. Li (cont.)

In that incident, the boy openly spoke the truth although he knew the king would punish him with death for doing so. However, he had to do that for if he remained silent or hid the truth, his people would not have been exposed to the truth at all. 1 Under all circumstances, though, the person who wants to forbid evil or order good should have the fear of Allah only in his heart. He should not fear the people. If he starts to fear the people, and forgets that everything is by the will of Allah and forgets that if he acts for Allah's sake, Allah will protect him, then he will become very hesitant in his eradicating of evil. Indeed, he may even give it up completely. By fearing the people, he is, in reality, just belittling himself. They are just humans like himself. They have no real power over him. The only real power is with Allah. If great harm does come to him due to his efforts of standing up for the sake of Allah, that harm will be a source of reward for him and of Allah's pleasure in the Hereafter. Al-Haakim records that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, .... . ... ... ... \J :i J. V ƛyt! .;ੈ পফj বj J\.9 ੉ j3 ..__. , . ',.,.... n .. ..... J I থ দ -oধ ,. 1:1 :::: .... :::: ... ... ... ਝƛƚJ "The leader of the martyrs is Ham:zah ibn Abdul Mutallib and a man who stood up to an unjust ruler and ordered him or prevented him and he [the ruler] therefore killed him. "2 "then [he must change it] with his tongue" One of the most important means of changing an evil is changing it with one's tongue. If one has the ability and right to change something by one's hand, he should do so. However, if one does not have such a capability, he should move to the next step. The next step is to use one's speech to influence the doers of evil to stop their evil. This category, first and foremost, includes screaming for help, calling for the authorities and other emergency-type acts of the tongue that may lead to 1 Al-Masood, pp. 161 7. 2 Recorded by al-Haakim. Al-Bazzaar has something similar. According to al-Albaani, it is hasan. See al-Albaani, Silsilat al-Ahadeeth al-Sahiha, vol. I , pp. I 03-105. Hadith #34: "Whoever of You Sees an Evil. . . " the end of an act of evil.1 For example, if a believer sees a strong man robbing a weak person. He may conclude that he himself is not strong enough to ward off that robber. However, if he screams for help and begins to draw a crowd, the scream itself may ward off that robber and make him flee. When that happens, he has removed the evil by his tongue. The Steps of Eradicating Evil by One's Speech If the above direct method of stopping evil by one's tongue is not possible, one then resorts to other methods of changing evil by one's tongue. According to al-Masood, there are certain steps that one should follow in eradicating evil by one's speech.2 This is because the overall goal is to change and rectify one's behavior. One is not trying to harm or injure others. Therefore, the following approach is recommended: First, one should make the person realize that he is committing an evil. This, depending on the situation, may be done directly or indirectly. The sinner may be told, "Someone like you should not perform such an evil deed that is displeasing to Allah." The person should continue to try to persuade the sinner kindly until he accepts his advice. Many times the sinner is not aware that he is committing a sin or he may not be aware of the gravity of the sin. Hence, by first informing the person of the matter, he may immediately and directly give up the act that he is doing. And that, obviously, is the goal. If this approach is effective, there is no need to move on to any other approach. Al-Ghazzaali points out that it is important not to state that the person is ignorant. If the person is called ignorant or foolish, this will harm him and may drive him, due to his emotions, to defend his act and not change. One should approach him kindly without trying to harm him.3 In fact, if the Prophet (peace be upon him) knew that a person was committing some act that was unbecoming of him, he would speak publicly about the matter but in a general, indirect way, so that the person's feelings would not be hurt. Many times, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would state, "Why do a people do such and such ... " If the above proves ineffective, the second step should be followed. This is where the person is warned and advised about his action.