Speaking on the importance of enjoining good and forbidding evil in calling others to Allah.

The Shaykh : Also, connected to the da'wah is enjoining good and forbidding evil, by commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong. This is part of the duty of the imam. What is right (ma'ruf) is everything the Shari'ah has commanded, and what is wrong (munkar) is everything the Shari'ah has forbidden. This is the criterion. The first is called "ma'ruf" because the Shari'ah recognized and approved it, and the second is called "munkar" because the Shari'ah rejected it. One must command what is right and forbid what is wrong. If he does not do it himself, he delegates it to someone capable of it. He delegates it to someone capable of it, who acts on his behalf in this matter. It is necessary, and it is absolutely impossible for the Muslim community to stand or unite except through enjoining good and forbidding evil. Allah the Exalted said: And He said: So, by His saying: after His saying: , He indicated that if that is not done, people will disperse. This is clear: if there is no enjoining of good and forbidding of evil, everyone will follow their own path, and the community will disperse. Nothing unites the community except the Shari'ah of its Lord, Mighty and Majestic, and that does not happen except through enjoining good and forbidding evil. The community, or the group that the imam establishes for enjoining good and forbidding evil, must have knowledge that this is ma'ruf and this is munkar. How do they know that? Through the Shari'ah. They must have Shari'ah knowledge that this is ma'ruf and this is munkar. Second, they must have knowledge that this man has left the ma'ruf or committed the munkar. This is necessary. If they do not know, it is not permissible for them to forbid, neither by command nor by prohibition. If you see a man with a woman walking in the market, with her hand in his, and you say, "O Shaykh, do you not fear Allah? You are walking with women in the market. Is this permissible or not?" It is absolutely not permissible. I ask him first, "Who is this woman? What is your relationship to her?" He says, "By Allah, she is my sister, my mother, or my daughter." I stop and I am done, unless there are strong indications that contradict what he claimed. That is a different matter. For this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not forbid anything except after knowing that it was munkar. When a man entered while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the Friday sermon, he sat down. The Prophet said to him, "Stand up and pray two rak'ahs." He said, "No." He said: It is possible that he had prayed and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not see him. He said: He said, "No." He said: He said: Now, suppose you leave the mosque and find someone walking in the market. Do you say, "Come, do you not fear Allah? People are praying in the mosque and you are walking in the markets"? Is that right or wrong? What do I say? I say, "Did you pray, my brother?" If he says, "No, by Allah, I did not pray. I just came from work," I say, "My brother, prayer is important," and I advise him gently. Now, the one who enjoins good and forbids evil must have wisdom. Wisdom means repelling evil with evil and evil with good. Yes, my brother, repelling evil with evil and evil with good. Yes, yes, because repelling evil with evil is lighter, meaning committing the lesser of two harms to avert the greater. This is a rule among the scholars. For example, if he sees a man committing a munkar and forbids him from it, and says, "Okay, I will leave him, but I will go take something worse from him." He sees him smoking and says, "My brother, why are you smoking? It is haram for you." He says, "Okay, may Allah protect you. Put the cigarette down here, boy. You have a glass of khamr, and he goes and drinks khamr." But if he had let him smoke, which is better? Of course, smoking is better. So, if I know that if I forbid him from smoking, he will go drink khamr, is it correct for me to forbid him from smoking? No, let him smoke and spill it, or rather, let him continue. We told him, "My brother, this is haram and not permissible, and perhaps Allah will guide him." For this reason, it is mentioned that when Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah entered the Levant with the Tatars, he and his companion passed by a group of Tatars drinking khamr. Shaykh al-Islam did not forbid them. His companion said to him about that. He said, "If we forbid them from this, they will leave the khamr and go violate the honor of the Muslims, because they are a corrupt people. Let them amuse themselves with their khamr, which is evil for them, and does not extend beyond that." See how wisdom works. And this, I mean the use of wisdom, is necessary for the one who enjoins good and forbids evil. As for using gentleness, it is also perfection for the one who enjoins good and forbids evil. You know, or some of you know, that a Jewish man passed by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while Aisha was with him. He said, "Death upon you, O Muhammad. Death upon you, O Muhammad." Aisha said, "May Allah and His Messenger send death and curse upon you." Yes, she sent back the death and curse together. Then the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Say: If they were saying "peace," it is upon them. If they were saying "death," it is upon them. This is justice. This is justice. Then he said: Our zeal does not allow us except to be harsh and use violence, and we think that this is what solves the problem. But the most knowledgeable and most sincere among us is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He is truthful and verified. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): It is mentioned about one of the scholars, one of the imams of the da'wah, may Allah have mercy on them, that he passed by a worker. One of them narrated it to me. He passed by a date palm owner, and the Maghrib adhan had been called. The Maghrib adhan had been called, and this man was singing to his camels, because camels are pleased with singing. He was singing to them. So he stopped him and said, "Are you not ashamed of your soul, O donkey? You who have in you what you do not have, how do you not pray?" That poor man got angry and said to him, "This donkey, am I praying or you? I have my prayer, and I am going in the safety of Allah." The Shaykh came, may Allah reward him with good and forgive him, and spoke to him with soft, calm words. He said, "Prayer is better than this work, and you will pray, if Allah wills, and return to your work." He said, "May Allah reward you with good. You are a blessed face. By Allah, a man came to me and said, 'O donkey, you who have in you what you do not have, go pray.' So the shepherd, or he came down from his date palm and went and prayed." This is a real witness that is true, and if the saying of the Messenger is true without verification, because he is the Truthful and the Verifier, but reality increases your faith that gentleness is better than violence. But Allah forgives us. In truth, sometimes our zeal takes us, we cannot control ourselves, we become harsh and upset, and our nerves tense up. But it is better for us to calm down, look, and consider. Now, enjoining good and forbidding evil is the duty of whom? The imam. If he does not do it, because he has occupations that prevent him from doing it directly himself, he delegates it to someone capable of it. And we mentioned that.