General advice for members of the military housing
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I am a military corporal, and I live in the military housing. It contains a large number of soldiers of various ranks, from sergeant and below. Among them are those who pray and are committed, those who only pray, and a large number who abandon prayer, may Allah protect us from that.And if I forbid them with wisdom, they say: May Allah reward you with good. I try to be sarcastic, but it does not benefit them. And as I mentioned, I am a corporal, and my authority to punish those who do not pray is limited. I only punish those who are lower than me in rank. As for those who are higher than me in military rank, I cannot punish them. If I advise them, they may not pay attention to the advice. Knowing that there are sins among the soldiers that only Allah knows about, and I do not want to mention the types of sins that occur in the military housing. Despite this corruption, there are righteous people who can be counted on one’s fingers. Some are righteous in themselves and do not know what is going on around them. Some know, but it does not move them. And some, as I mentioned, have limited ability to forbid evil. We have a squad leader who is very negligent in prayer, but he loves the righteous, and he is contradictory in his words and actions. Although he encourages prayer and threatens people who commit sins and abandon prayer with dismissal or transfer to the religious affairs department, what is obligatory for me in this matter? May Allah reward you with good?
This long question is a question about an entire village; because the residential complex gathers people whose ideas, desires, actions, and words differ. If the advisor gives advice, it is not a condition of the advice that the advised person accepts it.Have you not seen Allah saying to Musa and Harun: [Taha: 43-44] So they fulfilled the burden of the message, but did he remember or fear? No. So it is not required that the advice be accepted if the person has done what is obligatory upon him regarding advice. He has fulfilled what is upon him. If the one to whom it was directed accepts it, that is for him and for the advisor. If he does not accept it, it is for the advisor and upon him. But with that, I do not exempt the subordinates and those below them from advising those above them. If they see acceptance from them, otherwise, let them raise the matter to those above them as well, either directly or through someone who can reach the officials above them. Because the appointment of the non-righteous over the righteous is a reversal and an inversion, for the obligatory thing is that the righteous one is the one who has authority. This does not mean that we want someone to jump from his rank to the other’s rank, but we want that if the one above him does not reform, he is replaced by another righteous person. And with this, I believe that righteousness—praise be to Allah—has begun to spread in the military sectors and others. And some people flatter with righteousness at first, then in the end they become righteous with pure righteousness for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). As for the difference among the senior officials, from the leaders and those below them, this is a matter that is inevitable in most cases. But it is better if this man reforms others and punishes those who do wrong, even if he is also righteous in himself. This is better. Perhaps Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) will bestow upon him the reform of his own self, just as he tries to reform others.
So the summary now: I advise you to remain with giving advice, and to punish those whom you have authority to punish. If the one you advised does not take the advice, it is possible to raise the matter to those above him, either directly if you can, or through someone else if you cannot, especially if his sin is an exit from the religion, like the one who does not pray.
The one who does not pray—there is no doubt in my mind that he is a disbeliever, an apostate, and has exited Islam (he will be gathered—as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said—with Pharaoh, Haman, Qarun, and Abu Jahl).
This long question is a question about an entire village; because the residential complex gathers people whose ideas, desires, actions, and words differ. If the advisor gives advice, it is not a condition of the advice that the advised person accepts it.Have you not seen Allah saying to Musa and Harun:
(43) Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed. (44) And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]."
اذْهَبْا إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّهُ طَغَى * فَقُولا لَهُ قَوْلاً لَيِّناً لَعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوْ يَخْشَىSo the summary now: I advise you to remain with giving advice, and to punish those whom you have authority to punish. If the one you advised does not take the advice, it is possible to raise the matter to those above him, either directly if you can, or through someone else if you cannot, especially if his sin is an exit from the religion, like the one who does not pray.
The one who does not pray—there is no doubt in my mind that he is a disbeliever, an apostate, and has exited Islam (he will be gathered—as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said—with Pharaoh, Haman, Qarun, and Abu Jahl).