36/21. Chapter:
Sunan Ibn Majah 4015 — Signs Linked to Leaving Good Counsel
The words of Allah: "O you who believe! Take care of your own selves."
Hadith About When to Stop Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil
Sunan Ibn Majah : 4015
Sunan Ibn MajahHadith Number 4015
حَدَّثَنَا الْعَبَّاسُ بْنُ الْوَلِيدِ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا زَيْدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى بْنِ عُبَيْدٍ الْخُزَاعِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الْهَيْثَمُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَيْدٍ، حَفْصُ بْنُ غَيْلاَنَ الرُّعَيْنِيُّ عَنْ مَكْحُولٍ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ قِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَتَى نَتْرُكُ الأَمْرَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْىَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ قَالَ " إِذَا ظَهَرَ فِيكُمْ مَا ظَهَرَ فِي الأُمَمِ قَبْلَكُمْ " . قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا ظَهَرَ فِي الأُمَمِ قَبْلَنَا قَالَ " الْمُلْكُ فِي صِغَارِكُمْ وَالْفَاحِشَةُ فِي كِبَارِكُمْ وَالْعِلْمُ فِي رُذَالَتِكُمْ " . قَالَ زَيْدٌ تَفْسِيرُ مَعْنَى قَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " وَالْعِلْمُ فِي رُذَالَتِكُمْ " . إِذَا كَانَ الْعِلْمُ فِي الْفُسَّاقِ .
Anas bin Malik Narrated from:
It was said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, when should we stop enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil?’ He said: ‘When there appears among you that which appeared among those who came before you.’ We said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what appeared among those that came before us?’ He said: ‘Kingship given to your youth, immorality even among the old, and knowledge among the base and vile.’”
Reference : Sunan Ibn Majah 4015In-book reference : Book 36, Hadith 90English translation : Vol. 5, Book 36, Hadith 4015
Summary of Sunan Ibn Majah Hadith 4015
This Hadith about enjoining good and forbidding evil records a direct question: when should people stop this duty? The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم answered that it would be when what appeared among earlier nations appears among you. When asked what that meant, he mentioned kingship among the youth, immorality among the old, and knowledge among the base and vile. The narration also includes an explanation from Zaid about knowledge among the base and vile: when knowledge is with the sinful. The Hadith is not a long rulebook, so we should not add extra details. Its clear point is that moral decline affects leadership, age groups, and even who carries knowledge.
What we learn from this hadith
- The Hadith keeps enjoining good and forbidding evil as a serious public duty.
- Moral decline is described through leadership, immorality, and misuse of knowledge.
- The narration warns when knowledge is held by people described as sinful or vile.
- The question shows concern for knowing the limits of public correction.
