillars of Islam. All the pillars of Islam are obligatory. On the view that it is a pillar, it is a collective obligation (fard kifayah). If those who are sufficient perform it, the sin is on the rest.
What is all this? How can forbidding evil be done through prayer?
The Shaykh:
We mentioned this: forbidding evil occurs in the heart by hating the sin and hating its people. One should distance oneself from them and not eat or drink with them, keeping away from them so that it does not affect him. If he is unable to advise them, or if his advice does not affect them, and he does not praise them?
The questioner:
And if the evil is such that by preserving it, one is saved from an evil that would lead to disbelief, what is the ruling on forbidding that evil?
The Shaykh:
This is what Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: it is a matter of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), meaning a point of disagreement among scholars. Some hold that the obligation of forbidding evil does not drop, while others hold that it does drop because there is no benefit in it. If one evil comes and another evil emerges in its place, it means we have gained nothing.
The questioner:
And because of shirk (associating partners with Allah), Allah informed that He will preserve the one who does not forget... [UNTRANSLATED: biqarn] ... that He preserves him from... [UNTRANSLATED: musannif] ... water... [UNTRANSLATED: hifz al-tasfiq].
The Shaykh:
The apparent meaning of the hadith
and beyond that there is no faith even
وليس وراء ذلك من الإيمان حبةThe questioner:
And they say that enjoining good and forbidding evil is a fixed ruling among the rulings of Islam. It is known that all the rulings of Islam are...
The Shaykh:
...from the pillars of Islam. All the pillars of Islam are obligatory. On the view that it is a pillar, it is a collective obligation (fard kifayah). If those who are sufficient perform it, the sin is on the rest.
Source
شرح العقيدة الواسطية [ صالح الفوزان ] [ الشرح القديم ]، بداية من قوله : يأمرون بالمعروف وينهون عن المنكر — islamhouse.com (1:01:12)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.