What are the ranks of forbidding evil?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... that he should forbid it upon them ...
The Shaykh : Do not imagine resistance; if you could do it, well and good, but how is it that you are not able to do it? Rather, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the well-known authentic hadith:Sahih Muslim 49a. In another hadith: ; so the Muslim is responsible, above all, for himself and for those who take refuge with him, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [Al-Ma'idah 5:105]. Second: if the matter is in your hand, no one can overcome you except through weakness in your faith. But if the matter is not in your hand, then the aforementioned hadith regarding the ranks of forbidding evil applies: there are three ranks. If you can change it with your hand, do so; otherwise, you descend to the second rank and change it with your tongue; otherwise, the least of it is that you disapprove of it in your heart. But this is if you are forced to be present in a place where there is evil, as we said, that you cannot change it. So what compels you to attend it? Do not attend it. As for people saying such and such, by Allah, if you want to look at people's talk, be like the people and be at ease.
The Shaykh : Do not imagine resistance; if you could do it, well and good, but how is it that you are not able to do it? Rather, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the well-known authentic hadith:
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, and that is the least of faith.
مَن رأى منكم منكرًا فليغيِّره بيده ، فإن لم يستطع فبلسانه ، فإن لم يستطيع فبقلبه ؛ وذلك أضعف الإيمانAnd there is not a mustard seed's worth of faith beyond that.
وليس وراء ذلك حبَّة خردل من إيمانO you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ مَنْ ضَلَّ إِذَا اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.