A teacher who enjoining good and forbidding evil, such as the rawatib, but does not perform them, and forbids evil but commits it: should he stop enjoining good and forbidding evil so as not to fall into the reported hadith on this matter?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you, esteemed Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : What is the ruling regarding the advisor in general, and the teacher in particular, who urges his students to do some acts of obedience, such as the rawatib, which he does not do himself, or forbids his students from doing some sins which he does commit? Does this fall under the hadith that was reported on this matter? Please inform us, may Allah guide you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
It is obligatory for the servant to rectify himself first, then strive to rectify others. So here there are two obligations: an obligation for the self and an obligation for the other.
So the sensible person starts first with himself, then tries to rectify others. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has rebuked those who enjoin righteousness upon people while forgetting themselves, and He said:[Al-Baqarah 2:44] But if it happens that a person is abandoned and becomes one who does not do the good that he enjoins and does not leave the evil that he forbids, then he must enjoin good and forbid evil. It is obligatory for him to enjoin good even if he does not do it, so that it will be an argument against him on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said: How do you enjoin good and not do it? How do you forbid evil and do it? Likewise, it is obligatory for him to forbid evil even if he does it, because if he leaves enjoining good while he does not do it, he has neglected two obligations, and if he leaves forbidding evil while he does it, he has neglected two obligations as well. So if he neglects one of the obligations, the other becomes obligatory upon him. And if a person were to enjoin only what he does and forbid only what he leaves, much of enjoining good and forbidding evil would be lost.
And I give an example for this: a man who forbids backbiting, and backbiting is: mentioning your brother with what he dislikes, but he backbites people. Do we say: Do not forbid backbiting because you backbite people? If we said this, most people would not forbid backbiting. Who is safe from backbiting except whom Allah wills? For this reason we say: Enjoin good even if you do not do it, but that will be an argument against you on the Day of Resurrection. But this will be an argument against you on the Day of Resurrection. And forbid evil even if you do it, but this will be an argument against you on the Day of Resurrection.
As for the hadith, the hadith is valid: meaning: his intestines, may Allah protect us from that, .
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you, esteemed Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : What is the ruling regarding the advisor in general, and the teacher in particular, who urges his students to do some acts of obedience, such as the rawatib, which he does not do himself, or forbids his students from doing some sins which he does commit? Does this fall under the hadith that was reported on this matter? Please inform us, may Allah guide you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
It is obligatory for the servant to rectify himself first, then strive to rectify others. So here there are two obligations: an obligation for the self and an obligation for the other.
So the sensible person starts first with himself, then tries to rectify others. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has rebuked those who enjoin righteousness upon people while forgetting themselves, and He said:
Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?
أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ أَفَلا تَعْقِلُونَAnd I give an example for this: a man who forbids backbiting, and backbiting is: mentioning your brother with what he dislikes, but he backbites people. Do we say: Do not forbid backbiting because you backbite people? If we said this, most people would not forbid backbiting. Who is safe from backbiting except whom Allah wills? For this reason we say: Enjoin good even if you do not do it, but that will be an argument against you on the Day of Resurrection. But this will be an argument against you on the Day of Resurrection. And forbid evil even if you do it, but this will be an argument against you on the Day of Resurrection.
As for the hadith, the hadith is valid: