Ma'ruf and Munkar

"'The Qur'an consists of Tauhid, Commands, and Historical events,' said a Shaykh to a man after delivering Tausiyah—a kind of informal dawah, distinguished from regular khutbah (sermon) which has more serious tone—in a Masjid," the Moon began after saying Basmalah and Salaam. "'Thus,' the Shaykh went on, 'Enjoining right and forbidding wrong is that with which Allah sent the revealed books, and with it He sent His messengers, and it is an integral part of the Deen. The message of Allah is composed of informative and directive parts. As for the informative, it is Allah informing us about Himself, such as Tauhid ot Theology, or informing us about His creation, such as the stories of previous peoples and Prophets in which are contained for us lessons, threats and promises. The directive part consists of commands to do, commands not to do, and things left to our choice and discretion.

'Enjoining right and prohibiting wrong, is a communial obligation (Fard al-Kifaya), a legal obligation that must be discharged by the Muslim community as a whole, such as military struggle; if enough members in the Muslim community discharge the obligation, the remaining Muslims are freed from the responsibility before Allah. However, if a communal obligation is not sufficiently discharged, then every individual Muslim must act to address the deficiency. In recent Islamic literature, this terminology is used to discuss social responsibility, such as feeding the hungry. So, enjoining right and prohibiting wrong is one of the greatest good works that we have been ordered to do.

The man asked, 'What is Ma'ruf and what is Munkar?' The Shaykh replied, 'Ma'ruf or the Good, includes everything both internal and external which has been enjoined by Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ). These include: absolute sincerity to Allah (ikhlaas), dependance on Allah (tawakkal), that Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ) be more beloved to the believer than anyone else, hope for Allah's mercy and fear of His punishment, patience with the decree of Allah and complete surrender to His order, truthfulness of speech, fulfilling of obligations, returning trusts to their owners, good behavior toward parents, maintaining of family ties, cooperation in all acts of righteousness and good, benevolence and generosity toward one's neighbors, orphans, poor people, stranded travellers, companions, spouses, and servants, justice and fairness in speech and actions, calling people to good character, and acts of forbearance such as establishing relations with those who cut you off, giving those who deny you, and forgiving those who oppress you. Enjoining people to be close together and cooperative, and forbidding them differing and dividing themselves is also a part of enjoining what is right.

As for the Bad, or Munkar, which Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ) have forbidden, its ultimate and worst form is the association of partners with Allah. Associationism means to pray to someone or something else along with Allah. This partner could be the sun, the moon, stars or planets, an angel, one of the prophets, a righteous man or saint, one of the jinn, images or graves of any of these, or anything else which is called to other than Allah the Exalted. Associationism (Shirk) is also to seek aid or succor from any of what was mentioned, or to prostrate to them. All of this and anything like it is the Shirk, forbidden by Allah on the tongues of all of His prophets.

Enjoining right and forbidding wrong is one of the most obligatory of actions and one of the best and most praiseworthy acts—best in actions. Every action must contain two thing: intention, and movement. Everyone is a tiller and a seeker of objectives he has actions, and he has intentions. However, the only praiseworthy intention which Allah accepts and rewards, is the intentions of doing an action solely for the sake of Allah. The praiseworthy deed is the righteous deed, and it is the the deed with which we have been ordered. There can be no righteous deed in the absence of knowledge ['ilm] and understanding of the law [fiqh]. Intentions and actions which are not based on knowledge are ignorance and going astray, and following of Hawaa, as we have said before. Thus, knowledge of the Ma'ruf and the Munkar are absolute necessities as are the ability to distinguish between them, and knowledge of the condition of those to be ordered and forbidden is also essential. For optimum benefit, enjoining and forbidding should be performed on the Straight Path. The Straight Path is the shortest route, and the one which leads to the attainment of the sought-after goal.

Everything which Allah has forbidden is also part of the Munkar, such as unjustified killing, taking people's property by unlawful means, taking of property by force or intimidation, ribaa, or gambling, all types of sales or contracts which the Prophet has prohibited, breaking of family ties, cruelty to parents, cheating in weights and measures, and any form of transgression on the rights of others. Also, in this category are all innovated acts of 'worship' which Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ) have not ordained or sanctioned.'

The man then asked, 'What is methodology of Enjoining Right and Forbidding Wrong?' The Shaykh responded, 'Friendliness and Sympathy are the correct way in enjoining right and forbidding wrong. Enjoining right and forbidding wrong being one of the greatest obligations or commendable acts in Islam, it is essential that the benefit therein outweigh its negative consequences. This is the general spirit of the messages of the prophets and the revealed books, and Allah does not like chaos and corruption. All that which Allah has enjoined is beneficial, and the epitome of benefit. Allah has praised "Salah" [the opposite of corruption] and the "Musliheen" [reformers, or those who bring about salah]. And He has praised those who believe and do good works [saalihaat], while condemning corruption [fasaad] and those who cause it in many places in the Qur'an. Thus whenever the adverse effects [mafsada] of any act of enjoining or forbidding are greater than its benefit [maslaha], it is no longer part of what Allah has enjoined upon us, even if it be a case of neglecting obligations or committing the forbidden. This is because it is upon the believer to fear Allah in relation to His slaves. When a Muslim does what is obligatory upon him, by way of enjoining right and forbidding wrong, just as he fulfilled all other obligations, the going astray of those who go astray will not do him any harm.

Enjoining right and forbidding wrong is done sometimes with the heart, sometimes with the tongue, and sometimes with the hand (i.e. physical force). As for practicing it with the heart, it is obligatory upon everyone in every time and situation, since its practice brings no hardship.

When benefit and harm are mixed up together, and one must choose between doing good with some bad side effects, or leaving that good to avoid its bad side effects, it is obligatory to choose the course having the greater overall or net benefit. This is because enjoining and forbidding though they entail the attainment of some benefit, and the prevention of some harm, its opposite must also be considered. If, in carrying out this enjoining or forbidding, there is benefit lost greater than the benefit gained, or harm is brought about greater than the harm which was avoided, then this is not part of that which Allah has ordered us to do, rather it is haram, because of the fact that its net harm is greater than its net benefit.

The only criterion for measuring the above-mentioned harm and benefit is with the scales of the Shari'a. Whenever one is capable of following a text directly, it is not permitted for him to turn elsewhere. If he cannot find a text for the exact problem confronting him, he can exert his reason to understand the ruling by way of analogy. The legal texts are seldom without someone capable of knowing their implications, and how they point the way to the rulings of the Shari'a.

The love of a believer for what is good, and his hatred for what is evil, and his desire for the accomplishment of the good and his desire for the avoidance and prevention of evil, should be in harmony with what Allah loves and hates. Allah loves all that He has enjoined upon us in His Shari'a, and dislikes all that He has forbidden us in His Shari'a. Furthermore, the action of the believer in that which he loves—the good, and his avoidance and opposition to that which he hates—the evil, must be to the extent of his ability and his strength, for verily, Allah does not demand from any of us more than what is within our ability.

What is upon the believer, in terms of his actions, must not be confused with his obligations in terms of the actions of the heart. It is obligatory upon the believer for his hatred of evil and his love of good, and his desire to do good and his desire to oppose and avoid evil to be perfect, complete, and without doubt or hesitation. Any lack in this area is none other than a lack in faith or Imaan. This is in contrast with the actions of his body which is only within the bounds of his ability.

Some of the people have loves and hates which are not in harmony with the love of Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ) and the hates of Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ), and this is a type of Hawaa—the inclinations, lusts, or tendencies of the self. The meaning of Hawaa is the loving and the loathing which is in the self. It is not in and of itself blameworthy, since it is not under the control of the person, rather what is blameworthy is the following if these likes, desires and dislikes.The love and the hate of which we are speaking brings about certain 'tastes' and feelings and desires in the presence of the loved or hated thing. Whoever follows these desires and feelings without an order from Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ), is the one described as the follower of his Hawaa.

Enjoining right and forbidding wrong is one of the most obligatory of actions and one of the best and most praiseworthy acts. Every action must contain two thing: intention, and movement. Everyone is a tiller and a seeker of objectives he has actions, and he has intentions.

However, the only praiseworthy intention which Allah accepts and rewards, is the intentions of doing an action solely for the sake of Allah. The praiseworthy deed is the righteous deed, and it is the the deed with which we have been ordered. There can be no righteous deed in the absence of knowledge ('ilm) and understanding of

the law (fiqh). Intentions and actions which are not based on knowledge are ignorance and going astray, and following of hawaa, as we have said before.Thus, knowledge of the Ma'ruf and the Munkar are absolute necessities as are the ability to distinguish between them, and knowledge of the condition of those to be ordered and forbidden is also essential.

For optimum benefit, enjoining and forbidding should be performed on the Straight Path. The Straight Path is the shortest route, and the one which leads to the attainment of the sought-after goal.

Enjoining Right requires Compassion, Patience and Forbearance. Compassion does not enter into anything without beautifying it, and is not removed from anything without making it ugly. Compassion is not given based on force, and is not given based on any other cause. At the same time, the practitioner of enjoining right and forbidding wrong must be forbearing and patient in the face of adversity and persecution. Persecution must, of necessity, confront the true practitioner of enjoining right. If he is not patient, forbearing and wise in the face of this, he will cause more corruption than reform.

Thus, three things are absolutely essential: knowledge, compassion, and patience.'

'Pardon me, O Shaykh!' suddenly one of the Masjid administrator came near. 'The one who pick you up, has arrived!' 'All Right then, but please, tell him to wait for a few minutes!' replied the Shaykh. Thereafter, he said, 'Allah has commanded every Muslim, male and female, to enjoin good and forbid evil, which is one of the greatest Islamic pillars by which evil is repelled, uncaring is dissipated with awareness and ignorance is removed with knowledge. This is how the Muslim Ummah stays alert and aware.

Most women in the present time think that enjoining righteousness and forbidding evil is a men’s job only or a specific government ministry or institution. Dear Muslim sister, scholars of Islam agree that enjoining righteousness and forbidding evil is a significant part of the Islamic acts of worship and that it is required from those who are able to do so, as much as they could. The weakest state of performing this act is where one is able to perform it only in his heart.

Even though the Muslim society suffers from problems of resolve at present, we are still able to use the tongue in the best manner to perform this important task. For instance, one is able to use good words to advise his or her friend in confidence that he or she has a certain characteristic that needs to be addressed, in the context of brotherly love and seeking for others what one seeks for himself of good.

Women, in particular, meet with other women frequently and many errors occur during those meetings, using the tongue as the preferred tool of choice. Even some women who appear to be righteous outwardly, lack the necessary basic knowledge that requires your effort, to correct these shortcomings without hesitation. You can perform this task wherever and whenever you meet other women, such as at home, meetings, schools, etc. Furthermore, Muslim women who observe the rules and guidelines of Islamic dress and behavior with foreign men, are required to admonish some men who err in public, using soft advice as the method of enjoining good and forbidding evil.

Therefore, dear sister, do not ignore the rights your husband, children, relatives and friends have on you regarding enjoining all that is good, and righteous and forbidding evil. You must be kind while performing this task and avoid harsh words and rough treatment of others so that you might become one of the people described in this Ayah,

وَالْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ وَالْمُؤْمِنٰتُ بَعْضُهُمْ اَوْلِيَاۤءُ بَعْضٍۘ يَأْمُرُوْنَ بِالْمَعْرُوْفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ

'The believers, men and women, are Auliya’ [helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another; they enjoin (on the people) Al-Ma'ruf [i.e., Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do], and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar [i.e., polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden ....' [QS. At-Tawbah (9):71]

It's time to go, the Moon said, "Al-Hasan said to Mutarrif Al-Harashi, 'Advise your friends.' Mutarrif said, 'I am afraid to say what I do not do myself.' Al-Hasan replied, 'Who among us does all what he says? Satan would very much like to hear this from you so that none enjoins righteousness or forbid evil!' And Allah knows best."

Citations & References:
- Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taimiyyah, Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil, translated by Salim Abdallah ibn Morgan, Islambasics
- Abdul-Malik Al-Qasim, Hindrances on the Path, translated by Jalal Abualrub, Darussalam.

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