Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil
The collective responsibility to promote virtue and prevent wrongdoing in society.
Al-Amr bil-Ma'ruf wa al-Nahy 'an al-Munkar (الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر) is the duty to enjoin good and forbid evil. The Quran calls Muslims 'the best nation brought forth for people' precisely because they fulfill this duty. It operates at levels: with the hand (action), tongue (speech), or heart (disapproval)—the last being the weakest form of faith. This responsibility maintains social morality and prevents normalization of wrongdoing. It must be done with wisdom, gentleness, and good intention, not harshness or self-righteousness.
You are the best nation produced for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: 'Whoever sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart—and that is the weakest of faith.'
Quran
Written about in
- What Islam says about justice
Wrongdoing is treated as a collective responsibility, not only a private failing. How that duty is carried out without becoming coercion is contested, and this concept does not settle it.