. Li (cont.)

He is reminded of Allah and made to fear Allah due to the action that he is committing. The person should be reminded of his coming death and how awful it would be if he were to die while committing such an evil act. The person should also be reminded that he is being counseled out of the brotherly love and care that all Muslims should have for each other. In this way, he will be more likely to listen to the words of advice. 1 Cf., al-Haitami, Fath, p. 245. 2 Cf., al-Masood, pp. 25-32. 3 Al-Zabeedi, vol. 8, p. 87. Commentary on the 40 Hadith of al-Nawawi In general, this approach is taken with respect to those people who are well aware of the shareeah ruling concerning the act they are performing. It is based on the Quranic verse, .!.. ., ,,, ,,,. ., ,J ., .,. ,,, ,,,. .,,. ,,., .\ ·/01j· 12 .!lj) ΐ Э t_Β1 "Invite unto the way of your Lord with hikmah [the arguments of the Quran and sunnah] and beautiful admonition" (al-Nahl 125). Hence, the person should quote Quranic verses and hadith to the person concerning the act that he is performing. He should also encourage him to repent and ask Allah for forgiveness for his deed. Note that if the person is committing a sin in private, then this exhortation and advice should be done privately between the advisor and the sinner. If the advice is given publicly, it will simply expose the person and drive him to defend himself. He may feel that the advisor is simply seeking to make him look bad and hurt his reputation. Therefore, the admonition may not be taken in the manner in which it was meant. If the above approaches are not effective, one moves to the next level of harsh speech. However, before moving on to harsher actions, one must truly size up the situation. One must be certain that his new actions will not lead to more harm. One must also be certain that he is not taking a harsher approach simply for his own benefit. For example, a person may have dealt kindly with another and he did not like the way the other person responded. For example, he may feel that the brother he had counseled did not give him the amount of respect that he believes he deserves. Therefore, based on that other person's reaction, he starts dealing with him in a harsher fashion. In this case, he is just acting on his own behalf and not truly for the sake of Allah. It is true that the general rule is one of kindness and polite speech. Even when Allah directed Moses and Aaron to go the great tyrant Pharaoh, He stated, jf fa/ Jjj 1ণ:1 ত;J Jঢ .;;_,L; ੇ Α Jড 0YJ }\ "Go both of you to Pharaoh, verily, he has transgressed. And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may accept admonition or fear [Allah]" (Taha 43-44). Some people, though, seem to think that polite speech is the only way. However, this is not the case. For some people, kindness and polite admonition have no effect whatsoever. They will only be moved or affected if they are dealt with in a harsh and hard manner. The sinner should be told something of the nature of, "Be aware of Allah. Don't you have any fear of Allah? Aren't you ashamed to be performing such a sin," and so forth or harsher words. However, the advisor Hadith #34: "Whoever of You Sees an Evil . . . " must refrain from cursing the person or using words that are deemed inappropriate by the shareeah. Fadhl-Ilaahi discusses the following cases where harshness is to be employed instead of polite and kind speech: 1 (i) When crimes "against Allah"2 and the sins requiring the prescribed punishments are committed, one must take a harsh stance until the situation is rectified or the criminal is punished. For example, in the verses related to punishing the fornicator, Allah makes it clear that pity or kindness cannot be invoked in order to prevent punishing such criminals. Allah states, ., J.. ., J "" "" ,., 4. ੆௅b ej jk UL: 1:ƫ੮ -:-:'J J-5" IJ'G L}_l)lj l1)1 ,,,. ,,.. ,.. ,,,. J.. "'i"J ., ,..",.,.... { ,., / J ., J ., J J { ,.,,, • J.J. ..... ! .... !:-m\ -:n lj op uqY ੄ ur o\ '! UIJ "[As for] the woman and the man guilty of fornication, flog each of them a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a prescribed punishment of Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day" (al-Noor 2). On this point, ibn Taimiya wrote that Satan has misled many people in this area. Satan has convinced many people to accept other's sins in the name oflove and mercy that fill a person's heart and emotions. For this reason, many of them lose their sense of honor and jealousy for the sake of Allah.