Amr bil ma’roof and nahy anil munkar (commanding with good and forbidding from evil) is an obligation in deen. The Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), throughout their lives, upheld this obligation to the best of their ability wherever they went.

There are three levels of carrying out amr bil ma’roof and nahy anil munkar. The first level is to physically prevent the wrong, the second level is to verbally prevent the wrong, and the third level is to abhor and detest the evil from one’s heart. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “Whichever one of you sees an evil being perpetrated, then he should stop it with his hand (i.e. physically put a stop to the evil). If he is unable to stop it with his hand, then he should stop it with his tongue (i.e. through advising the person). If he is unable to stop it with his tongue, then he should regard it to be wrong and evil in his heart, and this is the weakest level of imaan (where a person will not be able to correct the wrong).” (Saheeh Muslim #49)