“I came to Abu Tha’labah Al-Khushani and said: ‘How do you understand this Verse?’ He said: ‘Which verse?’ I said: “O you who believe! Take care of your own selves. If you follow the (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who are in error.”?[5:105] He said: ‘You have asked one who knows about it. I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it and he said: “Enjoin good upon one another and forbid one another to do evil, but if you see overwhelming stinginess, desires being followed, this world being preferred (to the Hereafter), every person with an opinion feeling proud of it, and you realize that you have no power to deal with it, then you have to mind your own business and leave the common folk to their own devices. After you will come days of patience, during which patience will be like grasping a burning ember, and one who does good deeds will have a reward like that of fifty men doing the same deed.”  

قُلْتُ كَيْفَ تَصْنَعُ فِي هَذِهِ الآيَةِ قَالَ أَيَّةُ آيَةٍ قُلْتُ {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ لاَ يَضُرُّكُمْ مَنْ ضَلَّ إِذَا اهْتَدَيْتُمْ} قَالَ سَأَلْتَ عَنْهَا خَبِيرًا سَأَلْتُ عَنْهَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَالَ بَلِ ائْتَمِرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنَاهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ حَتَّى إِذَا رَأَيْتَ شُحًّا مُطَاعًا وَهَوًى مُتَّبَعًا وَدُنْيَا مُؤْثَرَةً وَإِعْجَابَ كُلِّ ذِي رَأْىٍ بِرَأْيِهِ وَرَأَيْتَ أَمْرًا لاَ يَدَانِ لَكَ بِهِ فَعَلَيْكَ خُوَيْصَّةَ نَفْسِكَ وَدَعْ أَمْرَ الْعَوَامِّ فَإِنَّ مِنْ وَرَائِكُمْ أَيَّامَ الصَّبْرِ الصَّبْرُ فِيهِنَّ مِثْلُ قَبْضٍ عَلَى الْجَمْرِ لِلْعَامِلِ فِيهِنَّ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ خَمْسِينَ رَجُلاً يَعْمَلُونَ بِمِثْلِ عَمَلِهِ  

“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.’”  

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 ﷺ وَالْعِلْمُ فِي رُذَالَتِكُمْ إِذَا كَانَ الْعِلْمُ فِي الْفُسَّاقِ  

“The believer should not humiliate himself.” They said: “How could he humiliate himself?” He said: “By taking on a trial that he cannot deal with.”  

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ لاَ يَنْبَغِي لِلْمُؤْمِنِ أَنْ يُذِلَّ نَفْسَهُ قَالُوا وَكَيْفَ يُذِلُّ نَفْسَهُ قَالَ يَتَعَرَّضُ مِنَ الْبَلاَءِ لِمَا لاَ يُطِيقُهُ  

“I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘Allah will question His slave on the Day of Resurrection, until He says: “What kept you from denouncing evil when you saw it?” When Allah grants His slave a response, he will say: “O Lord, I hoped for Your mercy but I feared the people.”  

سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَيَسْأَلُ الْعَبْدَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يَقُولَ مَا مَنَعَكَ إِذْ رَأَيْتَ الْمُنْكَرَ أَنْ تُنْكِرَهُ فَإِذَا لَقَّنَ اللَّهُ عَبْدًا حُجَّتَهُ قَالَ يَا رَبِّ رَجَوْتُكَ وَفَرِقْتُ مِنَ النَّاسِ