Levels of Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar
2863. Prerequisites of believing in Almighty Allah, in all of his Messengers (peace be upon them all) and having faith in the verdicts and rules of Almighty Allah is that a believer must resent from sins and Munkar from the bottom of his heart and should deny the Munkar from his heart.
2864. Since the main objective of Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar is that a person who is committing a Haraam act or abandoning an obligatory act, stops committing that act. So if by expressing unpleasantness with his act even by ignoring his company and socializing with him, he becomes aware of his acts and stops doing that, it is sufficient for the duty of performing Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar, and there is no need for any further enjoining and forbidding, and this is the first level of Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar.
2865. In the second level of Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar, if the person who is indulging in forbidden acts, after expressing unpleasantness towards his deeds, does not quit it, one should try to stop him with his good etiquettes and soft spokenness, and should tell him about the merits of leaving the Munkar and acting upon the Ma’roof and vice versa, so that the person becomes aware of it, and stops
indulging in sinful acts, and if by doing this much, the committer of Munkar, realizes his mistakes and stopsfrom his acts, the duty is performed.
2866. The third level of Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar is that if the person who is indulging into forbidden acts is not responding to the ethical approach and soft words, then he should be approached with severity, rigorousness, boldness and with admonition, and during the process of enjoining and forbidding, one should observe the levels of strictness and severity.
2867. The fourth level of Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar is that the person who is indulging into forbidden acts is not stopping after applying the above mentioned levels and insisting on committing the forbidden acts. In this case, if one knows that by hitting him, he will stop or at least he makes a rational presumption that hitting him will be effective, and it will not harm his life and property or any other Muslim, it is obligatory to hit him to such an extent that will be sufficient to stop him from committing forbidden acts, provided that the hitting does not lead to any injury or death.
2868. If a person is socializing with those who commit forbidden acts, and he himself stops committing forbidden acts, and also tries to stop others from it too, it will be considered as the best way to do Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar. For example, if the friend of a person wants to do backbiting, he refrains himself from doing so and tells him that “I fear Allah from backbiting others”, and if he is among those who do not pray, and is cautious about his prayers, or he is among those who do not fast, and he fasts, he has performed the best type of Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar.
2869. Performing Ma’roof and abandoning Munkar is obligatory upon every Muslim. However, people who are enjoining and forbidding others should be ahead of others in action, because action speaks louder than words.
2870. The obligation of Amr Bil Ma’roof wa Nah’yi ‘Anil Munkar on a person has been emphasized more regarding his family than others. Therefore, if a person sees that his family members are ignoring the religious obligations, like if they are not offering prayers, or they are praying but their Qira’at (recitation) is not correct, or they do not perform ablution in a proper manner, or they are offering prayers while their body or clothes are Najis, in this situation one should do enjoining and forbidding in the manner and levels mentioned above.