Is it permissible to enter places of evil for the purpose of changing the evil?

The questioner : A questioner asks: Is it permissible to enter places of evil for the purpose of changing the evil? For example, in some Islamic countries, the Sufis set up tents to celebrate the Mawlid.

The Shaykh : For what purpose?

The questioner : To celebrate the birth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They set up tents and canopies, and a group of Salafis, for example, comes and sets up a tent to call people to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), to the Salafi methodology, and to the oneness of Allah... and to clarify this evil in its place. Is it permissible for them to participate and enter on this pretext? Likewise, entering theaters to change the evil, and mourning gatherings as well, meaning attending a mourning gathering to speak about the... religious innovation among them, and so on?

The Shaykh : Personally, I see that if what you mentioned is a reality, for example, if a Salafi caller attends a mourning gathering and tells them that this gathering is not part of the Sunnah in any way, and tells them that playing the recording device for the recitation of the Qur'an while people are talking, and some are smoking, is an evil that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) does not approve of; meaning, they speak directly in denying what they are gathered for, or what they are gathered in, and he does not delay in denying it to them; for the sake of what? Preparation, as some callers do. If he denies directly to them what they are in—and this is, in my belief, a very necessary matter—otherwise, what is the difference between the attendance of these callers if they deny the evil that occurs among them, and the attendance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of the gatherings and assemblies of the polytheists, which undoubtedly contained evils, the most serious of which was associating partners with Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)? And yet, our Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) used to attend their gatherings and call them to worship Allah alone, having no partner. So if a caller attends one of these gatherings—including theaters, as mentioned in the question—and he denies and then withdraws, rather than denying and speaking, for example, for a quarter of an hour or half an hour, and they may not allow him to prolong the speech, and then they are immersed in their evils, and then he, in turn, follows them in these evils under the claim that he has presented the denial or advice to them, it is not permissible to combine denial on one hand, and sitting with those who fall into evils on the other hand. Rather, he denies and then withdraws, and does not continue with them; for what we mentioned of his (peace be upon him) conduct with the polytheists on one hand, and for His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): , and His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
If it were said—as mentioned in the question—that a man sat with drinkers of intoxicants to deny it to them, and he denied, then his role ended; it is not permissible for him to follow them until the end of their sitting. This is a mixing of denying the evil and participating in sitting with the people of evil. This is what I believe, and Allah knows best.