Discussion on how to address errors when they occur among people.

The Shaykh : And from this we know that enjoining good and forbidding evil does not have a specific, defined system, as it appears to some people who are dominated by politics in their calling, in their opinion. They think that if a preacher, for example, makes a mistake on the pulpit and recites a fabricated hadith with no basis, someone stands up. And this, unfortunately, is not found in this country, whereas in Egypt it happens a great deal. The reason is that the Egyptian country has, so to speak, a more scholarly spirit than this country. We know of many incidents where some of the attendees rebuke the preacher for a hadith or an opinion in which he erred. The preachers... are a mix of sincere people and insincere people, and so on.
The mistake is that if an error occurs openly, it is obligatory to rebuke it openly, and if it occurs secretly, it is obligatory to rebuke it secretly. Because in the first case, as it pleases some people, as we said earlier, this preacher is taken aside after his sermon and after his prayer, and it is said to him in a gentle tone: "You, may Allah bless you, your sermon was so sweet and so beneficial!" and so on, a new lecture so that the Muslim can offer a brief piece of advice to his Muslim brother. But a hadith of so-and-so came in his sermon, and this is a fabricated hadith. This is what some propose. This style could have been beneficial in preserving the heart of the one being advised; because, unfortunately, the souls of most Muslims have become Pharaonic and arrogant, not accepting advice except as Allah wills. This style could have been adopted under two conditions; one of which is absolutely impossible to achieve, and the other may be possible. The first: that he gathers all the people who were present when he made the error in his previous sermon, in a second sermon or a second gathering, and says: "I mentioned to you in the previous sermon a hadith of so-and-so, and this hadith has been shown to be fabricated..."