Mufti Menk – Acting Against Evil Or Bad Things

Mufti Menk
AI: Summary © The speaker discusses the importance of acknowledging which behavior is evil and making sure it is understood. They give examples of cases where people have authority and need to change their behavior. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of letting people know when they have authority and the need to ensure that they convey it to others.
AI: Transcript ©
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So the Prophet

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here

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says, Whoever from amongst you sees that which

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is

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that which is evil,

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he should change it with his own hand.

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Now it doesn't just mean you saw evil

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and suddenly you start smashing the people, hitting

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them, destroying them, creating a big commotion,

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and, you know, making a bigger issue out

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of that which was not really

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as big.

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Like I said, the minute you see something

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evil, the first thing you do, you ask

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yourself, is it really considered

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unacceptable according to everyone or or is there

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difference of opinion?

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If there is difference of opinion, let it

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be. But at the same time, in your

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heart, you won't participate in it. Right? You

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might want to speak about it. Those are

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the other levels that I'm going to get

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to. But the first level,

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you need to make sure and this is

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very, very important. Many people read this hadith

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and immediately think, you know what? That's it.

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I saw a a brother do this,

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drinking alcohol. I'm gonna go and smash him.

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I'm going to break the bottle. I'm gonna

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take it and, you know, throw it on

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1 side, not realizing you're probably going to

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create more harm. You need to ask yourself,

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is it wrong unanimously? The answer in the

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case of alcohol is yes. Number 2, do

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you have authority to do what you're about

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to do? In a lot of the cases,

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if you want to physically change things, you

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probably don't have that authority.

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You don't have the Sultan. Sultan meaning authorization,

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authority.

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The land, the law of the land you

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live in, as much as it may or

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may not be Islamic. If it is Islamic,

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you need to make sure that you convey

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that wrongdoing

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to someone who is who has the authority

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to sort it out. You don't just take

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it.

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There might be a procedure that you don't

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know. You you may have there may be

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someone drinking from a bottle that is outwardly

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alcohol, and it's water inside. Who knows? I

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mean, it sounds far fetched, but in the

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case of need, necessity,

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nobody knows the exact circumstance.

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Sometimes there are bottles that look so alcoholic

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and there is a small little sign there

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saying,

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0% alcohol.

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For example, these are just examples. So you

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need to have authority. Sometimes it's not a

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Muslim land and what they are doing is

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permissible according to the land you are living

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in,

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or the land you are visiting,

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or or residing in. So what what would

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you do in that particular case? In that

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particular case, you go to the next level.

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The next level is,

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you know, to to say something.

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And if if you're not permitted to say

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things,

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if you cannot say things because they will

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cause greater harm

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than the goodness you're trying to achieve, then

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at least feel in your heart that, you

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know what? That was wrong. I won't do

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it, and I pray that this person leaves

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as well for the sake of Allah, subhanahu

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wa ta'ala. So here it goes.

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Whoever sees from amongst you that which is

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bad or munkar, unacceptable,

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they should change it by their hands. Which

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means you physically change it, make sure that

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like your child picks up a knife. What

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do you do? The first thing you do

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is you go to the child and you

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hold the you take

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the knife away from the child. That's the

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first thing you should do.

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If, for example, there is a swimming pool

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and you see

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a person wanting to, you know, falling into

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the pool, a child or a blind person,

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You need to make sure that you go

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and stop it by hand. You can't just

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say, oh, I felt in my heart that

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what they were doing was wrong, you know,

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and let them drown and die. SubhanAllah.

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The the same rule applies. If 2 people

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are fighting, then normally,

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as much as you might not have supreme

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authority on land, but you have the right,

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the right given by the law of the

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land to stop something that is about to

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degenerate into killing.

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If you're seeing a thief, you stop the

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thief because that is part of the law

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of almost every land,

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Muslim or non Muslim.

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