PITFALLS OF ENJOINING RIGHT AND FORBIDDING WRONG

Two groups of people fall into error in this area:

One group leaves what is obligatory upon them in the area of enjoining right and forbidding wrong, clinging to an incorrect interpretation of the aya quoted previously:

[O, you who believe, your selves are your responsibility, those who go astray will not harm you when you stick to guidance.]

Abu Bakr once explained this error in a khutba saying:

“O people, verily you read this aya, and you apply it where it does not belong, for I heard the Prophet (sas) say: Verily when the people see the wrong-doer, and do not seize his hand, Allah is about to inflict them with a general punishment.”

The second group desires to enjoin and forbid the people with their tongues and their hands absolutely and in all situations without sufficient knowledge of the shari’a, nor forbearance, nor patience, nor regard for that which is beneficial and that which has more harm than benefit and that which is possible and that which is not possible. This is as in the hadith narrated by Abu Tha’laba Al-Khushaniy:

“… rather enjoin on one another what is right and forbid what is wrong until you see obedience to greed and following of lusts and preoccupation with this world and the absolute fascination of each one with his own opinion, and when you see a situation over which you have no power, what is upon you then is your private affairs. For verily, the Days of Patience are coming; patience in those days is like squeezing a hot coal in your hand. The reward of one who fulfills all of his obligations in those days is equal to the reward of fifty such people today.”

This group, then, enjoins and forbids believing that they are in obedience to Allah ta’ala when in reality they are transgressors of His boundaries. In this way, many of the deviant and misguided groups considered themselves to be enjoiners of right and forbidders of wrong such as the khawaarij, and the mu’tazilah, and the raafidha (Shi’a), and others of those who erred in understanding that which Allah gave them in terms of enjoining right and forbidding wrong, and fighting jihad, and other issues. The corruption caused by this kind of enjoining and forbidding is much greater than any good which may result.