In some Islamic societies, good is still apparent. What is your advice to the da'wah workers there to preserve this good?

The questioner : My Shaykh, may Allah preserve you.

The Shaykh : And you as well.

The questioner : Some Islamic societies, or Islamic societies in general, differ in their conditions from one period to another. Some have reached the lowest point, some are only slightly above that, and in some, good is still apparent. My question is about those where good is apparent and people have begun to be negligent in holding fast to their religion. Allah has blessed them with sound 'aqidah, but they have begun to be lax in their conduct and transactions. What is your advice to the da'wah workers there to preserve this society? And what is the desired method for preserving it in light of the Book, the Sunnah, and the methodology of the righteous Salaf?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the da'wah workers must make it clear to the entire Ummah, and to the levels you mentioned in your question, that Islam and faith are speech and action, and that they increase and decrease. Their increase is only through righteous deeds, and their decrease is only through abandoning righteous deeds and committing what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has forbidden.
This, in reality, relates to one aspect of the correct 'aqidah, because many Muslims today still adhere to an old school of thought that says: faith does not increase or decrease. This is contrary to what came in the Book and the authentic, mass-transmitted Sunnah. Although the followers of that school do not deny the obligation of righteous deeds, they do not consider them part of faith. So when our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) commands people to enter into Islam entirely and to believe in Allah and His Messenger, He does not mean that the Muslim should limit himself to saying: "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Then he does not fulfill the right of this testimony, or the right of these two testimonies!
The first testimony: "There is no god but Allah." As you know, and I will not elaborate on this aspect, it requires the Muslim to understand tawhid in its three categories: tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship), and tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes).
But the second testimony: "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," requires first: the correct understanding of the message of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then acting upon it, as came in the story of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's expedition and his fighting of the people of apostasy. Who was this claimant to prophethood?

The questioner: Musaylimah

The Shaykh: Musaylimah the Liar. So some of the Companions paused, saying: "These people include those who testify that there is no god but Allah, so how do you fight them?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith, as you know: So Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was questioned: "How do you fight them when they testify?" He reminded them that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And it is the right of the testimony to fulfill its requirements, including its pillars, such as giving zakah. Therefore, 'Umar's heart was opened to this point that Abu Bakr drew his attention to, and they all agreed, and praise be to Allah, to fight the people of apostasy, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) gave them victory.
So, among the implications of this testimony is that we understand from the necessities of faith the implementation of the pillars of Islam, and indeed every virtue that Islam brought. That righteous action is what nourishes and strengthens faith, and the opposite is the opposite. Therefore, that school of thought which says that righteous deeds are not included in the term "faith" has as one of its effects a lack of concern for righteous deeds. Therefore, encouraging Muslims to care for righteous deeds begins by explaining the correct faith: that it is speech and action, and that it increases and decreases, and is not just saying "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" with affirmation of it, and then righteous deeds. These are obligatory matters that have no relation to the term "faith."
Therefore, above all, Islamic da'wah workers must link righteous deeds to 'aqidah, and the foundation of this 'aqidah, which is faith, and that righteous deeds are part of the term "faith." This is a topic that the scholars have engaged in explaining and detailing, especially Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) in his book known by this name, "Al-Iman" (Faith).
So our Lord (Mighty and Majestic), when He mentions faith, always and forever associates it with righteous deeds. The most famous surah in this regard is Surat al-'Asr: Thus, da'wah workers must always and forever call Muslims to act and not limit themselves to their knowledge of tawhid and the correct 'aqidah, if indeed the obligated ones have all come to know the correct 'aqidah, because in reality it does not limit itself to knowing tawhid in its three categories as we mentioned, but it must be added to that everything that came in the Book and the Sunnah. We may find many people who have no knowledge denying many of the unseen legal realities, and they are monotheists who testify that there is no god but Allah in the correct sense, but due to their ignorance, they may deny things that are established in the Book and the Sunnah, especially in this present age of fitnah, the age of the return of the Islamic sects with their ideas, even if they are far from their names. For example, the Qadariyyah: the Mu'tazilah's ideas are now prevalent and dominant over many Muslims, even if not under the name of Mu'tazilah or Qadariyyah or the like.
And it must be mentioned to those who neglect action, relying on the faith that is settled in the heart, as they claim, the previous truth: that faith increases with righteous deeds. In addition, they must be warned of the result of neglecting what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has obligated of worship, such as His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the command of prayer:
And His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Thus, they must be reminded of the hadiths that command Muslims with what Allah has obligated upon them, and the hadiths that warn them from committing what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has forbidden them.
For example, what we see in many countries, whether in the upper class where there is much good, let alone those below them: the tabarruj (display of adornment) of women and their going beyond the obligatory Islamic etiquettes, such as His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith:
Similarly, His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): If a woman went out of her house wearing the Shari'ah jilbab, where nothing of her is seen, not her face nor her hands, but her scent filled the road, and the men, when they passed by here, even if they did not see the woman, it would occur to them that a woman passed by in this place, then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says regarding her: she is a fornicator. This is, for example, one of the examples in which the Prophet forbade women.
As for men, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:
All of these are observable phenomena today among many Muslims, male and female, because they have neglected doing what Allah commanded, on one hand, or committed the prohibitions that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) forbade.
For example, it has begun to spread in the present age in countries whose guidance and custom was to follow the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which is leaving the beard. Now this phenomenon has begun in some countries where that was their good custom, and the situation has reversed. Shaving the beard has begun to spread there in a terrible manner. This is also contrary to the Book and the Sunnah in their many, many texts, such that if a Muslim scholar were to stand upon them, his heart would be filled with conviction, because it is not only from the forbidden, but it is from the major sins. Therefore, these da'wah workers must clarify these harms that have begun to spread, such as shaving the beard.
For example: women plucking their eyebrows, their cheeks, their arms, their calves. All these things are forbidden by the text of the Book and the Sunnah.
The Noble Qur'an narrates about Iblis the accursed that when he became accursed by the Lord of the Worlds, he said, venting the anger of his heart: So changing the creation of Allah: this verse states that in it is obedience to Satan and disobedience to the Most Merciful.
The verse establishes the principle that it is not permissible to alter the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Then certain hadiths came to confirm that altering the creation of Allah is a sin against Allah and obedience to Satan.
Among these is what I mentioned earlier regarding shaving the beard, plucking the eyebrows, and the like, where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
In another hadith found in "Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd," it is well known that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw the messenger of the King of Persia when he arrived in Madinah and had shaved his beard, so he said: He said: My Lord commanded me. Meaning: The King of Persia. He (peace be upon him) said: .
Now, this phenomenon has spread in many countries, so the callers to Islam must warn about its evil and its wrongness, and that it is among the major sins, and it is not as the masses think that it is a sunnah. So it is a sunnah, and the definition of sunnah in their view is that one is rewarded for doing it and not punished for leaving it. This is an obligation among the obligations for every Muslim to let his beard grow and not shave it. Similarly, regarding the issue of the creation of Allah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and in another narration of this hadith: . These things and many, many others are found in books written under the title of "Major Sins," such as the book by al-Dhahabi and the book "Al-Zawajir" by al-Haythami, and the like. Therefore, it is not permissible for callers to remain silent about warning people that they must do righteous deeds and that they must refrain from what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has forbidden, so that they can thereby preserve their faith first, and increase it, because it is not the nature of a thing, if it does not increase, but to decrease and to regress.
This is what comes to my mind now regarding that question.