Allah describes the Prophet (peace be upon him) as a "luminous lamp" (Al-Ahzab 33:46). When the Prophet's mission was complete, the duty of warning humanity passed to his community. This sermon examines the place of amr bil ma'ruf and nahi anil munkar in the Qur'an, the Prophet's three-step hadith on correcting wrong, his parable of the ship, the particular duty of scholars, and the truth that sincere advice (nasihah) is the very essence of religion — together with their method, manner, and lived examples.
The Defining Trait of the Best Community
After the Prophet, the duty of warning passed to the entire community of believers. The Qur'an states this with a clear and binding declaration:
كُنتُمۡ خَيۡرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَتَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنكَرِ وَتُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ
— Surah Al-Imran 3:110You are the best community brought forth for humanity, enjoining what is good, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah.
The same measure appears in Surah At-Tawbah, defining believers as one another's awliya — protector-allies:
وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَٰتُ بَعۡضُهُمۡ أَوۡلِيَآءُ بَعۡضٖۚ يَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَيَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤۡتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ
— Surah At-Tawbah 9:71The believing men and women are protectors of one another; they enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong, establish prayer, give zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger.
These verses set out three pillars that earn this community the adjective "best": faith in Allah, enjoining good, and forbidding wrong. Faith alone is not enough — passive goodness is not the identity of the community.
The Three-Step Hadith on Correction
The Prophet (peace be upon him) divides this duty into three steps, according to the believer's capacity:
مَنْ رَأَىٰ مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِقَلْبِهِ، وَذَٰلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الْإِيمَانِ
— Sahih Muslim, Iman, no. 49Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.
The three steps assign authority and responsibility together: changing by hand belongs to those entrusted with executive power; warning by tongue is the duty of the scholar, the teacher, the parent, the neighbour; rejecting in the heart is the minimum conscientious response of any believer. The closing of the hadith — "that is the weakest of faith" — is itself a warning: if even the rejection of the heart is absent, faith itself decays.
The Safety of the Community — The Parable of the Ship
The Prophet (peace be upon him) illustrated the catastrophe awaiting a silent community with this famous parable:
"The likeness of one who observes Allah's limits and one who violates them is like a group of passengers who drew lots for their places on a ship. Some settled on the upper deck and some on the lower. Those on the lower deck had to pass by those on the upper every time they fetched water. They said among themselves: 'Why don't we make a hole here in our part of the deck and draw water from below, without disturbing those above?' Now if those on the upper deck see this and let them do it, the ship will fill with water and all will drown. But if they stop them, they will save themselves and those below as well."
The wisdom of this parable is plain: when wrong is tolerated in a society on the grounds of "it does not concern me," it spreads in time and eventually engulfs even those who looked away. The Qur'an issues the same warning directly:
وَٱتَّقُواْ فِتۡنَةٗ لَّا تُصِيبَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ مِنكُمۡ خَآصَّةٗۖ وَٱعۡلَمُوٓاْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلۡعِقَابِ
— Surah Al-Anfal 8:25Beware of a trial that will not strike only the wrongdoers among you. And know that Allah is severe in punishment.
The Particular Duty of Scholars
While every believer is responsible at his level, the primary addressee of this duty is the scholars. Allah declares:
وَلۡتَكُن مِّنكُمۡ أُمَّةٞ يَدۡعُونَ إِلَى ٱلۡخَيۡرِ وَيَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَيَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنكَرِۚ وَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ
— Surah Al-Imran 3:104Let there be among you a community calling to good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong — and it is they who are successful.
The phrase "let there be among you a community" indicates that the scholars carry this duty as a fard kifayah (collective obligation): if this community fulfils its task, the rest of the Ummah is freed of guilt; if not, all are accountable together. The Prophet's hadith "Religion is sincere advice" sets the direction of this responsibility:
الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ. قُلْنَا: لِمَنْ؟ قَالَ: لِلَّهِ وَلِكِتَابِهِ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِأَئِمَّةِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَعَامَّتِهِمْ
— Sahih Muslim, Iman, no. 55Religion is sincere advice. We said: "To whom?" He said: "To Allah, to His Book, to His Messenger, to the leaders of the Muslims, and to the common Muslims."
The hadith scholar al-Khattabi summed up the weight of this hadith: "In the Arabic language, no two words bring together more of the good of this world and the next than 'sincere advice' and 'success'." Religion, then, is in its entirety the art of sincerely willing and showing goodness.
Stories from the Tradition
Jarir ibn Abdullah and Sincere Advice at the Horse Market
The Companion Jarir ibn Abdullah sent his servant to the horse market. The servant purchased a horse for two hundred dirhams and brought the seller to Jarir to receive payment. Jarir examined the horse carefully, saw that its true value was much higher, and turned to the seller: "This horse is worth three hundred dirhams. Will you sell it for four hundred?" The seller, astonished, agreed. Jarir did not stop. "This horse is worth more — will you sell it for five hundred?" He kept raising the price by a hundred at a time, all the way up to eight hundred dirhams, and handed over the money. When asked why, Jarir replied: "I pledged allegiance to the Prophet on the condition of giving sincere advice to every Muslim. This man did not know the true value of his horse — if I did not warn him, I would have abandoned that pledge." (al-Tabarani)
The Bedouin Who Urinated in the Mosque
A Bedouin entered the Prophet's mosque and began to urinate in a corner. The Companions leaped up to seize him in anger. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to them: "Leave him alone. Let him finish, then pour a bucket of water over the spot. For you were sent to make things easy, not difficult." He then called the Bedouin over and, in a gentle voice, taught him about the sanctity of the mosque. The Bedouin later prayed: "O Allah, have mercy on me and on Muhammad — and on no one else!" The Prophet smiled and said: "You have narrowed something that was wide." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Ablution, no. 220) This incident is one of the finest lessons on the manner of enjoining good: to teach truth, you must first establish love.
A'isha and the Greeting of the Jews
One day a delegation of Jews entered the Prophet's presence and twisted their greeting, saying "as-samu alaykum" — "death be upon you." A'isha (may Allah be pleased with her) caught the wordplay and, in anger, retorted: "Death and the wrath and curse of Allah be upon you!" The Prophet turned to her: "A'isha, be gentle! Allah loves gentleness in all matters." She was surprised: "O Messenger of Allah, did you not hear what they said?" He replied: "I heard. And I said, 'And upon you' — my prayer is answered; theirs is not." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Jihad, no. 6024) This hadith reveals the secret of handling the recipient of one's advice — not with anger, but with steadiness.
The Bedouin Who Yanked the Cloak — The Summit of Gentleness
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: We were walking with the Prophet. He was wearing a thick Najrani cloak with a stiff collar. A Bedouin caught up to us and pulled hard on the cloak. Anas said: "I looked at the Prophet's neck and saw that the rough fabric had left a mark from the violence of the pull." The Bedouin shouted rudely: "O Muhammad, order that something from Allah's wealth in your possession be given to me." The Prophet turned, smiled, and ordered that something be given to him. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Khumus, no. 3149) Forgiving the Bedouin's rudeness is itself a ma'ruf commanded into being — the only person who can say "do not do this" to a Bedouin is the one who has shown him love first.
The Conditions of Sincere Advice — Method and Manner
The practical formula taught by Jibril to the Prophet was: "Forgive the one who wrongs you, give to the one who withholds, and keep ties with the one who severs them with you." These three undo the three threats that destroy amr bil ma'ruf:
- Arrogance: If the tone of "let me tell you the truth" springs from arrogance, the act itself becomes sin. Allah addresses the Prophet: "It is by the mercy of Allah that you were gentle to them; had you been harsh and hard-hearted, they would have scattered from around you" (Al-Imran 3:159).
- Contradiction: The Qur'an reproaches openly those who command others to good while neglecting themselves: "Do you order righteousness for the people and forget yourselves?" (Al-Baqarah 2:44). A father who smokes while forbidding his child to smoke addresses only the air.
- Ignorance: What is ma'ruf and what is munkar is determined by the Qur'an and Sunnah, not by personal desire. "Do not say, on account of the falsehood your tongues invent, 'This is lawful and this is forbidden'" (An-Nahl 16:116).
The Prophet summarised the matter in a single hadith: "Make things easy, not difficult; give glad tidings, do not repel." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Knowledge, no. 69)
Putting Enjoining Good Into Practice With VAAZ
The 99 Beautiful Names of Allah collection in the VAAZ app presents Allah's names Al-Hadi (the One who guides), Al-Halim (the Forbearing), and Ar-Rahim (the Most Merciful) — these are the divine model for enjoining good. The supplication archive holds prayers for the guidance of others, to recite before offering advice. For deeper context, see Sermon on Faith and Sermon on the Sacred Trust.
Enjoining good is how an Ummah breathes. When the silent fall silent, evil spreads; when those who must speak speak, truth remains standing. We ask Allah not to make us of those who drowned together with the ones who drilled the hole — but of those on the upper deck who warned.
References
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Imran 3:104 and 3:110.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah At-Tawbah 9:71.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Anfal 8:25.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Baqarah 2:44 and An-Nahl 16:116.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Imran 3:159.
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Iman, hadith no. 49 (The three-step correction).
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Iman, hadith no. 55 (Religion is sincere advice).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Partnership, hadith no. 2493 (The parable of the ship).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Ablution, hadith no. 220 (The Bedouin in the mosque).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Knowledge, hadith no. 69 (Make things easy, not difficult).