Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim
salamunalikum brothers and sisters, just wanted to type up some notes i made whilst listening to my sheiks lecture...maybe it will benefit u guys, insha'allah.
It is a sunnah of Allah (swt) to correct and admonish the mistake's of his creation. This is through and through exemplified in the Qur'an. Allah(swt) corrected the mistakes of his Prophets (AS) and the companions etc.
there are certain pre-requistes of enjoining good and forbidding evil, this is an action all muslims should participate in.
Basic points and factors to keep in mind:
- Sincerity in relation to enjoing good and forbidding evil
- One is required to have appropriate knowledge in the area
- One must be able to understand that making mistake's/sinning is human nature
- Seriousness of these mistakes should also be taken into consideration
- Must take into account position of one's self compared to the other person (i.e. young person enjoing good/forbbiding evil to a parent, elder may be tricky)
- Must be able to make disticntion between the ignorant sinner and the one who is doing sin knowingly
- One must be able to distinguish the one's who make mistakes/sin through an honest effort (unintionally)
- Good intention on the part of the sinner/mistake maker, does not mean they should not be rebuked
- Make distinction between the sinner who has a good tack record and the one who is known to sin frequently
- Must understand and study how the prophet (saw) guided the companions to be fair and not biased when correcting those who make mistakes (i.e. being harsh on a person for a certain sin but being very nice to another who commits the same sin maybe because of status/relation)
- Making disticntion between the sins which concern the person only, with the ones which concern other people (i.e. person who doesnt pray, this harms him, but person who doesnt give zakah, this harms him and the people who are owed zakah)
- Rebuke/guide the people accordingly...to age/sex etc.
- Excercise EXTREME caution when advising non-mahram, so it cannot be taken the worng way (it is reccomended to leave such acts to the more wise/experienced teachers)
- Do not exaggerate the mistake of the sinner and allow enough time for it to be corrected
- Do not make the sinner feel like an enemy of yourself, your job is to correct people not score points agains them or elevate yourself.
if we keep these factors in mind then myabe our dawah will be more successful!
my teacher (may Allah swt have mercy upon him) also said to help your brothers who sin and try and bring them on the righteous path. We often tend to condem the sinner and end up hating the sinner. we should hate the Sin and not the sinner for they are our brothers and sisters in islam.
anway, insha'allah we learn from the points and try implement it, for those of you who are intrested in learning more on this subject, Enjoing Good and Forbidding Evil, please visit the website and you can download the lectures from this website:
[LINK REMOVED] there are many many parts to this subject.
i also advise those who are intrested to take notes as this will put things in perspective...insha'allah
(plz ignore any typo's....:) )