Guidelines for Publicly Forbidding What Is Wrong
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When is it permissible to forbid what is wrong publicly?
Forbidding what is wrong is obligatory. If a wrong is committed openly, it must be forbidden openly to the one who committed it. So if we see a person committing a sin in front of us, we forbid it to him; but we must use wisdom, for it may not be in the public interest to forbid it to him openly; for example, if that forbidding causes the man to become averse and not accept it, or if the man is one of the officials, and if you forbid it to him openly he will not accept it, or perhaps there are other reasons.
The important thing in any case: If a wrong is committed openly, it is obligatory to forbid it openly to the one who committed it; but a greater public interest may arise than forbidding it openly, and it is obligatory to follow the public interest.
As for forbidding the one who commits a wrong while he is absent, this is not permissible; because that is backbiting about him—in reality—like a man you know committed unlawful sexual intercourse, may Allah protect us, and he is not present for you to forbid it to him, but is absent,And your forbidding him means: you are backbiting about him, and backbiting is among the major sins.
It is not permissible for a person to backbite his brother, let alone if his backbiting leads to great harm, such as backbiting the scholars and backbiting the rulers, for in that there is great harm; because backbiting the scholars diminishes their status and the status of what they conveyed of the Shari'ah of Allah, and backbiting the rulers diminishes their status and their awe among the people, so security is lost and the community is disrupted.
Therefore, it is a mistake what people circulate of these papers that come from outside containing disparagement of the rulers, and it may also be a lie, for this is backbiting and cooperation in sin and aggression, and the one who distributes it is sinful and commits a major sin; even though this is not like backbiting one of the people of the street, for this leads to hearts bearing hatred and resentment toward the rulers, which necessitates the disunity of the Ummah in the future and necessitates many evils.
Therefore, we forbid our brothers—advice for the sake of Allah and His Messenger and the leaders of the Muslims and the general public—to circulate such papers, but rather they must burn them and not spread them among the people, and whoever wants to give advice, it is obligatory for him to reach the one being advised through a specific, defined path, so that sufficiency is achieved.
Forbidding what is wrong is obligatory. If a wrong is committed openly, it must be forbidden openly to the one who committed it. So if we see a person committing a sin in front of us, we forbid it to him; but we must use wisdom, for it may not be in the public interest to forbid it to him openly; for example, if that forbidding causes the man to become averse and not accept it, or if the man is one of the officials, and if you forbid it to him openly he will not accept it, or perhaps there are other reasons.
The important thing in any case: If a wrong is committed openly, it is obligatory to forbid it openly to the one who committed it; but a greater public interest may arise than forbidding it openly, and it is obligatory to follow the public interest.
As for forbidding the one who commits a wrong while he is absent, this is not permissible; because that is backbiting about him—in reality—like a man you know committed unlawful sexual intercourse, may Allah protect us, and he is not present for you to forbid it to him, but is absent,And your forbidding him means: you are backbiting about him, and backbiting is among the major sins.
It is not permissible for a person to backbite his brother, let alone if his backbiting leads to great harm, such as backbiting the scholars and backbiting the rulers, for in that there is great harm; because backbiting the scholars diminishes their status and the status of what they conveyed of the Shari'ah of Allah, and backbiting the rulers diminishes their status and their awe among the people, so security is lost and the community is disrupted.
Therefore, it is a mistake what people circulate of these papers that come from outside containing disparagement of the rulers, and it may also be a lie, for this is backbiting and cooperation in sin and aggression, and the one who distributes it is sinful and commits a major sin; even though this is not like backbiting one of the people of the street, for this leads to hearts bearing hatred and resentment toward the rulers, which necessitates the disunity of the Ummah in the future and necessitates many evils.
Therefore, we forbid our brothers—advice for the sake of Allah and His Messenger and the leaders of the Muslims and the general public—to circulate such papers, but rather they must burn them and not spread them among the people, and whoever wants to give advice, it is obligatory for him to reach the one being advised through a specific, defined path, so that sufficiency is achieved.