Is the principle that it is not permissible to delay clarification until the time of need used as evidence for changing what is wrong, whatever it may be?

The questioner : May Allah reward you and do you good, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Indeed.

The questioner : ... Questions and inquiries arose from the speech in which Allah opened the door for you to answer that question. Some people may use as an excuse the principle that it is not permissible to delay clarification until the time of need. If the clarification is speech, it must also be action. Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim who sees what is wrong to remain silent about it, even if he is unable to remove it, because he is rewarded for clarifying the path of truth regarding this wrong, even if he suffers harm and distress. What is the answer to that?

The Shaykh : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) commanded the Muslims to enjoin what is right, and he established this command in three levels. This is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih from the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: This hadith is actually related to the person who commands from one aspect, and to the society in which he lives from another aspect. As for the relationship of the hadith to the person who commands, it is because those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong differ greatly in the strength of their faith. Among them is the strong one who does not let anyone in Allah's cause cause him any reproach; he changes what is wrong even if his own death results from it. This is how the hadith came, namely his saying (peace be upon him): But it is observed and known in all Islamic history, whether that brought by Muhammad (peace be upon him) or what the noble prophets and messengers before him were upon, that people vary in this to the greatest extent. Human nature differs in weakness and strength. Therefore, the Wise Lawgiver, who revealed to His noble Prophet such a hadith, noticed the variation of people in their faith, so He made the highest level of enjoining what is right and changing what is wrong by hand: If he cannot, he descends to another level, which is changing it with his tongue and speech. Some people may reach a point where they cannot change it with their hand or their tongue. Therefore, the lowest degree of changing is to change it with his heart and to express it with his state of being, and that may be by saying: "O Allah, this is wrong and we do not accept it." This is what relates to the person. It may also relate to the society, as I mentioned earlier. A strong person, and there is no one stronger after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and as I hinted and explicitly stated earlier, when Allah the Exalted and Majestic opened Makkah al-Mukarramah at the hands of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), he was at the peak of strength in that he was able to change things. But he noticed that the society in which he was did not support him in changing what is wrong. So his saying (peace be upon him): These levels do not relate only to the person, as we said earlier, but sometimes they relate to the society, even if the person is strong in the highest level of enjoining what is right, which is changing by hand. That was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when he conquered Makkah, but did he change it? Was that due to his inability? May he be far from that! But he saw that changing by hand there might cause a great harm and evil. Therefore, he was content with changing by tongue, where he indicated that this Ka'bah should be rebuilt on the foundations of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), were it not that the people were newly converted from shirk (associating partners with Allah). May Allah reward you. I say that those who say that a Muslim is commanded to change things, this statement is correct in general, but not correct in detail. The detail, as I mentioned earlier, sometimes relates to the person, who may be unable. He may be able in terms of the society, but he is weak and does not suffice with changing by tongue; rather, he is weaker than that and suffices with changing by heart. And this is the lowest degree of faith, as that came explicitly in some authentic hadiths, including the hadith itself, and there is not a particle of faith beyond that, or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ali. I have answered this question, if Allah wills.

The questioner : May Allah reward you, our Shaykh. There is no session we sit with you for a day or an hour in which Allah the Exalted and Majestic does not cause wisdom to flow from your tongue, so we benefit. And by Allah, in whom we swear by no one else, and in ... much, much. Happy for you is your knowledge, and happy for us is hearing it and acting upon it, if Allah wills. By Allah, you have established a principle to which I did not pay attention, in my opinion, as a scholar. So may Allah reward you! Our Shaykh, among the things that caught my attention, I do not say my sight, but my hearing, while you were speaking, you said: "The scholars of Muslims say this word." This reminded me of two things. The first is your exalting the scholars and your respecting them, and your eagerness to benefit from them and acknowledging their virtue and their status in their lives and after their deaths. This is the first. As for the second, as those liars and perished people say when they mention Shaykh Nasir, who is a thorn in the throats of many of the enemies of this Ummah (the Muslim community), other than the just ones, for the enemies of this Ummah who are just, you are not a thorn in their throats, but you are a pen that runs on their parchments in acknowledgment of the virtue of your knowledge over them. So may Allah reward you and may Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.
Abu Malik: Our Shaykh, there is also an issue.