Continuation of the explanation of the words of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "… And Allah the Exalted said: ((And let there arise from you a group of people who call to good)) …"

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
We have previously discussed this verse, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted: We explained that "good" is everything that benefits the servants in their worldly life and their hereafter, that "what is right" is everything that the Shari'ah has recognized and approved, and that "what is wrong" is everything that the Shari'ah has rejected and warned against. We also explained that enjoining good and forbidding evil must meet certain conditions. The first condition is that the one who enjoins or forbids must know that this is what is right or that this is what is wrong. The second condition is that he must know that the one being enjoined or forbidden has actually committed it, having either violated the command or fallen into the prohibition. We presented the evidence for this. The third condition is that forbidding the evil must not lead to an evil that is more severe and greater. An example of this is if we see a person smoking; smoking is forbidden, without doubt, and it is an evil that must be forbidden. However, if we forbid him and he turns to drinking intoxicants—meaning he goes to the taverns and drinks alcohol—then in this case, we do not forbid him from his first evil, because his first evil is lesser. Committing the lesser of two harms is obligatory if it is necessary to commit the greater one. The evidence for this condition is the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: Thus, Allah forbade the reviling of the idols of the polytheists, even though reviling the idols of the polytheists is among the matters required by the Shari'ah.