from the wrongdoing they committed. Evil indeed was what they used to do.”

And Allah Most High said:

“When they forgot what they had been reminded of, We saved those who forbade evil and seized the wrongdoers with a terrible punishment for their defiance.”

Allah Most High thus tells us that when the punishment descended, He saved those who forbade evil and subjected the wrongdoers to severe punishment.

An authentic hadith relates that Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, addressed the people from the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, saying:

“O people, you recite this verse but apply it incorrectly: ‘O you who believe, take care of yourselves. Those who go astray will not harm you if you are rightly guided.’ Yet I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘When people see wrongdoing and do not change it, Allah may soon encompass them all with a punishment from Him.’”

Another hadith states:

“When a sin is committed secretly, it harms only the one who commits it. But when it becomes public and is not condemned, it harms the community at large.”

The foremost purpose of this category of adjudication concerning Allah’s prescribed limits and His rights, which we have discussed, is to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.

Enjoining what is right includes enjoining prayer, zakāh, fasting, pilgrimage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, dutifulness to parents, maintaining ties of kinship, treating one’s family and neighbours well, and similar matters. The ruler must therefore command everyone under his authority to perform the obligatory prayers and punish anyone who neglects them, according to the consensus of the Muslims.