Hand, Tongue & Heart Concept of Forbidding Evil

When one witnesses’ evil, he should strive to change it with good, as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Whoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then (let him change it) with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart and that is the weakest of faith” (Muslim). The hadith clearly specifies the three levels of acts which could be adopted to forbid people from evil acts. In order to change the evil with good, Islam not only commands people to change it, but it also gives a methodology to do it. The hadith helps us to understand the three levels which could be adopted to forbid people from evil. There are generally three kinds of people in this world, the first category are those people who have power and authority, the second category are those who have the knowledge and understanding of current issues and evils but they do not have power, the third category are those, who neither have power, nor have knowledge and understanding of current issues. The hadith gives a point of action or response to all the three categories of people. It basically tells the people to use their capabilities and resources to change the evil with good. The basic task given to the Muslims is to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil as Allah says in the Quran, “You are the best nation produced (as an example) for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah. If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient” (Quran 3:110). Thus, it is a responsibility on every individual to play a significant role when there is evil in the society.