Explanation of the Hadith: Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
And many people have erred in their understanding of this hadith, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
The Shaykh:
May Allah send blessings upon him.
The questioner:
Sahih Muslim 49a. The hadith. Some of them have tried to divide this hadith into three sections, so we ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to guide us to what is good, and then we hope from Your Eminence that you clarify this hadith.
The Shaykh:
The hadith points to three categories. The hadith indicates three categories, and that people are in three categories with regard to what is wrong: whoever is able to change it with his hands changes it, and whoever is unable to do so changes it with his tongue, and whoever is unable to do so changes it with his heart by hating it, rising from its people, and not participating with them in it. It is obligatory for all Muslims and believers to change what is wrong with the hand, provided they have the ability. This is in the hands of the ruler, the ruler's deputies, and the Hisbah (market inspectors) that have been granted permission within the limits of their instructions to use force. Likewise, a person with his family uses force according to his capacity, or a manager in his place of work, or a governor in his area of governance; he changes things within the limits of the instructions he has been authorized to follow. If he is unable to do so and does not have instructions regarding this matter, he moves to the tongue. The same applies to enjoining good; it is not that it is for the general Muslims to do so, where they have nothing in their hands but the tongue, and directing to good with kind words and a good manner. This is not permissible; this is obligatory. "O so-and-so, fear Allah," "This is not permissible for you," "This is obligatory upon you," and so on. Likewise, the committee, in matters where it has not been authorized to use force, also denounces with the tongue, and it denounces with force in matters where it has been authorized and given instructions. It is necessary to consider a great matter, which is that denouncing with the hand or the tongue should not lead to something more wrong than it. If it leads to something more wrong than it, it is obligatory to refrain from it until denouncing becomes possible in a way that does not lead to something more wrong than it. This is clear from the saying of the Exalted and Majestic is He:[Al-An'am 6:108] They were forbidden to insult those who call upon other than Allah if their insult leads to insulting Allah. So you want to denounce a wrong, which is their insult, denouncing them for calling upon other than Allah, but this leads to something more wrong than your wrong, which is that they insult Allah. Therefore, you leave the disbelief. Likewise, if you were to denounce to Zayd what he does of some sins, and it led to him standing up to fight and doing what is worse than his wrong, it is left, and he is not denounced except by a method that does not guarantee a greater wrong. And so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he intended to change the Ka'bah and place it on the foundations of Ibrahim, said:
So the intention is that he left that out of fear that the hearts of the people of Makkah would deny it, and they were newly converted to Islam. So the result is that it is necessary to consider in denying evil that it does not lead to something more evil.
And many people have erred in their understanding of this hadith, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
The Shaykh:
May Allah send blessings upon him.
The questioner:
He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart
من رأى منكم منكرا فليغيره بيده، فإن لم يستطع فبلسانه، فإن لم يستطع فبقلبهThe Shaykh:
The hadith points to three categories. The hadith indicates three categories, and that people are in three categories with regard to what is wrong: whoever is able to change it with his hands changes it, and whoever is unable to do so changes it with his tongue, and whoever is unable to do so changes it with his heart by hating it, rising from its people, and not participating with them in it. It is obligatory for all Muslims and believers to change what is wrong with the hand, provided they have the ability. This is in the hands of the ruler, the ruler's deputies, and the Hisbah (market inspectors) that have been granted permission within the limits of their instructions to use force. Likewise, a person with his family uses force according to his capacity, or a manager in his place of work, or a governor in his area of governance; he changes things within the limits of the instructions he has been authorized to follow. If he is unable to do so and does not have instructions regarding this matter, he moves to the tongue. The same applies to enjoining good; it is not that it is for the general Muslims to do so, where they have nothing in their hands but the tongue, and directing to good with kind words and a good manner. This is not permissible; this is obligatory. "O so-and-so, fear Allah," "This is not permissible for you," "This is obligatory upon you," and so on. Likewise, the committee, in matters where it has not been authorized to use force, also denounces with the tongue, and it denounces with force in matters where it has been authorized and given instructions. It is necessary to consider a great matter, which is that denouncing with the hand or the tongue should not lead to something more wrong than it. If it leads to something more wrong than it, it is obligatory to refrain from it until denouncing becomes possible in a way that does not lead to something more wrong than it. This is clear from the saying of the Exalted and Majestic is He:
And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge
وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍIf it were not that your people are newly converted to disbelief, I would have demolished the Ka'bah and placed it on the foundations of Ibrahim.
لولا أن قومك حديث أهل بالكفر لنقضت الكعبة وجعلتها على قواعد إبراهيم.So the intention is that he left that out of fear that the hearts of the people of Makkah would deny it, and they were newly converted to Islam. So the result is that it is necessary to consider in denying evil that it does not lead to something more evil.
Source
واجب أهل العلم — islamhouse.com (56:38)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.