Our Attitude and Conduct towards the wrong doer

[ummtaalib]

Question:

My older sister does not cover her face and she puts on perfume and goes out. I called her a fasiqah. Was i wrong? If a person younger than me commits an open sin and i call them a faasiq, is it ok? How does the Shariah deal with open sinners? If, for example, your ustaads or parents do open sins then how should you deal with them or your children or students?

 

Answer:        

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

As-salaamu `alaykum wa-ramatullahi wa-barakatuh.

There are two issues in your query.

·        Reference to a wrong practise and reference to the wrong doer.

·        Attitude and conduct towards the wrong doer.

While a sinful act does constitute fisq (transgression) and a sinful person is a faasiq (transgressor), that does not imply that one should address a sinful person as a faasiq. Allah advises us to correct and guide people with wisdom, love and care.

See the following verses of the Qur`an;

{ادْعُ إِلَى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ } [النحل: 125]

 

“Call to the path of your Rabb with wisdom and good counsel”. (Suratun Nahl, Verse 125).

{فَقُولَا لَهُ قَوْلًا لَيِّنًا لَعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوْ يَخْشَى} [طه: 44]

 

“Speak to him with soft (kind) words, perhaps he may take heed or he may fear”. (Sura Taha, Verse 44)

Accordingly, it was against wisdom and softness to call your sister faasiqah. It is advisable to show love and care and win the love of a person before advising the person. Changing and reforming one is not only a duty, it is a skill and an art. The focus is on making one practice rather than merely informing what is right and wrong.

And Allah Ta`ala Knows Best.

Hussein Muhammad.

Student Darul Iftaa

Arusha, Tanzania

Checked and Approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai.