الآية رقم (79) - كَانُواْ لاَ يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَن مُّنكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُواْ يَفْعَلُونَ

(79) - (They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did. How wretched was that which they were doing.)

They did not forbid each other from committing sins and the prohibitions and did not advise to truth and to patience:

 وَالْعَصْرِ (1) إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ (2) إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ

(By time, (2) Indeed, mankind is in loss, (3) Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.) (Al-‘Assr)

( عَن مُّنكَرٍ ) (…wrongdoing ): It is every act the common sense refuses such as killing, transgression, indecency….. Advising good and forbidding evil is not the duty of a specific group of people, but all people can advise with good and can forbid of evil; today, I advise you to be patient, and tomorrow you may advise me to be patient, one day you advise and another day you are the advised. So, advising people is not a duty given to a certain group of people. It is worthy here to mention the Prophet (saws)’s hadith:

“Whoever amongst you sees an evil, he must change it with his hand; if he is unable to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is unable to do so, then with his heart; and that is the weakest form of Faith”.[1]

Does this Hadith mean that if you see a man smoking you have to hit him? Of course not, that is why in order to understand the religion correctly we have to know the correct interpretation of the Holy Quran and the Hadiths. You can apply this Hadith on whom you have authority on, for example, if you are a father and you see your son smoking cigarettes, then you can change the evil with your own hands, but if you do not have the authority, it is the duty of judiciary and the law to prevent the evils, rebuke and deter. Hence, no person can say: I will change the evil by my hands, and when he finds a shop selling alcohol he can destroy it, not at all, and the proof is the saying of the Prophet (saws): “if he is unable to do so, then with his tongue” meaning with a kind word, and if your word may harm a person: “then with his heart”. Look at the gentle manner of Islam, You are held accountable for the word, and you cannot reform a mistake with a mistake. Allah (swt) says:

 ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ ۖ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ۖ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

(Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided.) (An-Nahl: 25)

[1] Sahih Muslim: Book of Faith, Chapter: 20, Hadith No.49.