When to Take Action
against Evil
Prior to taking action against evil one should think if it will be result-oriented and in conformity with wisdom, otherwise it will be considered rebellion rather than the implementation of an Islamic command.
According to a tradition, the Prophet of Islam once observed: “One who sees evil should change it out of hand.” (Sahih Muslim 49) Now let us look at another tradition. The Prophet of Islam once said to Ayesha, his wife: “When the Quraysh rebuilt the Kabah, they did not lay the foundations on the Abrahamic foundations. Some land was left outside of this building. This land initially was part of the Kabah.” Ayesha replied, “O God’s Messenger, why didn’t you rebuild the Kabah according to the Abrahamic foundations?” The Prophet said: “Had the Quraysh not been new Muslims, I would certainly have done so.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1583)
A comparative study of these two traditions shows that changing what is not good or disapproved of is not to be taken in the absolute sense. As a command it should be seen as relative to circumstances. Had it been an absolute command, the Prophet would certainly have rebuilt the Kabah and done away with the changes the Quraysh had made in it. He would have rebuilt the Kabah on the original Abrahamic foundations.
From this comparative study we also learn that only power, or the ability to do things is not the sole factor in changing what is evil. It has to be accompanied by wisdom. After the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet of Islam became the ruler of Arabia. He then had the power to demolish the structure of the Kabah and lay the foundations on the original base laid by Prophet Abraham. But in spite of having the power to do this, he did not, because in the words of the above hadith, doing so would not have shown wisdom.
The command to change the evil does not mean that whenever one sees evil, one should immediately take action against it. In social life, no step is taken just on seeing evil. Circumstances have also to be kept in view. Whenever a believer sees any evil, it is incumbent upon him before thinking of taking any action, to think of whether he has real power to do so or not. If, apparently, he has any power, he should even then see whether or not it is in conformity with wisdom. Without taking into account the twin conditions of power and wisdom, the extirpation of evil is rebellion rather than the implementation of an Islamic command.
