2. Importance of Amr & Nahi
Amrbi’l-marūf&nahi‘ani ’l-munkaris amoralandethicalsafety-net
fortheMuslimcommunityandthehumansocietyatlarge.Itdoesnotal-
lowthe Muslimcommunitytoabandon itsmembersin thepathofim-
moralityandself-destructivepath.NordoesitallowtheMuslimummah
tobeindifferenttothemoralandethicaldilemmafacedbyhumanityat
large.
Allāh says:“Thereshouldbeamongyou(Obelievers),agroup(ofthelearnedand
sincere persons) who should call (the people) towards goodness, bid
(them)tothegoodandforbid(them)fromtheevil—theyarethesuccess-
ful people.”(3:104)
While describing the believers, Allāh says:“... Thebelieving menand the believingwomen are helpers of each
other: they bid the good, forbidthe evil,establish the prayer, pay the
alms,andtheyobeyAllahand HisMessenger—these arethepeople on
whom Allah will be merciful. Indeed Allah is Powerful and Wise.”(9:71)
Inthelatterverse,whilecountingthepositivequalitiesofthe believ-
ers,Allahhasplacedamrbi’l-ma‘rūfandnahi‘ani’l-munkarbeforethe
salātandthezakāt.Becauseitiswithamrandnahithatsalāt,zakātand
other good deeds will be promoted and practised in the Muslim
community.
Imam‘AlibinAbiTālib(a.s.)said:“Verilythepeoplebeforeyouper-
ishedbecausewhentheycommittedsins,theRabbisandthePriestsdid
notforbid themfromit.Andwhenthepeoplebecamesubmergedinto
sinsandtheRabbisandthe Priestsdidnot forbidthem,thenthechas-
tisementcame down uponthem.Therefore, bidtowards the goodand
forbidtheevil;andknowthatbiddingtowardsthegoodandforbidding
fromevilwill nothastenyour deathordecrease your sustenance.”On
thesamelines,theProphetof Islam(maypeacebeuponhim)hadsaid
earlierthat,“Myfollowerswillbeingoodconditionaslongastheybid
(eachother)towardsthegood,forbid(eachother)fromtheevil,andco-
operatewitheachotheringood(deeds).Iftheydonotdothis,thenthe