The ruling on a man who leaves off enjoining good and forbidding evil because he fears that he will not adhere to it, and how do we reconcile the verse
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Al-Hawini: A questioner says: In His saying - Blessed and Exalted is He - : [Al-Baqarah 2:44], he says: He fears that if he enjoins good and forbids evil, it will be an argument against him because he does not comply, so he reads His saying - peace and blessings be upon him and his family - : the hadith, and he asks how we can escape the sin of not enjoining good and forbidding evil from this verse and this hadith?
The Shaykh : I clearly remember that I read in the tafsir of Imam al-Qurtubi, "Al-Jami' li Ahkam al-Quran," this doubt that was directed to Imam Malik - may Allah have mercy on him - and he answered: "Satan would be pleased to hear such a doubt from you. Who among us is able to comply with everything he enjoins and refrain from everything he forbids?!" However, the Muslim must strive to act upon what he enjoins and refrain from what he forbids. But if he feels that sometimes he may enjoin something and not comply with it, and forbid something else and not refrain from it, then here we must keep in mind two realities:
The first: I referred to it just now, which is that he must strive to act upon what he enjoins and refrain from what he forbids.
The second reality: The one who enjoins good and forbids evil has two obligations upon him: one is enjoining and forbidding, and the other is not contradicting what he enjoins and what he forbids. If he neglects one of the two, he should not neglect the other... He acts upon the good but does not enjoin it, and refrains from the evil but does not forbid people from it. This is fulfilling one obligation and leaving off another. The opposite of this is what we are currently discussing: he enjoins good but does not comply with it, and forbids evil but does not refrain from it. So his enjoining good and forbidding evil is fulfilling an obligation, and his leaving off acting upon the good and refraining from the evil is leaving off an obligation. This is equal to that; each of them has neglected an obligation. The truth is to combine the two: if he enjoins, he complies, and if he forbids, he refrains. But it is not possible for a non-infallible person to combine the two in every matter of enjoining good, doing it, or forbidding evil, leaving it off. Rather, he will miss some things, especially since some of enjoining good and forbidding evil may not be obligatory; it may be from the category of recommended acts or confirmed sunnahs. For example, he encourages people and orders them to stand in night prayer, while he does not stand in night prayer. He encourages people to pray the Dhuha prayer and orders them to do so, and mentions to them its virtue as Allah wills, while he does not pray the Dhuha prayer. Here, there is no blame on him; because he has not neglected an obligation; because what we mentioned are not among the obligations.
In summary: This doubt invalidates enjoining good and forbidding evil, so it is not permissible for the Muslim to be affected by it. But he must strive with all effort not to fall into the warning of the hadith that he referred toThe questioner : , which al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their "Sahih" collections from the hadith of Usamah ibn Zayd - may Allah be pleased with them both - that the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him and his family - said:. I say: The one who enjoins good and forbids evil must strive with all effort not to be in the position of this scholar who is thrown into the Fire, and so on.
Then I observe in this hadith that this scholar's characteristic and habit is that he enjoins good and does not comply with it, and forbids evil and does not refrain from it. That is, he is not like one who sometimes enjoins good and then does not comply with it, and sometimes forbids evil and then does not refrain from it. Because, as I said just now, it is not possible for a human being to escape neglecting something of the obligations, including enjoining something and not complying with it, and forbidding something and not refraining from it. The hadith is understood to refer to one whose characteristic is to enjoin good and forbid evil, and then he contradicts the people by doing the opposite of what he enjoins them to do and forbids them from.
This is my answer, and may it be correct, if Allah wills.
Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?
أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَThe man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and will go around in the Fire like a mill donkey.
يؤتى بالرجل يوم القيامة فيدور في النار كحمار الرحىThe Shaykh : I clearly remember that I read in the tafsir of Imam al-Qurtubi, "Al-Jami' li Ahkam al-Quran," this doubt that was directed to Imam Malik - may Allah have mercy on him - and he answered: "Satan would be pleased to hear such a doubt from you. Who among us is able to comply with everything he enjoins and refrain from everything he forbids?!" However, the Muslim must strive to act upon what he enjoins and refrain from what he forbids. But if he feels that sometimes he may enjoin something and not comply with it, and forbid something else and not refrain from it, then here we must keep in mind two realities:
The first: I referred to it just now, which is that he must strive to act upon what he enjoins and refrain from what he forbids.
The second reality: The one who enjoins good and forbids evil has two obligations upon him: one is enjoining and forbidding, and the other is not contradicting what he enjoins and what he forbids. If he neglects one of the two, he should not neglect the other... He acts upon the good but does not enjoin it, and refrains from the evil but does not forbid people from it. This is fulfilling one obligation and leaving off another. The opposite of this is what we are currently discussing: he enjoins good but does not comply with it, and forbids evil but does not refrain from it. So his enjoining good and forbidding evil is fulfilling an obligation, and his leaving off acting upon the good and refraining from the evil is leaving off an obligation. This is equal to that; each of them has neglected an obligation. The truth is to combine the two: if he enjoins, he complies, and if he forbids, he refrains. But it is not possible for a non-infallible person to combine the two in every matter of enjoining good, doing it, or forbidding evil, leaving it off. Rather, he will miss some things, especially since some of enjoining good and forbidding evil may not be obligatory; it may be from the category of recommended acts or confirmed sunnahs. For example, he encourages people and orders them to stand in night prayer, while he does not stand in night prayer. He encourages people to pray the Dhuha prayer and orders them to do so, and mentions to them its virtue as Allah wills, while he does not pray the Dhuha prayer. Here, there is no blame on him; because he has not neglected an obligation; because what we mentioned are not among the obligations.
In summary: This doubt invalidates enjoining good and forbidding evil, so it is not permissible for the Muslim to be affected by it. But he must strive with all effort not to fall into the warning of the hadith that he referred toThe questioner : , which al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their "Sahih" collections from the hadith of Usamah ibn Zayd - may Allah be pleased with them both - that the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him and his family - said:
The scholar will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, and he will be thrown into the Fire, and his intestines will gush out, and he will go around in the Fire as the donkey goes around the mill. The people of the Fire will go around him and say to him: "O so-and-so, were you not the one who used to enjoin good upon us and forbid us from evil?" He will say: "Yes, I used to enjoin good upon you and not do it, and forbid you from evil and do it."
يُؤتى بالعالم يوم القيامة ، فيُلقى في النار ، فتندلق أقتابُ بطنه ، ويدور في النار كما يدور الحمار بالرحى ، فيطوف به أهل النار ، فيقولون له : يا فلان ، ألست كنت تأمرنا بالمعروف وتنهانا عن المنكر ؟ فيقول : بلى ، كنت آمركم بالمعروف ولا آتيه ، وأنهاكم عن المنكر وآتيهThen I observe in this hadith that this scholar's characteristic and habit is that he enjoins good and does not comply with it, and forbids evil and does not refrain from it. That is, he is not like one who sometimes enjoins good and then does not comply with it, and sometimes forbids evil and then does not refrain from it. Because, as I said just now, it is not possible for a human being to escape neglecting something of the obligations, including enjoining something and not complying with it, and forbidding something and not refraining from it. The hadith is understood to refer to one whose characteristic is to enjoin good and forbid evil, and then he contradicts the people by doing the opposite of what he enjoins them to do and forbids them from.
This is my answer, and may it be correct, if Allah wills.
Source
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