Author: Shukran Ahmadi
Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil: Importance and Methods (Part 5)
Practical Methods of Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil
-
Paying Attention to Capacities and Making Use of Opportunities
The human soul is like a person’s private home, with many doors. Naturally, a person does not like anyone to enter through their door and cause disturbance or dictate to them. Likewise, a person’s thoughts, beliefs, and interests are part of their inner wealth, and any disturbance or forced intrusion into them will provoke resistance and opposition. Thus, wisdom requires that the caller (to truth) waits for permission to enter, so that they are respected and their invitation is accepted. Therefore, considering people’s temperaments, levels of understanding, capacity for endurance, and eagerness—and making use of suitable opportunities—is essential in calling others to good.
Sayyeduna ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “حَدِّثُوا النَّاسَ بِمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَتُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يُكَذَّبَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ” Translation: “Speak to people according to what they know [and can understand], so that they do not reject Allah and His Messenger.”
Hence, in the matter of enjoining good and forbidding evil, timing, location, and understanding of people must be taken into account.
-
Reforming People Gradually
One wise approach is to enjoin good and forbid evil in gradual stages. Just as the creation of man took place in phases, reform is also best achieved through a gradual process—a method emphasized in Islamic law.
Allah the Almighty revealed the Islamic Shari’ah to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in stages: first the fundamental beliefs, then the moral principles, and finally the laws. Regarding prohibitions, He first mentioned the forbiddance of unlawful killing, fornication, theft, consuming the wealth of orphans, and misappropriating people’s wealth, and at the end came the rulings on transactions and the prohibition of usury. The prohibition of alcohol was also revealed in stages. In fact, one reason for the gradual revelation of the Qur’an was to emphasize this important principle of “gradualism,” as the Qur’an is a book of education and was revealed to guide humanity toward the highest level of perfection.
Sayyidah ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: “إنما نزل أول ما نزل منه سورة من المفصل فيها ذكر الجنة والنار حتى إذا ثاب الناس إلى الإسلام، نزل الحلال والحرام، ولو نزل أول شيء: لا تشربوا الخمر، لقالوا: لا ندع الخمر أبدا. ولو نزل: لا تزنوا، لقالوا: لا ندع الزنا أبدا” Translation: “The first thing to be revealed was a surah from the shorter surahs in which Paradise and Hell were mentioned. When the people turned to Islam, the lawful and unlawful matters were revealed. If the first thing revealed had been: ‘Do not drink wine,’ they would have said: ‘We will never give up wine.’ And if it had been: ‘Do not commit fornication,’ they would have said: ‘We will never give up fornication.’”
Thus, every statement has its time, and every point has its proper place. It is not wise to speak about the branches of religion or disliked acts to a people who deny the fundamentals of faith. Rather, one should first establish the foundations, then call them to the branches, and then prohibit them from the disliked matters.
-
The Indirect Method
