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What are the conditions for enjoining good and forbidding evil pertaining to the evil being manifest, not discovered through spying; occurring in the present; and its prohibition not being a matter of legitimate scholarly disagreement? And how do these conditions apply to mistakes observed by a worshipper during their prayer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The three conditions for enjoining good and forbidding evil were mentioned in detail:

1. That the evil be apparent without spying. It is not permissible to search and investigate unless there is an imminent danger that cannot be averted otherwise.

2. That the evil be occurring at present. There is no denunciation for what has passed or what is anticipated, except in cases of insistence on committing forbidden acts or denouncing misleading innovations.

3. That the evil not be a matter of permissible scholarly disagreement. What is subject to ijtihad (independent reasoning) is not subject to denunciation, unless it contradicts a text, a consensus, or a clear analogical deduction.

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

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