From a servant of Allah, Umar, Amirul Mukmineen to the governor and the officers.

Amma ba’du.

Verily, when there is munkar (evil) appearing in a society and the doers of good deeds are not preventing it, surely Allah SWT will send down punishments from Him and by the hands that He wishes of His slaves. Mankind will continue to be guarded from torments and calamities as long as the doers of bathil are subjugated, they are still concealing haram things and the people who violate and commit haram things are stamped out. If haram deeds are emerging and the people who are the doers of virtues are not stopping it, torments from the sky will surely descend upon the earth. Those who practice the teachings of religion will also be affected by the punishments in spite of them disagreeing with the haram deeds.

Verily, I do not find in Al-Qur’an that Allah SWT rescues a people from the punishments that were imposed generally upon the people except the people who practice amar ma’ruf and nahi munkar.

Allah will inflict punishments upon the people who do haram deeds. If they are not inflicted directly from Him or through the hands of His slaves that He wishes, in the form of a feeling of fear, humiliation and woe, it might be that the fajir and the zalim (tyrannical) are punished through their friends who are zalim. Both of them will go into hell with the misdeeds that they have done. We ask Allah SWT for protection so that we are not amongst the zalim people or the community who are the supporters of the zalim.

It has come to my attention that there have been a lot of misdeeds occurring in your area. The fasiqs feel secure in your town. They openly practice haram deeds or things forbidden by Allah to occur. Allah does not agree that they were done continually.

Those deeds would not have been done openly in the society where the people hope for the pleasure of Allah in total khushoo’ and fear of Him. They are the people who are nobler and all the more better than the ahlul fajir (the doer of misdeeds).

Committing immoralities openly never happened to your predecessors. They did not obtain perfect blessings from Allah SWT through such reprehensible deeds. They are the people who "...are strong against unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other." (surah al-Fath, verse 29) and they are the people who "...are humble towards the believers, powerful against the disbelievers; they conduct jihad in the way of Allah and do not fear the blame of the blamers..." (surah al-Ma'idah, verse 54).

Verily, included in Jihad in the way of Allah is being powerful against anyone who commits vile deeds forbidden by Allah, with their hands, speeches and forceful struggle, even if they are their own fathers, children or families. Verily, what is called sabilillah is being obedient to Allah unconditionally.

It has come to my attention that many people are slow in the amar ma’ruf and nahi munkar for the sake of avoiding criticism and wanting to be said, “That Mr. So-and-so is good in his akhlaq, less troublesome, always doing muhasabah and looking after himself!” Allah does not make someone like that as the best amongst you, in fact it is an example of someone whose akhlaq is the worst. Someone like that is not a person who is doing muhasabah and looking after himself, but a person who is turning away from himself. He is not safe from distress, in fact he is sinking into distress because he agrees with the conditions that are not commanded by Allah. He does not want to do amal ma’ruf and nahi munkar. Many of the people’s tongues are postulating with verses that are not in its appropriate place. They give meanings as they please to the words of Allah Azza wa Jalla in surah al-Ma’idah, verse 105: “O ye who believe! Guard your own souls: If ye follow (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray…”

The misguidance of those who have strayed will not harm us if we are following the guidance of Allah and the guidance of those who have followed the guidance of Allah will not be beneficial for us if we are in a lost state.

“…No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another…” – al-Isra, verse 15.

Verily, amar ma’ruf and nahi munkar is one of the commandments obligated upon us by Allah. If there is a violation and the things made haram by Allah are committed, act firmly on the committers without delay, whoever you are and whoever they are.

There are those who say: “We are busy with ourselves and we don’t care about the others.” If the obedient people follow this opinion to the extent that they do not perform amar ma’ruf for the sake of Allah in total obedience and not prohibiting munkar, then the bathil people will oppress the good, until mankind eventually becomes like cattles, in fact even more strayed.

Therefore, act and be in control, revive the emotion of being able to encounter the fasiqs, whoever you are and whoever they are. Reject their bathil with the haq that you have within you. Reject their blindness with the truth that you have within you. Verily, Allah makes the people who do good have the clear authority over the evil, even though they are not the rulers or leaders. Whoever is weak in doing it, he must propose it to their leaders because it is a form of mutual assistance in doing good deeds and taqwa.

Allah SWT says for the people who are in the habit of doing misdeeds: “Do then those who devise evil (plots) feel secure that Allah will not cause the earth to swallow them up, or that the Wrath will not seize them from directions they little perceive?- Or that He may not call them to account in the midst of their goings to and fro, without a chance of their frustrating Him?” surah al-Nahl: 45-46.

It should be that the people who commit misdeeds are prohibited or Allah will really humiliate them. Allah SWT says: “We will surely incite you against them; then they will not remain as your neighbors therein except for a little length of time.”

*** This letter of Sayidina Umar bin Abdul Aziz was sent to the governor and his officials with regards to the duty of carrying out Amar Ma’ruf and Nahi Munkar. Umar was the fifth Khulafaur Rashideen obtaining the title “the upholder of justice” because he possessed the attitude of a leader who is just, upright, wise and compassionate to his subjects. Khalifah Umar is reputable because he possessed the personality of a man who is soleh (righteous), taqwa (God-fearing), ahlul ibaadah (a devoted worshipper), wara’ (pious) and zuhd (renouncing worldly pleasures and luxuries).