Ability and Likelihood of Success as Conditions for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil

9 months ago
2 minutes

In his creedal work Lubb al-Asās fī ʿIlm al-Kalām, under the chapter of al-Amr bil-Maʿrūf wa-n-Nahy ʿan al-Munkar (Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil), Imām al-Muʾayyad Billāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl (d. 1097 AH) discusses the conditions under which this duty becomes obligatory.

He explains that commanding the right and forbidding the wrong is obligatory by consensus (ijmāʿ) whenever its conditions are fulfilled:

  1. Legal capacity (taklīf) – the person must be morally responsible.
  2. Ability (qudrah) – having the means and power to act.
  3. Knowledge that what is being commanded is indeed right and what is being forbidden is indeed wrong.
  4. A reasonable expectation of effect (ẓann al-taʾthīr) – that one’s action will likely have an impact.

He further explains that merely fearing that stopping one wrong might lead the person to commit another does not justify abandoning the duty. In other words, if a wrongdoer might simply change tactics — committing a different sin instead — this does not excuse inaction, since the current evil is certain and known, while the possible future wrong is only conjectural (maẓnūn).

However, when there is a presumption that another wrong will occur, and there is no expectation of effect nor ability to remove the current wrong, then acting in that situation is not permissible, as it would amount to ighrāʾ — provoking harm without benefit.

The Imām explains that when there is no expectation of effect through lighter means, it becomes obligatory to repel the wrong by action, even if that results in lethal force, since the ʿItrah (peace be upon them) are agreed that removing wrong is obligatory by every possible legitimate means. However, it is not permissible to use a harsher method when a lighter one suffices.

This section shows that Imām al-Muʾayyad Billāh grounded al-amr bil-maʿrūf wa-n-nahy ʿan al-munkar on ability and a reasonable likelihood of success. Moral action must be effective, proportionate, and guided by wisdom — not undertaken recklessly or without capacity.