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What is the ruling on passing through places where abominable acts occur (such as cafes), whether out of necessity or not, and is it obligatory to seek a path free from abominable acts even if it increases the distance?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Enjoining good and forbidding evil is the greatest pillar of religion and the rectification of worldly affairs. There is no harm in passing through places where evil acts occur, such as cafes and the like, as long as you do not participate in their falsehood, for Allah says: "And those who do not bear witness to falsehood, and if they pass by ill speech, they pass by with dignity." If a believer passes by those engaged in idle talk, he refrains from joining them and bypasses their gathering. If you pass by a market where unveiled women are present, and you are unable to change the evil with your hand or tongue, then change it with your heart, but do not intentionally look at them. If it is possible for you to change your route to avoid evil acts without hardship, that is better.

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

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