Compassion: Why to not mind your own business.

“Let there be a group among you who call others to goodness, encourage what is good, and forbid what is evil—it is they who will be successful. ” Surah Al-Imran : 104

The concept of acting righteously and calling others towards righteousness is a core Islamic teaching. “Amr bil ma‘rūf wa nahy ‘an al-munkar”, Enjoining good and forbidding evil is a duty of every Muslim. Islam not only commands believers to act righteously but also urges them to encourage others towards righteousness and prevent wrongdoing.

Imam al-Ghazali (raḥimahullah) narrates in Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din that in one town, Allah revealed to the angels to destroy it because of its people’s corruption.

The angels said: “O Lord, there is among them a man who worships You constantly!”
Allah replied:
“Begin with him, for his face never turned red for My sake (he never showed anger for what displeased Me).” So remaining silent in the face of wrongdoing out of indifference or fear can be a sin, even for the devout.

The current secular, individualistic societies which we live in, have developed certain values which are prevalent in all parts of the world. Phrases like ‘Live and let live’,’Mind your own business’, ‘My life, my choices’, and ‘To each his own’ are everyday sayings.

And those of us, who come from eastern cultures with closely intertwined families and have struggled to take our own decisions without being scrutinized by our relatives, our neighbors, our colleagues and broader communities, find this idea of minding our own business very convenient.

It is true that individual liberties are ingrained in Islamic teachings. Each one of us are responsible for our own deeds and we are never held responsible for what anyone else, however close to us, does. Unless one has caused the other to sin, in which case the one causing it is held responsible too.

We are also given free will to take our own decisions, coercion of any sort is not recommended in any religious matter. But still, totally minding our own business in not what Islam prescribes.

“The believing men and believing women are protecting friends one of another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger …” – Surah At-Tawbah : 71

What ‘protecting friends’ do is what is expected from Muslims to do for each other. A protecting friends does not make it hard for the other to live his life happily, he does not criticize other for the sake of criticizing but he also does not look away when the other is falling off a cliff in the name of individual liberty. So reminding one’s friend for prayers, encouraging him to be charitable and pointing out the areas where he is lacking in his religion is one’s religious compulsion. One should do it as an act of sincerity, with utmost politeness and kindness and not as an act of self-righteousness. Smugness will only succeed in pushing the person away from your advise instead of coming close to it.

On the other hand, if someone else points out something where you lack in religion, listen to his advice with a clean conscious, paying attention to what is being said, instead of worrying about the intention of the person behind pointing it out, his tone, his choice of words used. Remember that it is in your own benefit to understand what is being said. No one is compelled to follow each advice given to him, but everyone should sincerely weigh every advice one receives, specially in the matter of religion and based on the validity of the advice, should make needed changes. Even if one sees no benefit in the recieved advice, no one should discourage the other from giving it. Remember that one useful advice might change your life for better.

Arrogance might make one irritant or even angry upon receiving the advice but arrogance is also what might stop one from turning to lord in a better way.

Advising each other in the matters of faith is an inherent Islamic culture. We should encourage this culture instead of discouraging and resisting it. Below is the evidence from Quran regarding it:

“By time, indeed mankind is in loss — except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” – Surah Al-Asr: 1-3

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.”

Islam is a religion which enjoins justice, in every regard. When one witnesses injustice, let him do everything in his right to stop it. Injustice is not only what you do to others, it could also be some thing you do to yourself. For example shirk is an injustice against your natural fitrah so when one sees his Muslim brethren committing shirk, one should do everything in his right to stop it. And backbiting is an injustice against yourself and against the person who is talked about, so when you see your Muslim brethren doing backbiting, raise your warning against it. This should not be seen as snobishness but an act of compassion.

How do you stop injustice depends on what right do you have in the situation. If your child is involved, you can possibly stop it with your hands but if it is another adult like your friend or neighbor, you can warn him verbally. And if you are not in position to speak up, then know in your heart of the injustice, which is described as the weakest of faith.

Why is it important to know in your heart of it? So that it does not get normalized in your mind, one should always be able to recognize an injustice when one sees it.

Thus, Islam enjoins both personal reform and collective responsibility. A Muslim strives for goodness in his own conduct and works gently and wisely to guide others, as Allah commands:

“Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation and reason with them in the better way.” Surah An-Nahl: 125

In Surah Araf, the story of the People of the Sabbath—a community who disobeyed Allah by fishing on the day of Sabbath, is mentioned.
Some of them sinned, others spoke out against the sin, while a third group stayed silent. Allah mentioned saving only those who forbade the wrong.

Speaking for truth may disturb peace momentarily but saves souls eternally.

“The one who kept silent was like a still pond—calm but lifeless. The one who spoke truth was like a river—disturbed, but alive.” -Rumi.