4. Encouraging good and forbidding evil

Encouraging good deeds and forbidding evil deeds has been made a binding duty on every Muslim in Islamic legislation. The use of force, as a way of combating oppression, can, in some cases, be a religious duty and God may punish any human being who refuses to carry out this duty. In this way we shall be held responsible for any negative or neutral attitudes we may adopt in situations where we could take positive and conclusive action instead.

In short, this idea means that God on the one hand, requires all Muslims to work at preventing society from taking a wrong path either in the religious sense where it involves disobeying God’s will regarding worship or actions or by actions that work against the interests of the individual or the society as a whole. It also refers to political deviation from the right path as in the case of oppression in political systems where the weak are dominated and persecuted in the name of preserving an effective rule of law, ruling by despotism and aggression against the country and its servants or political systems that are founded on monopoly, manipulation, cheating, usury or corruption and built through stealing, bribing, depriving oppressed people of their rights or any other type of mistreatment or harm. On the other hand, God wants Muslims to support good and just moves that comply with God’s will and with the best interests of human beings whether in the public or private domains of life. Likewise, Islam introduces self-discipline into the heart and soul of society; a discipline that does not need an official assignment or a traditional job, but only a conscious faith in the divine mission in the human heart. Such faith becomes a driving force and in the human physical existence it is also a preventative force aware of its responsibilities and in harmony with the life of all human beings.

Through the accurate picture we have just presented describing this duty, we understand that resisting oppression and defying it is one of the main ways of encouraging good deeds and forbidding bad deeds because establishing justice and removing oppression were two basic pillars upon which Islam was built.

In the light of this, we become aware of how religious duty involves human strength for example when it comes to confronting injustice and oppression which are the most conspicuous forms of evil in the reality of human life. This idea would become clearer if we made our way of life compatible with the Quranic verses, the glorious example of the Prophet Mohammad (p.) and the traditions of Ahlul-Bait (A.S.). Here are a few verses from the Holy Qur’an on this subject:

“Build a community in which its members call men to do good, prescribe what has a positive effect and condemn bad actions. These are the ones who will be happy.” 3.104

“Those among the Children of Israel who disbelieved have been cursed by the tongue of David and by that of Jesus son of Mary because they were rebellious, because they were sinners. They did not stop each other from doing the bad things they did. And their actions were indeed vile!” 5.78-79

“After they had forgotten what we had warned them about, we saved those who had forbidden evil and we hit the unjust with a painful punishment because of their perversity.” 7.165

In the first of the verses the Qur’an invites people to take responsibility for encouraging justice and forbidding what is wrong because this is the way to happiness in this world and in the world to come. And in the second verse, the prophets curse those who do not forbid one another to commit evil that will lead them to disobey and eventually reject God’s Faith. In the third verse there is a comparison between the destiny of the believers who tried to stop wrongdoing and would be saved and those who never abstained from evil or tried to stop it and were consequently going to be condemned and punished for their perversity, injustice and wrongdoing. In a famous speech reported in the Islamic traditions, Prophet Mohammad (p.) said:

“If you ever come across a wrongdoer strive to change him by your hand. If you fail, try the tongue and if once again your efforts are unsuccessful, try with your heart and that would be the least of your faith’s obligations.”

In another speech, he also said:

“God abhors the weak believer who has no faith. People inquired: ‘And who are the believers who have no faith?’ He replied: The one who won’t be deterred from committing wrong deeds.”

In “NAHJUL BALAGHAH” the following words can be found:

“Whoever feels indignant on God’s account, becomes strong in destroying the evildoers.”

And

“All the good deeds and all the struggles waged for the cause of God when compared to the act of encouraging good and forbidding evil would be like nothing more than a small crest of a wave in a choppy sea even though encouraging good may not bring the hour of death any closer or even reduce the quality of life, but what is better, even, than that is a just word addressed to an oppressive Imam.”

Furthermore, Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) said:

“Whoever approaches a tyrannical leader and advises him to fear, worship and glorify God, will receive the same reward as Al-Thaqlain (The genii and the human beings)…

On this basis, we can see that carrying out the mission of encouraging good deeds and forbidding evil is part of a move to change the corrupt society into a righteous one and defying injustice and oppression as the words of the Prophet Mohammad (p.) clearly state. These words were reported by the Imam Al-Hussein Bin Ali (A.S.) in the well-known speech he gave as he headed toward his eventual martyrdom in Karbala:

“Oh people! The Messenger of God(p.) said: ‘Whoever knows of a ruler who allows himself what God has forbidden, who reneges on his promises, who disobeys the law and order of The Messenger(p.) , who mistreats and assaults the servants of God and he does not endeavor to change him through his words or deeds, God will reward him in the way he rewards the ruler. That is: those people had in fact pledged their devotion to Satan and abandoned their obedience to the Compassionate, they had behaved corruptly and obliterated the restrictions, they had enjoyed all the revenues making lawful that which God had forbidden and prohibiting what God had authorized and, in truth, I would be the most rightful one.”

Indeed the dignified revolt of Imam Al-Hussein illustrates the distinctive features of this great duty for this revolt was in order to stand up and forbid evil deeds. A fact that is evident in the contents of the above speech as it is in the words, which triggered off the revolt:

“I began my revolt not in pursuit of evil, or wantonness or oppression. In truth, my aim is to strive for righteousness in my Grandfather’s nation seeking to encourage good and forbid evil.”

In the speeches of the Imam Ali (A.S.), the mission to encourage good deeds and forbid wrongdoing in its extended power to influence as well as in its great reward has a high an exalted importance and takes precedence over all good deeds. Ali (a.s.) described this act as being an immense ocean in comparison with the good deed that resembles a small breeze in the surging sea. Then the Imam would treat this case from a different perspective. He would mention it in the context of God’s decree and providential appointment confirming that this duty would not shorten or lengthen our road to the hour of death and it would not cause either abundance or scarcity of the means of sustenance. And this attitude reaches its highest point with the power of the words used to confront an oppressor with his injustice and deny him his oppression and aggression.

Reading between the lines we understand that in the strict Islamic sense, human beings are required to resort to force in order to face unfairness and oppression and to take a clear, positive and decisive stand towards all forms of injustice. What is more, Islam commands them to distance themselves from any negative or neutral positions in which believers are sitting on the fence between oppressors and the oppressed. In truth, Islam expects Muslims to fulfill their duties not only as individuals by abiding by laws but also by being committed to the establishment of justice and to fighting oppression in the life of the nation in general. Indeed Islam wants Muslims to achieve this goal even if it means putting pressure on the very force that is imposing the process of change.

5. Conclusion

In a nutshell, judging any idea depends on an examination of all its dimensions and aspects in matters of comprehension, implementation and practical consequences on a human level. So when a person, with a shallow and vague conception based on a superficial deduction makes snap judgments about this idea he diverges from the path of science and the true pursuit of knowledge. In this light, we find that the relation between God’s power and the mentality of living in a state of submission to injustice which, in turn crushes one’s will, this relation that we examined earlier in our discussions, has no basis either doctrinal or legislative . On the contrary, it is necessary to reject all submission to injustice because it would be shrugging off of our duty as Muslims and a deviation from the right path in legislation. Consequently whoever complies with injustice and whoever remains neutral in the battle between justice and oppression preferring to watch the battle from the sidelines doing nothing but gazing from the victor to the vanquished with a naïve, subjugated, enthusiasm will both be held accountable for their acts. In truth Islam condemns both neutral positions and evil positions and holds that both deserve divine punishment even if we are dealing with cases of weakness because, in reality, weakness can be transformed into strength.