Some young people claim that we do not enjoin good and forbid evil, and that establishing the proof against people is a source of calamity

The questioner : This question concerns the calling to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).

The Shaykh : (Glorified and Exalted is He).

The questioner : I sat with some of the young people who go out with some of the callers to Allah, who believe that they have a great share of correctness in calling to Allah. I sat with him and mentioned the verse: , and I said: meaning, it is from the mercy of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for this Ummah that He made us enjoin good and forbid evil. His answer was that this is a calamity; because if you establish the proof!

The Shaykh : Pardon me, this is—so that I understand you or him—his statement: "This is a calamity"; what is this?

The questioner : That we establish the proof against people; because in the case of establishing the proof against people, this becomes a calamity; because it is possible that they may disobey?

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!

The questioner : So I said to him: If he disobeys, the proof has been established against him, and this is what Allah commanded us to do: to establish the proof and to forbid!

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : So among his beliefs in the calling is that, meaning, even at the beginning, we must be like the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), calling to the oneness of Allah (tawhid), and as if we are now being addressed regarding the details of the Islamic religion; because it is tawhid, and we do not blame any person if he commits another innovation; because we must educate him, and in the case of his education in the mosque, and you now—meaning, we who are in the calling to Allah (Mighty and Majestic)—from the methodology of evidence, that people turn away from you, and you are harsh with people!

The Shaykh : .

The questioner : He says: If you were on the truth, most of the people would not have opposed you!

The Shaykh : What Allah willed! What Allah willed!

The questioner : So what is the response to this?

The Shaykh : This is the problem, my brother, that we always and forever revolve around!

The questioner : And are we—O honorable Shaykh—addressed regarding the details, or regarding the religion in its entirety now; so that when we see a person, we call him to tawhid; such that if we see him committing a major sin or an evil, we do not say to him, or at the beginning we educate him, or do we establish the proof against him?

The Shaykh : The meaning of the words of this man you are referring to is that we are today in the Meccan period, and this is a very dangerous statement. I think that if he is reminded of it and its danger is made clear to him, he will retract his false claim; because the meaning of this statement is that if we see a person who does not pray, we leave him and his misguidance, if we see another person committing unlawful sexual intercourse, likewise, drinking intoxicants, and so on; why? Because these things are among the forbidden things that were prohibited in the Medinan period, whereas the Meccan period was indeed a focus of the calling on tawhid. I do not think this person’s ignorance and foolishness would reach the point of adhering to this obligation that we impose on him, that the meaning of your words—O Shaykh—is that we are now in a situation most resembling the Meccan situation, so we are not obligated with anything except tawhid, and this is disbelief that no Muslim on the face of the earth would ever say!! This is one thing.
And the second thing: Are they truly carrying out the calling to tawhid? Do they know tawhid? We mentioned briefly earlier; they blame those who research tawhid if they do not proceed with them; because the problem for them is not to research a topic that causes disagreement among the attendees; and therefore he says to you: If your calling were a true calling, the people would not have turned away from you, and this is evidence from among hundreds of evidences of the ignorance of these people; and therefore, when they go out claiming to call in the path of Allah, they have not known the path of Allah even to call to it, and as is said in the old examples: "He who lacks a thing cannot give it."
It has come in "Sahih Muslim" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: —meaning, the Jews are a very large nation—. He said (peace be upon him), and here is the point: . And all of these are prophets, we mean not like our story, meaning, it is possible for one of us to be ignorant, a student who has learned a few issues and acts as a caller, it is possible for his manner to be bad, so instead of bringing people to Islam, the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him) applies to him: . The prophets are protected from such a possibility, so they are correct in their ideas and in their calling, and successful in their manner. Why did these results differ? Moses (peace be upon him), his nation filled the horizon, the Messenger (peace be upon him), of course, his nation is the greatest and greatest, a prophet with a group and two groups, and a prophet with one man and two men, and a prophet with no one with him; does that mean that the manner of these differed and their calling differed? Of course not, what is the meaning of the difference in the fruit of the calling of these prophets, and their calling is one calling?! The reason is that the land in which they were plowing and planting was not fertile land that does not grow.

The questioner : They say: Tawhid, tawhid, tawhid, Allah does not ask us about what is in "Al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah."

The Shaykh : Do you see how it is?! This is what we are referring to, you said it earlier.

The questioner : Yes, there are many contradictions.

The Shaykh : I am telling you, or rather... I said earlier that above all, we start with tawhid, they do not know tawhid, and now they have refuted their claim with their own hands, they do not call except to things known to people or accepted; that you do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse, you do not drink, yet he says to you: Do not enjoin good and do not forbid evil. It is not permissible for us except to adopt Islam in its entirety, indivisible, it is not permissible for us to adopt Islam except in its entirety, indivisible, with its principles and branches, with its beliefs and rulings, with its conduct and manners, but there is no doubt that the circle of Islam is very wide, and we cannot imagine a prophet after our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who encompasses Islam in understanding, conveying, and action like him, this is impossible, but each of the scholars of the Muslims has a share of this calling, and it is obligatory upon him what he has reached of knowledge; first: to act upon it, and second: to call people to it, otherwise this statement you mentioned is in fact one of the things that is censured regarding the claim of these people, and we advise them to sit in the mosques and study knowledge and understand the Qur'an, and then call people to what they have learned of knowledge, whereas if they go out like this without understanding anything of Islam, they are more harmful to Islam than those who do not call to Islam. So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic).

Another questioner : Abu Layla dozed off, his eye turned red.

The Shaykh : Yes?

Another questioner : Abu Layla’s eyes turned red.

The Shaykh : But it is not on us!! [The Shaykh laughs].
So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic). It has ended. We ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to teach us what benefits us, and to grant us success to act upon what He has taught us, and to increase us in knowledge.
And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.