If the wrong is done openly, should it be opposed openly? And if a person is calling to open sinfulness, should people be warned against him?
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The questioner : If the wrong is done openly, should it be opposed openly? And if a person is openly committing open sinfulness and calling to sin and disobedience, should people be warned against him so that they guard themselves from his evil?
The Shaykh : Yes, if the wrong is made public, it is obligatory to oppose it openly. But is it obligatory to name the person committing it? This depends on what is in the public interest. If the public interest requires naming the person so that he is deterred from the wrong he is committing, then he should be named. If the public interest requires generalizing the statement and saying, “There are people who do such and such,” or “What is wrong with a group of people that they do such and such,” or something similar, then that is better. The important point is that if the wrong is made public, it is obligatory to oppose it openly, but naming the doer depends on what is in the public interest. As for warning against this doer in secret, out of fear that people may be led astray by him or be deceived by him, that is obligatory. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, if the wrong is made public, it is obligatory to oppose it openly. But is it obligatory to name the person committing it? This depends on what is in the public interest. If the public interest requires naming the person so that he is deterred from the wrong he is committing, then he should be named. If the public interest requires generalizing the statement and saying, “There are people who do such and such,” or “What is wrong with a group of people that they do such and such,” or something similar, then that is better. The important point is that if the wrong is made public, it is obligatory to oppose it openly, but naming the doer depends on what is in the public interest. As for warning against this doer in secret, out of fear that people may be led astray by him or be deceived by him, that is obligatory. Yes.