´Hudhaifah bin Al-Yaman narrated that the Prophet (s.a.w) said:` "By the One in Whose Hand is my soul! Either you command good and forbid evil, or Allah will soon send upon you a punishment from Him, then you will call upon Him, but He will not respond to you. "
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Dr. Abdur Rahman Freywai
Explanation:
1:
From this hadith, it is understood that as long as people continue to fulfill the obligation of enjoining good (amr bil-ma'ruf) and forbidding evil (nahi 'an al-munkar), a general punishment will not descend upon them.
And when people abandon this obligation, then the Lord of all worlds will send upon them such a punishment that thereafter their supplications will no longer be heard.
If the people of a particular region completely cease this work of enjoining good and forbidding evil, then a general punishment can descend upon only them as well.
Note:
(In the chain of narration, Abdullah bin Abdur Rahman Ashhali Al-Ansari is weak in hadith,
but on the basis of corroborating evidences, this hadith is authentic.)
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi – Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar al-Da‘wah, New Delhi Edition, Page: 2169