Evidence that judging and the other duties of rulers that involve enjoining good or forbidding evil are communal obligations

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or oppressed." The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we would help the oppressed, but the oppressor? He said: "Stop him from oppression."
Sayyiduna al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) states that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to do seven things, and among them is helping the oppressed.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) states that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There was no prophet whom Allah, the Lord of Might, sent before me except that he had disciples and companions from his nation who took his Sunnah and followed it. Then after them came unworthy successors who said what they did not do and did what they were not commanded. So whoever strives against them with his hand is a believer, whoever strives against them with his tongue is a believer, and whoever strives against them with his heart is a believer; beyond that there is not even a mustard seed's weight of faith."

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever sees an evil, if he has the power, let him stop it with his hand; if he does not have the power, let him forbid it with his tongue; otherwise, let him hate it in his heart, and that is the weakest of faith."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let not the fear of people stop you from speaking the truth when you know it." Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Trials kept befalling us until we fell short (in speaking it), and we would convey (it) in secret.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and then he mentioned the matter. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This is what moved me to travel to Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him). I discussed (the matter) with him, then I returned.

Abu Juhayfah narrates from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that jihad is of three kinds: first, that in which the hand prevails, then the tongue, then the heart; when the heart can no longer recognise truth and evil, its upper part is turned downwards.
This is mawquf (stopping at the Companion).

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah, the Lord of Glory, will question His servant on the Day of Resurrection about everything, until Allah Almighty will ask: 'When you saw an evil, why did you not forbid (it)?' When Allah, the Lord of Glory, prompts the servant with his argument, the servant will say: 'O my Lord, I placed my hope in You and I feared the people.'"

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let none of you belittle himself, in that there is a command of Allah concerning which there is something for him to say, and he does not do it. He will meet Allah, and Allah Almighty will say: 'Why did you not do such-and-such on such-and-such a day?' He will say: 'O Allah, I feared the people.' Then Allah Almighty will say: 'It was more fitting that you should fear Me.'"

Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked, at the time the Jamrah was being stoned: "Which jihad is the most excellent?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Speaking a word of truth before a tyrannical ruler."

Abdullah bin al-Samit narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: My friend (peace and blessings be upon him) enjoined seven things upon me: "1. That I look at the one who is below me and not look at the one who is above me. 2. He commanded me to love the poor and to be close to them. 3. That I ask no one for anything. 4. That I maintain the ties of kinship even if they turn their backs on me. 5. That I speak the truth even if it is bitter. 6. That I pay no heed to the blame of any blamer in the matter of Allah. 7. That I often say 'La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah' (There is no power and no strength except through Allah), for it is one of the treasures of Paradise."

Likewise (through another chain).

Sayyiduna Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The likeness of the one who falls into the limits of Allah and the one who is lax concerning them is like that of the people of a ship who cast lots over the upper and lower parts of the ship. Those in the lower part would fetch water from those above. They would pass by them, and those above would be troubled. Those above said: 'You pour water on us, which troubles us.' The narrator said: Those below took an axe and began to break (a hole in) the ship. Those above said: 'What are you doing?' If they leave them to what they intend, they will all perish, and if they hold them by their hands, they will all be saved."

Qays bin Abi Hazim said that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) stood, praised and extolled Allah, then said: O people! You recite this verse: "O you who believe, hold fast to your own selves; whoever has gone astray cannot harm you when you are guided." [Surah al-Ma'idah: 105]
I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) was saying: "When people see the wrongdoer and then do not seize his hand, it is near that Allah will afflict them all with His punishment."

Khalid bin Abdullah al-Wasiti narrates from Isma'il, with the same meaning, and in it there is this addition: "You recite this verse but apply it where it does not belong."

Hushaym narrates from Isma'il, with some addition, that: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "Any people among whom sin is widespread, and they have the power to stop it but do not stop it, it may well be that Allah Almighty will afflict them all with punishment."

Ubaydullah bin Jarir narrates from his father (Sayyiduna Jarir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him)) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Any people among whom sins are committed, while they are more numerous and mightier than those who commit them, and then they do not stop it, it is near that Allah Almighty will impose punishment upon them."

Ibn Shu'ayb narrates from Abu Umayyah al-Sha'bani (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: I came to Abu Tha'labah al-Khushani (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: What do you take this verse to mean? He said: Which verse? I said: The saying of Allah Almighty: "O you who believe, hold fast to your own selves; whoever has gone astray cannot harm you when you are guided." [Surah al-Ma'idah: 105] He said: By Allah, I asked one well-informed about it; I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about it, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Rather, enjoin one another to good and forbid one another from evil. When you see stinginess that is obeyed, desire that is followed, the world being preferred, and every man pleased with his own opinion, and you see a matter that is beyond your power, then at that time hold fast to yourself and leave the affairs of the common people. For after this come days of patience; patience in those days is like holding a burning coal in the hand. The one who does good deeds in those days will have a reward equal to the reward of fifty men."
(b) These are the words of Ibn Shu'ayb's narration. Ibn al-Mubarak added in his narration: Someone else added for me: They said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the reward of fifty of them? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The reward of fifty of you."

Abu al-Aliyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that they were with Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) when a quarrel broke out between two men; each of them was leaping at the other. Some of them said: Shall I not enjoin good upon them and forbid them from evil? Others said: Hold fast to yourself, for Allah Almighty says: "O you who believe, hold fast to your own selves; whoever has gone astray cannot harm you when you are guided." [Surah al-Ma'idah: 105] When Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) heard this, he said: The interpretation of this verse has not come yet. When the Qur'an was revealed, there were some verses whose interpretation had passed before they were revealed, some verses whose interpretation came about after that day, and some verses whose interpretation will come about at the Hour, which is what they mentioned concerning the matters of the Hour, and some whose interpretation will come about after the Reckoning, Paradise and Hell. As long as your hearts and desires remain one, you are not confused into factions, and some of you have not tasted the violence of others, enjoin good and forbid evil. When your hearts and desires differ, you are split into factions, and some of you taste violence from others, then each person will look only to his own safety; at that time its interpretation will have come.

Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I came to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) while he was reciting the Qur'an, and his eyesight was still sound then, and he was weeping. I asked: O Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), what makes you weep? May Allah make me your ransom! He said to me: "Do you know the town of Aylah?" I said: What is Aylah? He said: "Jews lived in that town, and Allah Almighty forbade them to catch fish on the Sabbath (Saturday). On the Sabbath the fish would come, very fat and plump and showing themselves openly, as if their pools were full; and when it was not the Sabbath, they could obtain fish only with toil and hardship. Some of them said to others, or some of them said: 'What if we catch them on the Sabbath and eat them on another day (what harm is there)?' So one household did that: they caught fish and roasted it, and their neighbours smelled the roasted fish. They said: 'Nothing at all has happened to so-and-so.' Then others also began to catch fish, until this became widespread in the town, and the people divided into three groups: one that ate the fish, another that forbade it, and a third that said: 'Why do you admonish a people whom Allah is going to destroy or punish with a severe punishment?' [Surah al-A'raf: 164]
The group that forbade (the evil) said: 'We warn you of the wrath of Allah, His punishment, and being swallowed up by the earth, or a rain of stones, or His other punishments. By Allah, we will not spend the night in a place where you live.' So they left the town. When morning came, they came and knocked on their doors, but no answer came. Then they brought ladders and set them against the walls; one man climbed the wall by it and called out: 'O servants of Allah! These have become monkeys; by Allah, they have tails!' He said this three times. Then he came down from the wall and opened the gate. When the people entered, the monkeys recognised their relatives, but the humans could not recognise their relatives among the monkeys. A monkey would come to its human relative and cling to him, and the human would ask: 'Are you so-and-so?' It would say yes with a nod of its head, and weep. And a female monkey would come to her human relative, and the human would ask her: 'Are you so-and-so?' She would say yes with a nod of her head, and weep. The humans would say to them: 'We kept warning you of the wrath of Allah, His punishment, being swallowed up by the earth, the distortion of forms, or Allah's other punishments.'" Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I hear Allah Almighty saying: "We saved those who used to forbid evil, and We seized those who did wrong with a dreadful punishment because they were defiantly disobedient." [Surah al-A'raf: 165] Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "I do not know what was done with the third group."
Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "How many evils we see, yet we do not forbid them!" Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I said: May Allah make me your ransom! What do you think? They did reject (the evil) and dislike it when they said: "Why do you admonish a people whom Allah is going to destroy or punish with a severe punishment?" [Surah al-A'raf: 164]. Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: This remark of mine pleased him, and he ordered that I be clothed in two thick sheets.

Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The first deficiency that arose among the Children of Israel was that a man would meet another man and say: 'Fear Allah and give up what you are doing; it is not lawful for you.' Then he would meet him the next day and would not forbid him; rather, he himself would join him in eating, drinking and sitting together. When they did this, Allah set their hearts against one another." Then he said: "Those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel were cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and used to transgress. They used not to forbid one another from the evil they did. Evil indeed is what they used to do." [Surah al-Ma'idah: 78-79]
Then he said: "No, by Allah! You will surely enjoin good and forbid evil; you will surely seize the hand of the wrongdoer, bend him back to the truth, and keep him firmly restricted to the truth."

Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) about four women, that some of them are below others (in the narration). I said: O Abu Muhammad, whom did you mention? He said: Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) that it is the narration of four women, some from others. It was said: O Abu Muhammad, what are their names? Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyidah Zaynab bint Abi Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates from Sayyidah Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her), she from her mother Sayyidah Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she from Sayyidah Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) woke from sleep and his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed face was red. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "La ilaha illallah (There is no god worthy of worship except Allah). Woe to the Arabs from an evil that has drawn near! Today Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) have made an opening in the barrier," and he (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated by forming the sign of ninety with his fingers. I said: O Messenger of Allah, will we be destroyed while there are righteous people among us? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, when wickedness becomes widespread."

Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), mentioned it in the same way, that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "La ilaha illallah (There is no god worthy of worship except Allah)" three times, and he made a ring with his finger.

Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You will surely enjoin good and forbid evil, or else Allah will send upon you a punishment from Himself. Then you will supplicate to Allah, and Allah will not answer your supplications."

Urwah bin al-Zubayr narrates from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: One day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me, and I recognised from his face that something had come (upon him). He performed ablution (wudu) and left, without speaking to anyone. I pressed close to the chamber so that I could hear what he said. He sat on the pulpit and said: "O people! Allah says: Enjoin good and forbid evil before you call upon Me and I do not answer you, you ask of Me and I do not give to you, and you seek My help and I do not help you."

Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah does not sanctify a nation in which the weak cannot take his right from the strong without being harassed."

Abdullah bin Abi Sufyan bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib said: A man was owed dates by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he came to him demanding them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took dates from Khawlah bint Hakim (may Allah be pleased with her) and paid off the debt, and said: "I had (only) poor-quality dates." Then he said: "This is how the believing servants of Allah act. Allah, the Lord of Glory, does not show mercy to a nation whose weak cannot obtain his right without hardship."
This is mursal, and that is the correct (version).

Ibn Buraydah narrates from his father (Sayyiduna Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him)) that when Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) returned from Abyssinia, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What amazed you the most?" He said: I saw a woman with a basket of food on her head. A horseman passed by her, spurring his horse, and he scattered her food. She began gathering her food and said: Woe to you on the day when the King sets down His Chair and takes the right of the oppressed from the oppressor! The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) affirmed the woman's words and said: "No nation will be sanctified," or he said: "How can it be sanctified, when the weak of that nation is not given his right from the strong without being harassed?"

Likewise (through another chain).

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Beware of sitting in the roads." The Companions said: We must have our gatherings. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you must sit, then give the road its right." They said: What is the right of the road? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Lowering the gaze, refraining from harm, returning the greeting, enjoining good and forbidding evil."

Simak bin Harb said: I heard Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah bin Mas'ud narrating from his father (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "You will be tested, you will be helped, and victory will be granted to you. Whoever of you lives to see that, let him fear Allah, enjoin good and forbid evil."

Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Charity is due upon every Muslim every day." The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said: "What if he does not find (anything)?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let him work with his hand, benefit himself and give charity." The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said: "What if he does not do so?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let him help the distressed person in need." The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said: "What if he is not able to?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let him enjoin good and forbid evil." The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said: "What if he is not able to?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let him refrain from evil, for that is charity for him."
(b) These are the words of Abu Dawud's narration; Sulayman's narration does not have "every day", nor the words "and forbid evil".

Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Upon every Muslim among you there is charity: saying 'Subhan Allah' (Glory be to Allah), 'Alhamdu lillah' (Praise be to Allah), 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no god but Allah) and 'Allahu akbar' (Allah is the Greatest) is also charity. Enjoining good and forbidding evil is also charity, and praying two rak'ahs of the forenoon (Duha) prayer will suffice for that."

Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will not say of anyone that he is the best of all people, even if he is a commander over me, ever since I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). His companions said: What did you hear? He said: I heard him (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown into Hell. His intestines will spill out, and he will go round with them as a donkey goes round a millstone. The people of Hell will gather (around him) and say: 'O so-and-so, what has happened to you, when you used to command us to do good and forbid us from evil?' He will say: 'I used to command good but not do it myself, and I used to forbid evil but do it myself.'"

Umayr bin Habib (may Allah be pleased with him), the grandfather of Abu Ja'far al-Khatmi, pledged allegiance to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he advised his sons: O my sons! Beware of the gatherings of foolish people, for sitting with them is a disease. Whoever is forbearing with a fool is made happy by his forbearance, and whoever answers him regrets it. Whoever does not accept the little that a fool brings him will (end up) accepting much. When any of you intends to enjoin good and forbid evil, let him prepare himself to bear harm and hope for reward from Allah; whoever hopes for reward from Allah does not feel the harm.