Commanding the Right, with Wisdom

ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) remarked on this whole matter that whoever wishes in his heart to be counted part of this ummah — whoever has the heartfelt desire to be reckoned among the ummah of the Muslims, the ummah of Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) — must fulfil this condition of Allah:

This is verse 110, and these verses deserve real reflection. The three characteristics mentioned here of this ummah are quite specific to it. They are a khāṣṣiyyah, as it is termed: a distinctive characteristic of this ummah, that its members are to do this. Ours is therefore a proselytising ummah — but with wisdom, after the example of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who taught with ḥikmah; that is what matters. Doing these things in a militant, wrong-headed way — a family member is not doing something right, and one goes at it in military fashion, with all guns blazing, symbolically speaking, and tries to change it — does not work in most cases. It does not work most of the time.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: by the One in whose hand is my life — the oath being taken by Allah (swt) — it is not enough to tell people to do good only now and then; you must continue to tell people to do good, and continue to tell people to stop doing evil. You must persist in it; otherwise it is very likely and possible — as the hadith in al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah says — very likely that Allah (swt) will send upon you a grievous punishment, after which, even if you pray, make duʿāʾ and call upon Allah, your duʿāʾs will not be accepted.

Commanding the right and prohibiting the wrong, in the proper manner, is thus linked to the acceptance of duʿāʾs. Whoever wants his duʿāʾs accepted should do some amr bil-maʿrūf, nahy ʿan al-munkar. If he does not, a punishment will come, and he will gain nothing; his duʿāʾs will no longer be accepted. That is a very important connection which the Prophet (peace be upon him) draws there.