Fatwa On The Rules For Changing The Wrongdoing

Question:

Is it permissible to change the evil by hand for the one who is able to do it in a place where the guardianship is for someone else, and if the one who has the guardianship leaves the change of the evils that fall under his guardianship and someone else intervenes by hand, what is the ruling on that, and does this apply to the one who has general guardianship?

The Answer:

Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, and prayers and peace be upon our master Muhammad and all his family and companions. As for what follows:

The lack of maker at the agreed scientists or what he will say and the change of evil is subject to the legitimate rules, including the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: (Whoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart and that is the weakest level of faith). It is understood from this hadith and others that changing the evil is subject to a number of rules:

The First Rule:  Change is subject to the ability expressed in the speech by hand, and the ability here is that ability that changes the evil without resulting in the occurrence of an evil greater than the existing evil.

Among this existing evil is the grave harm that it entails on the group or party committed to Islam to which this Muslim belongs, who made the change without jurisprudence for what it entails and without the legal permission of those who have the right to give this permission, so he will cause his group a very great harm that he will be asked about and accountable for. Because one of the rules of jurisprudence is that an individual may do what the group cannot accept in terms of adopting intentions. A Muslim may be able to bear what results in his action causing harm to his person, but he has no right to do an act that harms the group or those who belong to them, as this is something that is not permitted by Sharia.

The Second Rule:  One of the rules that is subject to changing the evil by hand is that if the Muslim is unable to change it, and the disability here is not limited to the material incapacity, but it takes the status of this incapacity and takes its ruling if he is unable to prevent any harm resulting from removing this evil by hand.

An example of this is that the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, his family and his companions, used to see idols around the Kaaba, and he could order one of the Muslims to break all the idols, but he did not! This material ability is not the only thing that should be present to change by hand, but also the legal permission.

The required ability with which its owner can make a change is to be ready to prevent any harm or the occurrence of any new evil that is greater than the existing evil.

It is imperative for the one who wants to change the evil by hand to feel from himself the material ability to remove the evil and his willingness to bear any harm to him and to look at the consequences to prevent any evil or serious harm to him or others without the required removal of the evil.

This confirms what we have decided that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon  him,  throughout the Meccan era, used to see idols and was able to remove them, but he did not do that because if he did that, a greater evil would result from it.

And the  Third Rule: T hat what is required in case of incapacity is for the Muslim to move to the second level, which is changing the tongue by explaining to the owners of the evil that this is an evil that God forbids because they are Muslims, and the abode is the abode of Islam, so it is forbidden for them to fall into the approval of the evil and their approval of its occurrence.

And they can get out of this responsibility by removing it through the tongue by showing their dissatisfaction with it, and thus the calculated Muslim is removed from the trust and responsibility because he moved from the change by hand that is prohibited here to the verbal change by the tongue that is able and authorized.

It is similar in this regard that the Muslim removes the evil without jurisprudence in the results of his action and his dissatisfaction with the legal methods and the qualities of removing the evil by moving directly to change by force that is forbidden by Sharia and leaving the change that is capable of it that is authorized by Sharia with the tongue out of pride in his strength and his willingness to accept whatever harm happens to him even in redemption himself for what he is doing, because what is required of the Muslim is to obey the law in what he takes and leaves, so what he does is in accordance with the law. To be followed in removing evil and in any other act; Because the human soul is not his property, but rather the property of its Creator, so it is not permissible for him to endanger his life or bring serious harm to himself without finding the legal justification and the legal permission for what he does.Is it not seen that the one who exposes himself to perdition by committing suicide or by exposing himself to the enemies of Islam to show his courage without permission from the Shari’a is mistaken because the expected result will not result in eliminating the evil in the eyes of Islamic law.

This is evidenced by the fact that God Almighty has forbidden Muslims or Muslims from insulting the gods of the polytheists, even though they are reprehensible, and those who claim other than God have committed major shirk, and the duty of the Muslim is to silence them and establish what should be established for them of deterrence, rebuke and punishment. Or the polytheist who curses the gods of the polytheists in front of him responds to him by means of insulting God Almighty, and he refrains from this insult, God Almighty said:

( وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ...)

(And do not insult those who invoke besides God, lest they insult God an enemy, and this is the case of the polytheism of the Muslim…) And his inability to prevent them from insulting God Almighty that they did.

Moreover, if a Muslim commits suicide by taking his life out of the belief that he will dispose of his life, so he makes his suicide or exposing him to the loss of his soul a justification for his act that is against the law, then his punishment is Hellfire.

Whereas the one who fights as God Almighty commanded in the places where he is obligated to fight, exposing himself to being killed, is among the martyrs if he is killed and attains the highest status.

What is important in the matter of removing evil is complete submission to the Shari’a to remove it, whether from individuals or groups, and to include the consequences of breaking an idol, prohibiting gambling, or liberating alcohol, or preventing a person of heresy from giving a lecture in consideration. Of the evils in which these results are taken into account.

But if what the person says is within the circle of apostasy about religion, then the ruling on the apostate is that it is permissible to kill him according to Sharia law, even if it is not transferred to the authority that rules him, and what entails that the killer of the apostate, if he kills him without referring to the judiciary, is to blame for his abuse of the authority of the judiciary or the state; Therefore, referring to the judiciary to prosecute this apostate was the rightly guided method in dealing with this matter, and it is a method that must be followed.

And The Summary Of The Summary

The Sharia has a ruling in everything that a Muslim does and he must abide by what the Sharia rules by doing or leaving it, and among these actions is his removing the evil by hand and standing at this method in removing the evil even though the Sharia commands him to switch to the second method, which is changing the tongue.

In the Prophet’s biography, there are vivid examples of this that we say in this chapter: (The Prophet ( ﷺ ) appointed `Abdullah bin Jubair as the commander of the infantry men (archers) who were fifty on the day (of the battle) of Uhud. He instructed them, "Stick to your place, and don't leave it even if you see birds snatching us, till I send for you; and if you see that we have defeated the infidels and made them flee, even then you should not leave your place till I send for you), They have been afflicted, and God has pardoned them, which indicates the obligation to adhere to the manner in which the Sharia commands or authorizes.

During the Trench (The Khandaq War), the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, wanted  to  know the intention of the polytheists besieging Medina to stay or withdraw, so he sent Hudhaifah - may God be pleased with him - and said to him: Look what these people have and do not say anything until you come to me. So I remembered that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade   me   to do something, so I refused.

And the witness here: Hudhaifah - may God be pleased with him - stopped at the command of the Prophet, peace be upon him,  with   his ability to lead this infidel at that time, and war is present and ongoing, but he did not act in response to the direction of the Prophet, peace be upon  him , even though the apparent killing of Abu Sufyan removed a great evil.

Muslims have to adhere to these matters and the Islamic approach and not to cause harm to others, and the most that can be done by those who do not adhere to the regulations of the Sharia is that their good intentions may relieve them of the torment, but it does not justify the soundness of their actions and their compliance with the Sharia. Because a good intention does not improve the act in violation of the law, and does not prevent the damages resulting from its violation.

Then he finally notes: that the Muslims in their history witnessed the issue of eliminating evil by removing their rulers through armed revolution, and they did not get what they wanted to leave them taking a legitimate gradual approach to denying evil in a hurry to achieve what they wanted.

Therefore, it is obligatory to submit to the Sharia in the relations of Muslims with their rulers, because the relationship between the shepherds and the subjects is one of advice and not one of hostility, revenge, defamation, and not one of  flattery . (Religion is advice, we said: To whom, O Messenger of God? He said: To God, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk) Agreed upon. So the relationship of Muslims with their leaders, rulers, and guardians is just as we have decided the relationship of advice if something is issued from them that calls for it and calls for its repetition because the advisor wants good for the advised even if this is what is hoped It is good that requires repetition. The Muslim repeated the advice as it is the approach of the honorable messengers.

Then if the matter necessitates changing the evil by hand, then there must be sufficient force, that no greater harm would result, and that there should be legal permission, and on this the imams of the Muslims report.

And Muslims must be certain about these great matters, and whoever does not know, let him ask the people of the remembrance: ( فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ) (Ask the people of the Remembrance if you do not know), and just as a Muslim asks about worship, let him ask about the actions of his hand and their effects. The third degree, which is the hatred of evil in the heart, and beyond that a mustard seed of faith.

By applying these rules, the Muslim investigates what the law intends to change in the three stages mentioned in the hadith with a sincere desire for what is with God to follow His law.

These are the rules for removing evil and the hadith is long, so the branches are returned to their origins, and the issues and particulars to their rules that govern and control them.

And may God’s peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and all his family and companions, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.

Dr. Abdul Karim Zidan

7 Jumada Al-Awwal /1431 AH corresponding to April 21 /2010 AD

_PRINTER

Published on: 2015-02-11 (9406 Reads)