Allah the Exalted said: {Cursed are those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel on the tongue of Dawud and 'Isa ibn Maryam. That was because they defied and used to transgress.}
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The questioner : The Exalted Allah says [Al-Ma'idah 5:78-79] the verse. We are university students and we see things that make the true Muslim weep and burn with grief. Is our role here limited to only forbidding what is wrong with the tongue and the heart, in accordance with the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) Sahih Muslim 49a, the hadith, or do we fall under the curse of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)?
The Shaykh : My belief regarding this issue is that it has two branches. The first branch is the well-known hadith which mentions that the third level is forbidding with the heart. This is only valid for one who is caught off guard and forced to see what is wrong with no way to escape it, or when forbidding with the hand or the tongue is not possible, until the last level is reached, which is forbidding with the heart. This is considered a dispensation for this Muslim, especially if he is unable to stay away from that place. There are hadiths that make us feel the necessity of staying away from places of wrongdoing, such as this verse. One of those hadiths that comes to my mind now is the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), or before that . The point is this passage: this hadith is an explicit text that it is not permissible for a Muslim to witness places of wrongdoing, and that he should stay away from them. If he is unable to do so because of the prevalence of evil, as we see today in markets, shops, and bakeries, and so on, where anything specific to a person requires his eyes to fall upon wrongdoing, indeed multiple wrongdoings, then if it overwhelms him and he cannot flee from it, then the effect of this hadith applies: if you are able to forbid with your hand, then do so; if you are not able except to forbid with your tongue, then do so; if you are not able even then, then you are the weak one, so forbid with your heart.
The meaning of this statement is that this is the first branch. The second branch relates to studying this. My belief in this matter is that it is not permissible for a Muslim to attend places of wrongdoing while he is aware of it. If this knowledge is of the kind that must be detailed, then there may be one who justifies for him attending those places even if there is wrongdoing in them, and it is sufficient for him to forbid with his heart if he is unable to forbid with his hand or tongue. But this is on the condition that he is unable to acquire that obligatory knowledge in another place that does not have that wrongdoing. As for if he is able to acquire the obligatory knowledge in a place that has no wrongdoing, then the questioner asked about it.
(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 فَعَلُوهُHe who amongst you sees something abominable
من رأى منكم منكرًاThe Shaykh : My belief regarding this issue is that it has two branches. The first branch is the well-known hadith which mentions that the third level is forbidding with the heart. This is only valid for one who is caught off guard and forced to see what is wrong with no way to escape it, or when forbidding with the hand or the tongue is not possible, until the last level is reached, which is forbidding with the heart. This is considered a dispensation for this Muslim, especially if he is unable to stay away from that place. There are hadiths that make us feel the necessity of staying away from places of wrongdoing, such as this verse. One of those hadiths that comes to my mind now is the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not enter the bathroom with his wife
من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الأخير فلا يدخل حليلته الحمامWhoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not enter the bathroom except with a waistcloth, and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not enter the bathroom with his wife, 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 يدخل حليلته الحمام، ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يقعد على مائدة يدار عليها الخمرThe meaning of this statement is that this is the first branch. The second branch relates to studying this. My belief in this matter is that it is not permissible for a Muslim to attend places of wrongdoing while he is aware of it. If this knowledge is of the kind that must be detailed, then there may be one who justifies for him attending those places even if there is wrongdoing in them, and it is sufficient for him to forbid with his heart if he is unable to forbid with his hand or tongue. But this is on the condition that he is unable to acquire that obligatory knowledge in another place that does not have that wrongdoing. As for if he is able to acquire the obligatory knowledge in a place that has no wrongdoing, then the questioner asked about it.