followers of Imam Ahmad’s school. A celebrated preacher, a chair was set for him every Friday from which he delivered sermons attended by hundreds of thousands. The effect of his words on people’s hearts was so profound that some listeners would faint—and even die—from the intensity of their emotion.

One day a slave came to him and said, “Master, my owner exhausts me, overburdens me, and commands me to do what I cannot bear. Perhaps you could exhort the people and encourage them to free their slaves, so that he might set me free.” Ibn al-Jawzi replied, “Yes, I will do so.”

A week or two—or whatever period Allah willed—passed, yet he made no mention of manumission. The slave returned and said, “Master, I asked you some time ago to speak about freeing slaves, but you have not done so until now.” He answered, “Yes, because I myself did not own a slave to set free, and I dislike urging others to do something I have not yet done—glory be to Allah. When Allah later granted me a slave and I emancipated him, I then had grounds to speak about manumission.”

After that, he delivered a sermon on freeing slaves, and his words so moved the congregation that the man’s owner set him free.

Such is one of the etiquettes of enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. We ask Allah to make us and you among those who call to righteousness, who command what is good and forbid what is evil. Truly, He is Most Generous and Bountiful.