. Li (cont.)

They think that by not being harsh upon such sins, they are being merciful to mankind and dealing with them politely. Actually, this is nothing but compromising one's religion as well as lack of faith and conviction. That is the real reason why they do not stop the evil that is present in their friends or associates around them. 3 (ii) When opposition or ridicule of the call to Islam or what is right appears, one may have to take a harsher approach. In the face of such opposition and arrogance, kindness and politeness may have no effect. One can find examples of this nature among the prophets (peace be upon them) themselves. For example, Abraham said to his people, J J J. .... .J ... ඹ ð J(  .....:...>)ఽ u'-' "[Abraham] said, 'Do you then worship besides Allah things that can neither profit you nor harm you? Fie upon you, and upon that which you worship besides Allah. Have you then no sense?"' (al-Anbiyaa 66-67). In another verse, Allah says, 1 See Fadhl-Ilaahi, Min Sifaat al-Daiyah: Al-Leen wa al-Rifq (Pakistan: Idaarah Tarjumah al­ Sunnah, 199 1 ), pp. 34-61 . 2 These are the sins that affect society as a whole and, in particular, concerning which there are prescribed punishments. Cf., Ahmad ibn Taimiya in Muhammad al-Julainad, Daqaaiq al-Ta/seer al-Jaami li-Tafseer al­ /maam ibn Taimiya (Daar al-Ansaar) vol. 4, p. 7 1 . Commentary on the 40 Hadith of al-Nawawi "And argue not with the people of the Scripture unless it be in a way that is bettersave for those of them who do wrong" (al-Ankaboot 46). Fadhl-Ilaahi gives the explanation of this verse by saying that, in general, their harshness should be answered with kindness, their anger with calmness. However, those among them who go beyond the limits and are not willing to listen but are only attacking or insulting, such are exempted from this approach. For them, one may use harsh words and toughness. 1 It is concerning people of this nature-- those who oppose the truth and openly ridicule what is correctthat Allah revealed the verse, c.. ,,,. J ,.,, ., ,., ;:;; ., ,J J ,.,, "" :,,ୖ!ǩ .ful( :_:0'/} 1( /1\ ( ਿ· I \ 1 :¡.৮ ਾ J ఺J _) ঝঞ ຀ - "O Prophet, strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them" (al-Tauba 73). The Prophet (peace be upon him) made a supplication against a person who, simply out of pride, refused to listen to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) order. The Prophet (peace be upon him) told a man to eat with his right hand and he claimed that he was not able to. The Prophet (peace be upon him) explained that it was just pride and arrogance that kept that man from following the Prophet's command. Therefore, he supplicated that the man would not be able to raise his right hand to his mouth again. (Recorded by Muslim.) (iii) If the person is one who should know better or from whom one would expect better, one may then resort to harsh speech and conduct with that person. Here harshness is used to wake the person up from his mistake and make him change his ways. This kind of approach can be found in many hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). For example, Muslim records that the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw a man wearing a gold ring. The Prophet (peace be upon him) took it from the man's finger and threw it away. He then said, "Does one of you intentionally go to a coal of fire and put it on his hand?" However, the advisor himself must make sure that he does not go beyond the acceptable limits in this approach. If the person responds to his words, he should thank him and ask Allah to reward him for his listening and changing of his ways. The last stage of eradicating evil by one's speech is that of threat. If all of the above means do not have the desired effect, one can then threaten the 1 Fadhl-Ilaahi, Min, p. 40. Hadith #34: "Whoever of You Sees an Evil . . . " sinner by saying, for example, "If you do not stop your action, I will have you beaten," or, "If you do not stop, I will contact the authorities," and so forth. It is important that this threat be something reasonable and practical­ and within the limits of the shareeah. If that is not the case, the sinner will not take the person seriously and will not care about what he is saying. "And if he is not able to do so, then [he must change it] with his heart." If a person is not able to remove evil with his tongue, he must remove it with his heart. The notion of "being capable" is the same with respect to the tongue as it was with respect to the hand. Hence, the reader can go to Figures 34. 1 a and 34.