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 be from among you a community that calls to good)) …"

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
We have previously mentioned some of the verses with which the author (may Allah have mercy on him) began this chapter, indicating the evidence for good. One verse remains from those he mentioned, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted: This is a command from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that there be among us this community. "Ummah" means a group. The word "ummah" occurs in the Noble Qur'an with four meanings: a group, a religion, a span of years, and a leader. From the meaning of a group is this verse: meaning: a group and so on. "Ummah" in the sense of religion is like the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning: your religion is one religion. "Ummah" in the sense of years is like the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning: after a period of time
And "ummah" in the sense of a leader is like the saying of Allah the Exalted: So His saying here: The lam in His saying: is for command. As for the min in His saying: , there are two opinions among the scholars: some said it is for partiality (indicating a part of the whole), and some said it is for specifying the type. According to the first opinion, the command here is a collective obligation (fard kifayah), meaning that if enough people perform it, the obligation falls off the rest, because means some of you call to good. According to the second opinion, the command is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn), meaning that it is obligatory for every person to devote his efforts to this matter: calling to good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. Calling to good includes everything that brings benefit to people in their worldly life and their hereafter, because good is found in deeds for the hereafter as well as deeds for this world, as Allah the Exalted said: And whatever benefits people in worldly matters is good. For this reason, Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) called wealth "good," saying: What is right (ma'ruf) is what the Shari'ah has recognized and approved, and what is wrong (munkar) is what it has rejected and forbidden. Therefore, enjoining what is right is enjoining obedience to Allah, and forbidding what is wrong is forbidding disobedience to Allah. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, but enjoining good and forbidding evil has conditions, which are:
The first condition: that the one who enjoins or forbids knows that this is what is right (ma'ruf) which he is enjoining, and that this is what is wrong (munkar) which he is forbidding. If he does not know, it is not permissible for him to enjoin and forbid, because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: Prohibition and permissibility are not based on emotion, because if it were based on emotion and desire, we would find among people those who dislike everything that is strange to them. Even if something happens that benefits people but is strange to him, he would say: "This is wrong." And there are people who are the opposite; they are lenient and consider everything to be right. So what is right and what is wrong are matters for the Lawgiver. It is mentioned to me that when cars first appeared, some people said that performing Hajj by car is a quarter of a Hajj. The implication of this is that a person does not fulfill the obligation except with four Hajjs, because each one is a quarter, and it does not become a complete one except four times. Some people said, and we mention this while we were young, that some people said: "Then Hajj by plane, according to the implication of analogy, should be an eighth of a Hajj," yes, or a tenth. In any case, some people, when they find something strange, when they find something strange, say: "This is wrong." When loudspeakers first appeared, some people rejected them and said: "This is wrong. How can we perform prayer or the sermon with these trumpets that resemble the trumpets of the Jews?" Among the precise scholars was our Shaykh, Abd al-Rahman ibn Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him), who said: "This is a blessing from Allah, that Allah has facilitated for His servants what conveys the voices of truth to creation. And something like this is like eyeglasses. When the eye's vision weakens, it needs strengthening by wearing glasses. Do we say: 'Do not wear glasses because they strengthen vision and enlarge the small?' No, we do not say that. So the conclusion is that what is right and what is wrong are matters for Allah the Exalted and His Messenger, not for taste, not for a person's taste, or a person's desire, or a person's thought. It is necessary that a person knows that this is what is right and that this is what is wrong, that this is what is right which he enjoins and this is what is wrong which he forbids. But what is the path to knowing that? The path to knowing that is the Book and the Sunnah only, or the consensus of the community, or correct analogy. Both the consensus of the community and correct analogy are based on the Book and the Sunnah. Without the Book and the Sunnah, we would not have known that consensus is a proof or that analogy is a proof. This is one condition.
The second condition: that he knows the occurrence of the wrong (munkar) from the person, that he knows the occurrence of the wrong from the person, or his leaving of what is right (ma'ruf). If he does not know, he should not throw accusations at people based on the unseen. For example, if a man enters the mosque and sits, wisdom dictates that one should ask him: "Why did you sit?" One should not forbid him or rebuke him. One should not forbid him or rebuke him, but say: "Why did you sit?" As indicated by So he did not rebuke him when he left the prayer because it is possible that he had prayed and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not see him. Similarly, if you see a person eating in Ramadan or drinking in Ramadan, do not rebuke him by saying: "O so-and-so, you have such and such and such and such." Ask him; perhaps he has an excuse for leaving fasting that you do not know about. Say to him: "Why did you not fast?" He may be a traveler, or he may be sick with an illness that requires him to drink a lot of water, such as kidney pains that require drinking a lot of water. Even if the person appears healthy to people, the important thing is that you must know that he has left what is right so that you can enjoin it upon him, and you must also know that he has fallen into what is wrong so that you can forbid it, because he may not have fallen into what is wrong while you think he has. For example, you see a man in his car with a woman. Is there a possibility that the woman is a stranger to him? Yes, there is a possibility. There is a possibility that the woman is one of his mahrams or that she is his wife. There is a possibility. So do not forbid, do not forbid him. Stop and say: "Come, why? Why are you carrying this woman?" until you know that he has done something wrong, and that is by the circumstances. For example, if a person sees suspicion in this person because he is known for bad character, and sees movements that a sane, discerning person would recognize, then perhaps we would say: "It is appropriate to say: 'Who is this woman with you?' or 'Why are you carrying a woman who is not one of your mahrams?'" But merely seeing a man walking with a woman or carrying a woman in his car and forbidding him, while you do not know whether this is wrong or not, is not right. In any case, a woman being alone in a car with a non-mahram is wrong, but you do not know; perhaps this woman is one of his mahrams. So the important thing is that there must be knowledge that this is what is right and that this is what is wrong, and there must be knowledge that this is leaving what is right and doing what is wrong. The remaining conditions will come, if Allah wills, in a future lesson.
The reader: " Allah the Exalted said:

And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good

وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ

[Ali 'Imran 3:104]

".