The previous post addressed the general categories of the people, and their authorized actions with regards to the condemnation of wrongs.
Previous Post Link: On the three approaches to the condemnation of wrongs: with the hand, with the tongue, and with the heart
Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (R) then addresses the five preconditions for those who believe they are fit to speak about wrongs:
On the five preconditions that must be met
by anyone who intends to enjoin what is right
and fair and to forbid what is wrong and unfair.
Before a person can be considered fit for the task of enjoining what is right and fair and forbidding what is wrong and unfair, he must satisfy the following five preconditions:
1. He must have expert knowledge of what he is going to enjoin and what he is going to forbid.
2. His aim and object must be to win the favor of Allah, to fortify the religion [din] of Allah, and to exalt the word of Allah and His commandment, with no intention of putting on a show, of enhancing his own reputation, or of furthering his personal interests. Only if he is honest [sadiq] and sincere [mukhlis] will he receive support [from Allah] and be enabled to succeed [yuwaffaq], so that he may serve as the instrument by which the wrong can be eliminated. As Allah (Exalted is He) has said:
If you help Allah, He will help you and He will make your foothold firm. (47:7)
Allah (Exalted is He) has also said:
Surely Allah is with those who are careful of their duty to Him, and those who are doers of good [muhsinun]. (16:128)
Provided, therefore, that the person concerned is scrupulously careful to avoid the sin of attributing partners to Allah [shirk], that he refrains from trying to impress his fellow creatures while striving to correct what is wrong, and that he conducts himself with true sincerity [ikhlas] in all his efforts, he will enjoy triumphant success.
If he does not take this approach, on the other hand, he will reap nothing but disappointment and disgrace, humiliation and contempt. As for the wrong he is supposed to be correcting, it will remain quite unaffected, if it does not actually get worse. He will have nothing to show but his own hypocrisy [nifaq], the enthusiastic support of people addicted to sinful disobedience, the willing cooperation of the devils among men and jinn in defiance of Allah (Exalted is He), the abandonment of obedient service to Him, and the commission of unlawful deeds.
3. His manner of commanding and forbidding must be one that is characterized by lenient flexibility and sympathetic understanding, not by boorish impoliteness and harsh insensitivity. To put it even more emphatically, he should approach the task with an attitude of friendliness and good will. He should have a feeling of genuine concern for his brother, considering the fact that he has cooperated with his own enemy, the accursed Satan, who has seized control of his mind, and who has made it seem attractive to him to disobey his Lord and reject His commandment, with the intention of causing him to perish and be consigned to the Fire [of Hell]. As Allah (Exalted is He) has said:
[The devil] summons his party only that they may be among the inhabitants of the blazing inferno. (35:6)
Allah (Exalted is He) also said to His Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
It was by the mercy of Allah that you were lenient with them, for if you had been harsh and hard of heart, they would have scattered from all around you. (3:159)
Moreover, Allah (Exalted is He) said to Moses and Aaron [Harun] (peace be upon them both), when He sent them to Pharaoh:
And speak to him gently, for then he may be mindful, or perhaps feel afraid (20:44)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) once said, according to the tradition [hadith] of Usama:
It is not appropriate for anyone to enjoin what is right and fair and to forbid what is wrong and unfair, until he possesses three good qualities: [He must be] well versed [alim] in what he is enjoining, well versed in what he is forbidding; gentle Irafiq] in the process of enjoining, gentle in the process of forbidding; tolerant [hallm] in his approach to enjoining, tolerant in his approach to forbidding.
4. He must be patient [sabur], tolerant [halim], long-suffering [hamul], humble [mutawadi'], dispassionate [zail al-hawa], stout-hearted [qawi al-qalb], and disposed to be lenient [layyin al-janib]. He must be a physician [tabib] capable of healing the sick, a doctor [hakim] with the skill to treat a lunatic [majnun], and a leader [imam] who can act as a guide. In the words of Allah (Exalted is He):
And We appointed from among them leaders guiding by Our command, when they endured with patience. (32:24)
[They endured with patience] the insults and injuries they had to suffer at the hands of their own people, in order to sustain, strengthen and support the religion [dm] of Allah, so He appointed them to be the leaders, the guides and the physicians of His religion, the commanding officers of the believers [qadat al-muminm].
In the story of Luqman, Allah (Exalted is He) has said:
[And Luqman said to his son:] “Enjoin what is right and fair, forbid what is wrong and unfair, and endure with patience whatever may befall you; surely that is true constancy [min 'azmi'l-umur].” (31:17)
5. He must be someone who puts into practice what he commands other people to do. He must also be personally free of any guilt, untainted by what he forbids other people to do, so that they have nothing to let them gain the upper hand over him, thereby exposing him to blame and censure in the sight of Allah. Consider the words of Allah (Exalted is He):
Will you bid other people to righteousness, while you forget [to practice it] yourselves? And you are readers of the Book! Have you no sense at all? (2:44)
According to the tradition [hadith] of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be well pleased with him), the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) once said:
On the night when 1 was taken on my heavenly journey, I saw some men whose lips were being clipped with scissors, so I said: “Who are these people, O Gabriel?” and he told me: “These are the preachers [khutaba] of your Community [Umma], the ones who gave instructions to other people but forgot [to practice those instructions] themselves, even though they were readers of the Book.”
In the words of the poet:
Do not tell others not to do
the very thing you do yourself.
The shame on you, if you act thus,
is very great indeed.142
Qatada (may Allah hestow His mercy upon him) once said: “We have been told that this is written in the Torah: ‘The human being [ibn Adam] remembers Me and he forgets Me, he calls upon Me and he runs away from Me. In vain is what you are trying to do.’”
Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) may have been referring here in someone who enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong, yet leaves himself out of it; but He (Exalted is He) is More Aware [A lam] of the truth of the matter.
142 la tanha ‘an khalqin wa ta’ti mithlahu—’arun ‘alaika idha ataita ‘azimun.