what is right and forbids what is wrong.”

He begins with calling people to goodness, then follows that with enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. The order shows that inviting to goodness comes before the actual command or prohibition. Calling to goodness means explaining what is beneficial for people: inviting them to perform the prayer, give the obligatory alms, make the pilgrimage, fast, honor their parents, maintain family ties, and similar deeds. After this explanatory stage comes the phase of enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. One then commands, saying, “Pray,” either in general terms or in a specific case—such as taking hold of someone who is negligent about the prayer and telling him, “Pray.”

There is a third level: changing the wrong. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever among you sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand.” He did not say “let him forbid it,” because this level is higher than mere forbiddance. “If he cannot, then with his tongue; and if he cannot, then with his heart.” The tongue represents the second level, that of forbidding wrong. If a person cannot speak, he rejects it in his heart by detesting and loathing that wrong.

Enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong rests on several prerequisites.

First: the person must know what is right and what is wrong. If he is not sure about what is right, he has no permission to command it—for what exactly would he be commanding? He might order something he assumes to be right when in fact it is wrong, without realizing it. Therefore, he must be certain that the matter in question truly belongs to the category of what is right.