The Obligation of Forbidding Evil on Everyone Who Sees It and the Method of Forbidding It
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His Eminence the Shaykh: May Allah reward you: Is it obligatory for everyone who sees an evil to forbid it?
Yes, it is obligatory for everyone who sees an evil to forbid it, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand, and if he cannot, then with his tongue, and if he cannot, then with his heart) But how does one forbid it? That is the important point! Does one forbid it with violence, shouting at this man and cursing him? Or does one conceal it and forbid it in the best manner? That is the important point, and this is what many of the brothers who enjoin good and forbid evil miss. You find them using violence, and perhaps in his heart he wants to avenge himself, for example, and this is a mistake. The obligatory thing when forbidding evil is that you intend thereby to reform your brother, and if you intend this, then take the easiest path to reform him.
Yes, it is obligatory for everyone who sees an evil to forbid it, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand, and if he cannot, then with his tongue, and if he cannot, then with his heart) But how does one forbid it? That is the important point! Does one forbid it with violence, shouting at this man and cursing him? Or does one conceal it and forbid it in the best manner? That is the important point, and this is what many of the brothers who enjoin good and forbid evil miss. You find them using violence, and perhaps in his heart he wants to avenge himself, for example, and this is a mistake. The obligatory thing when forbidding evil is that you intend thereby to reform your brother, and if you intend this, then take the easiest path to reform him.