Our noble religion has given tremendous attention to enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, making it the basis of our excellence as a community. Allah, Glorified and Exalted, says:
“You are the best nation produced for mankind: you enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong...” (Āl 'Imrān 3:110)
The Chosen Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, informed us that one of the levels of condemning wrongdoing is to reject it in one's heart, and that limiting oneself to this level is the weakest form of faith.[1] What, then, can be said of a heart that does not reject wrongdoing at all?
When hearts die, their sense of disapproval disappears, and they become as the noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, described:
“Blackened and darkened, like an overturned vessel; it neither recognizes good nor rejects evil.”[2]
The death of hearts does not occur merely through committing sins and acts of wrongdoing. It also occurs through frequent association with those who commit them and through repeatedly witnessing such acts. For this reason, this religion has encouraged us to avoid the people of sins and disobedience and has commanded us to keep the company of the righteous and sit with them.
I was attending an international Qur'anic conference in Malaysia, a conference that brought together many specialists in Qur'anic exegesis and the sciences of the Qur'an from various countries. This took place on the 14th and 15th of November of this year. After the conference, while I was sitting with some of its participants, our colleague Abu Ziyad from Hafar al-Batin, may Allah preserve him, spoke to us with astonishment about the large number of scantily clad women in the hotel where we were staying, and the signs of disapproval were apparent on his face.
Among us was a brother from one of the Arab countries who was residing in Malaysia while pursuing a doctorate at one of its universities. He was a follower of the Sunnah, as we believed him to be, and we ask Allah to grant him steadfastness. He replied to our brother sorrowfully, saying:
“As for us, my brothers, the sense of disapproval in our hearts has died because of constant association.”
I then remembered the saying of Allah, Glorified and Exalted:
“So do not sit with them...” (An-Nisā' 4:140)
Al-Qurtubi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“This verse indicates the obligation of avoiding people of sin when wrongdoing becomes manifest from them.”[3]
Muhammad Rashid Rida said:
“This verse was revealed concerning the polytheists. Some Muslims used to sit with them and were unable to object to them because of their weakness, so they were commanded to turn away from them and not sit with them.”[4]
Al-Sa'di said:
“Included in this is attending gatherings of sin and immorality in which Allah's commands and prohibitions are treated lightly, and the limits He has prescribed for His servants are violated.”[5]
For this reason, it was from the guidance of our righteous predecessors to avoid the people of vain desires and not sit with them, out of concern for the safety of their hearts.
In Sunan al-Darimi, Asma' ibn 'Ubayd narrated:
“Two men from among the people of vain desires came to Ibn Sirin and said, ‘O Abu Bakr, shall we narrate a hadith to you?’ He said, ‘No.’ They said, ‘Then shall we recite to you a verse from the Book of Allah?’ He said, ‘No. Either you both leave me, or I shall leave.’
So they departed. Some of the people then said, ‘O Abu Bakr, what harm would there have been if they had recited to you a verse from the Book of Allah, Most High?’
He replied, ‘I feared that they might recite a verse to me and distort it, and that this would settle in my heart.’”[6]
And I remembered the saying:
“Excessive exposure dulls sensitivity.”
References
[1] Part of the hadith narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih (1/69), no. 49.
[2] Also narrated by Imam Muslim; see the previous source (1/128), no. 144.
[3] See: Al-Jāmi' li-Ahkām al-Qur'ān by Al-Qurtubi (5/418).
[4] See: Tafsīr al-Manār by Muhammad Rashid Rida (5/377).
