How should enjoining good and forbidding evil be carried out in the reality of the Islamic world, which is turbulent with trials and deviation?
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Ibrahim Shuqara: And we leave the floor to our Shaykh to tell us how enjoining good and forbidding evil should be in such a reality that Muslims are living in, and may Allah reward him with good.
The Shaykh: Indeed, praise is to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and the badness of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, there is no one who can misguide him, and whom He leaves to misguide, there is no one who can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. As for what follows, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. After this, it remains for every Muslim that Islam is either established by fulfilling the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil. And the noble verses have repeatedly been mentioned in the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanding that there be a community and a group that fulfills the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil. This is a matter on which there is no disagreement among Muslims as a whole. Rather, there may be disagreement in the application of this obligatory command. And here, one must pause for a moment. Many Muslims who have been granted a share, even if small, of knowledge think that it is safe and that it must be changed. They rush to change it without thinking about the consequences of that change. This is something that those who are in charge of enjoining good and forbidding evil should observe, despite the differences in their methodologies and calls. There was a reference to this in the words of the professor.The questioner : We mention a scientific fact on which there should also be no disagreement, which is that it is known by the Shari'ah that knowledge precedes action, and that knowledge should be accompanied by action; otherwise, this knowledge becomes a burden on its owner. If this is known to all students of knowledge, let alone scholars, then it should be present in their minds and not absent from their thoughts that in many cases, the interest of the da'wah and the interest of enjoining good and forbidding evil necessitate delaying action relative to knowledge. The interest of the da'wah and the interest of enjoining good and forbidding evil necessitate delaying the coupling of action with knowledge. And although the principle, as I mentioned earlier, is that action should follow knowledge, this is not a consistent rule. In some cases, the legitimate interest may necessitate delaying action and postponing it relative to knowledge. And the clearest example established in the Sunnah as a witness to what we are saying is the hadith of the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), which was narrated byThe Shaykh : in their two Sahihs, that when Allah supported the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against his polytheist enemies and opened for him the great opening, which is the conquest of Makkah, and he entered it victorious and put an end to shirk and its people, he entered the interior of the Ka'bah and prayed two rak'ahs in it, thanking Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) for the great opening He had bestowed upon him. So the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) wanted to follow her husband and her Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and enter the Ka'bah to pray as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had prayed.
The Shaykh: Indeed, praise is to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and the badness of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, there is no one who can misguide him, and whom He leaves to misguide, there is no one who can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. As for what follows, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. After this, it remains for every Muslim that Islam is either established by fulfilling the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil. And the noble verses have repeatedly been mentioned in the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanding that there be a community and a group that fulfills the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil. This is a matter on which there is no disagreement among Muslims as a whole. Rather, there may be disagreement in the application of this obligatory command. And here, one must pause for a moment. Many Muslims who have been granted a share, even if small, of knowledge think that it is safe and that it must be changed. They rush to change it without thinking about the consequences of that change. This is something that those who are in charge of enjoining good and forbidding evil should observe, despite the differences in their methodologies and calls. There was a reference to this in the words of the professor.The questioner : We mention a scientific fact on which there should also be no disagreement, which is that it is known by the Shari'ah that knowledge precedes action, and that knowledge should be accompanied by action; otherwise, this knowledge becomes a burden on its owner. If this is known to all students of knowledge, let alone scholars, then it should be present in their minds and not absent from their thoughts that in many cases, the interest of the da'wah and the interest of enjoining good and forbidding evil necessitate delaying action relative to knowledge. The interest of the da'wah and the interest of enjoining good and forbidding evil necessitate delaying the coupling of action with knowledge. And although the principle, as I mentioned earlier, is that action should follow knowledge, this is not a consistent rule. In some cases, the legitimate interest may necessitate delaying action and postponing it relative to knowledge. And the clearest example established in the Sunnah as a witness to what we are saying is the hadith of the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), which was narrated byThe Shaykh : in their two Sahihs, that when Allah supported the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against his polytheist enemies and opened for him the great opening, which is the conquest of Makkah, and he entered it victorious and put an end to shirk and its people, he entered the interior of the Ka'bah and prayed two rak'ahs in it, thanking Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) for the great opening He had bestowed upon him. So the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) wanted to follow her husband and her Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and enter the Ka'bah to pray as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had prayed.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.
