Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (15/244)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

If you leave the mosque and find someone walking in the marketplace, would you say to him, “Come here! Do you not fear Allah? The people are praying in the mosque while you are walking about in the markets!”? This is wrong. Rather, you should say, “Have you prayed, my brother?” If he says, “I have not prayed; I have just come from work,” then say, “My brother, prayer is important,” and advise him gently.

Third: the one who enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong must possess wisdom: he should repel the greater evil with the lesser evil, and evil with good. Repelling the greater evil with the lesser evil is more bearable; that is, committing the lesser of two harms in order to avert the greater. This is a recognized principle among the scholars. For example, if he sees a man smoking and forbids him from it, but the man stops smoking and goes to drink wine, then it would have been better to leave him smoking than for him to drink wine. Thus, if you know that, were you to forbid him from smoking, he would go and drink wine, then leave him to smoke. When he has finished, say to him, “My brother, this is unlawful and impermissible. Perhaps Allah will guide him.”

It is related that when Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, entered Syria after the Tatars had invaded it, he and a companion passed by some Tatars who were drinking wine. Shaykh al-Islam did not forbid them from doing so, and his companion spoke to him about it. He replied, “If we forbade them from this, they would stop drinking wine and go instead to violate the honor of the Muslims, for they are a corrupt people. So leave them to amuse themselves with their wine, whose harm is confined to them and does not extend to others.” Consider, then, what wisdom this was. Employing wisdom is essential for the one who enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong.

Fourth: employing gentleness is likewise a perfection for the one who enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong. A Jewish man passed by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,

ولو خرجت من المسجد ووجدت شخصاً يمشي في السوق، هل تقول له: تعالَ، أنت ما تخاف الله، الناس يصلون بالمسجد، وأنت تمشي بالأسواق! هذا خطأ، بل تقول: أصليت يا أخي؟ فإذا قال: ما صليت! جئت الآن من العمل، تقول: يا أخي الصلاة مهمة، وتنصحه بلطف. ثالثاً: لا بد أن يكون عند الآمر بالمعروف والناهي عن المنكر حكمة، بأن يدفع الأشر بالشر، والشر بالخير؛ لأن دفع الأشر بالشر أهون، يعني ارتكاب أدنى المفسدتين لدفع أعلاهما، وهذه قاعدة عند أهل العلم، مثل لو رأى رجلاً يشرب الدخان فنهاه عنه، فترك شرب الدخان وذهب يشرب خمراً، فهذا لو تُرك يشرب الدخان لكان أفضل من أن يشرب الخمر، فإذا علمت أنني إذا نهيته عن الدخان راح ليشرب الخمر، أتركُه يشرب الدخان، وإذا انتهى قلت له: هذا يا أخي حرام، ولا يجوز، ولعل الله أن يهديه، ولهذا يذكر أن شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية ﵀ لما دخل التتار الشام مرّ هو وصاحب له بقومٍ يشربون الخمر من التتار، ولم ينههم شيخ الإسلام، فقال له صاحبه في ذلك، فقال له: لو نهيناهم عن هذا تركوا الخمر، وراحوا يهتكون أعراض المسلمين؛ لأنهم قوم مفسدون، فدعهم يلهون بخمرهم التي هي عليهم ولا يتعدون، فانظر كيف الحكمة؟ فاستعمال الحكمة أمر ضروري للإنسان الآمر بالمعروف والناهي عن المنكر. رابعاً: استعمال الرفق، وهو ـ أيضاً ـ كمال للآمر بالمعروف والناهي عن المنكر، ومرّ رجل يهودي على النبي ﷺ