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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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University students in the lands of the disbelievers see a great deal of what is wrong; is it obligatory to forbid the wrong with the tongue and the heart?

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The questioner : Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says:
(78) Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed. (79) They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did. How wretched was that which they were doing. لُعِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَى لِسَانِ دَاوُدَ وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ كَانُوا لا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ
[Al-Ma'idah 5:78-79]
the verse, He saysThe questioner : We are university students, and we see among the things that are wrong what makes one weep and what burns the heart of the true Muslim. Is our role here limited to forbidding what is wrong with the tongue and the heart only, in accordance with the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
He who amongst you sees something abominable من رأى منكم منكرًا
Sahih Muslim 49a
the hadith, or do we fall under the curse of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : What I believe regarding this issue, with its two branches:
The Shaykh : The first branch: The well-known hadith, which is mentioned as having the third degree of forbidding what is wrong with the heart, this is only valid for the one who is caught off guard and forced to see what is wrong, with no way for him to escape from it, flee from it, or forbid it with the hand, or forbid it with the tongue, which is the third rank. At that point, the last rank comes, which is forbidding with the heart. This is considered a dispensation for this Muslim if he is unable to distance himself from this place.
There are hadiths that indicate to us the necessity of staying away from places of what is wrong, like this verse. From those hadiths, for example, that come to my mind now is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not bring his wife into the bathhouse من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الأخير ؛ فلا يُدخل حليلته الحمام
, or before that:
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not enter the bathhouse except with a waistcloth, and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not bring his wife into the bathhouse, and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not sit at a table over which intoxicants are circulated من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر ؛ فلا يدخل الحمام إلا بمئزر ، ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر ؛ فلا يُدخل حليلته الحمام ، ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر ؛ فلا يقعد على مائدة يُدار عليها الخمر
. The point is this passage. This hadith is an explicit text that it is not permissible for a Muslim to witness places of what is wrong, and that he should stay away from them. If he is unable to do so because evil has prevailed, as we see today in the markets, shops, and bakeries, and so on, where anything a person might get, his eye must fall upon what is wrong, indeed upon many things that are wrong. If he is overcome by the situation and cannot flee from it, then at that point the effect of this hadith applies: if you are able to forbid with your hand, then you are [the one who does so]; if you are not able except to forbid with your tongue, then you are [the one who does so]; if you are not able even to do that, then you are the weak one who forbids with his heart.
The meaning of this statement is thus: the first branch. The second branch is related to this study. My belief on this matter is that it is not permissible for a Muslim to attend places of what is wrong while he knows... ... If this knowledge is obligatory to acquire, then at that point there is something that justifies for him to attend those places, even if he sees what is wrong there, and it is sufficient for him to forbid with his heart if he is unable to forbid with the hand or the tongue. But this is on the condition that he is not able to acquire that obligatory knowledge in another place that does not have that wrong. As for if he is able to acquire the obligatory knowledge in a place that has no wrong, then... ... ... he asked about itThe questioner .
Source www.al-albany.com

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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