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What is the ruling on refraining from offering advice in cases where there is concern that the advised person might abandon good deeds, or not benefit from the advice, or rectify future shortcomings without making up for what they have missed, or that the advisor might be harmed?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Muslims must be advised and taught whenever possible and when their benefit is expected, as the noble hadiths state that advising a Muslim is part of the religion.

Scholars have differed regarding the condition of acceptance for advice. Some believe that advising is obligatory in all cases, citing the Almighty's saying: {As an excuse to your Lord, and perhaps they may fear Him}, and that remembrance benefits the believers. Others, however, believe that the obligation drops when there is despair of response, and that it becomes commendable in such a case.

A Muslim's errors must be corrected, and they must be persuaded to commit to prayer in congregation.

If a linguistic error (Lahn) in prayer does not invalidate it, it is permissible to refrain from advising for fear of falling into a greater evil. However, if the linguistic error invalidates the prayer, then teaching and correction are obligatory.

Fear of physical harm is considered an excuse for refraining from advising, but mere verbal abuse and blame are not.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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