Qays ibn Abi Hazm reported Abu Bakr (RA) saying, “O you people! I hear you reciting this verse: ‘O believers! You are accountable only for yourselves. It will not harm you if someone chooses to deviate as long as you are ˹rightly˺ guided. To Allah, you will all return, and He will inform you of what you used to do. (Surah Al-Maida: Ayah 105). But I heard the Messenger of Allah (SAW) say: “Indeed when people see an oppressor but do not prevent him from (doing evil), it is likely that Allah will punish them all.” (Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi).
Abu Bakr (RA) makes an important point that there are often verses that are recited and improperly explained or applied to situations that give meaning in contradiction to the intent of the ayah. Abu Bakr (RA) was correcting the inappropriate interpretation of this ayah. This ayah doesn’t allow you to be silent when you see wrongdoing but rather, we look to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) for an explanation of these ayaats for us. Therefore, the Sunnah is the Tafseer of the Holy Quran.
Now, let’s reconcile between the ayah and hadith to discover the intended meaning. In the ayah, Allah (SWT) is speaking about people who have already done their duty and have tired themselves out in trying to change the people around them and they feel distraught about their inability to change the people and society around them.
Abu Bakr (RA) is saying to the people that this ayah is not an excuse to be content. If that generation – the best generation of Muslims was misunderstanding the ayah, then what about us 1400 years later?
Jabir narrated the following hadith, “When the emigrants who had crossed the sea came back to the Messenger of Allah (SAW),he said: ‘Tell me of the strange things that you saw in the land of Abyssinia.’ Some young men among them said: ‘Yes, OMessenger of Allah. While we were sitting, one of their elderly nuns came past, carrying a vessel of water on her head. She passed by some of their youth, one of whom placed his hand between her shoulders and pushed her. She fell on her knees and her vessel broke. When she stood up, she turned to him and said: “You will come toknow, O foolish young man, that when Allah sets up the footstool and gathers the first and the last, and hands and feet speak of what they used to earn, you will come to know your case and my case in His presence soon.’” The Messenger of Allah (SAW) replied, ‘She spoke the truth; she spoke the truth; she spoke the truth. How can Allah purify any people (of sin) when they do not protect their weak against their strong?’” (Ibn Majah)
The companions who described this did not get involved because they were refugees in that land and had no power or position to intervene. However, this incident bothered them; that is why they conveyed it to the Prophet (SAW) who blamed the society, not just the young man who oppressed the nun. Society is the “enabler” that led him to act in that way and to feel there would be no punishment for behaving like this as his society normalized that type of behaviour.
The third hadith is from Ayesha (RA) who asked, “Will we be destroyed even if we have righteous people amongst us?” The Prophet (SAW) said, “Yes if filth (base sins) becomes rampant.”
Therefore, the lesson of all three of these ahadith is that if people do not speak up when evil is being committed, everyone will suffer. Silence is haraam (becomes criminal) when three conditions are met: 1) When you are certain of something being evil/munkar (no grey area); 2) When you are certain that it was committed (not based on gossip or rumors, but strong evidence); and 3) When the greater probability is that speaking up will remove or reduce the evil being committed.
We cannot empower abusers. The Holy Prophet (SAW) told us to help our brother whether he is the oppressed or the oppressor. We help the oppressor by stopping him from oppressing others.
There are periods when silence is permissible (halal), periods when it is forbidden (haraam) and there are periods when silence becomes obligatory (fard).
Abu Saeed (RA) narrates that he heard the Messenger (SAW) state Allah will hold a servant accountable on the day of judgment asking him/her, “What stopped you from calling out that evil when you saw it?” The servant says, “O my Lord, I had hope in you and I left the people.” This is a person who tried unsuccessfully to implement change and then withdrew from the people and was hopeful of Allah’sforgiveness, and so they will be forgiven.
In some situations, silence can even become mandatory. When does it become mandatory? When evil will increase if you speak. This is a very important point that we often don’t comprehend.
