Nahi Munkar Must Be Ma'ruf

 

Nahi Munkar Must Be Ma'ruf

On a trip, Amirul Mu'minin Umar bin Khattab suspected a disobedience that occurred in a man's house. Triggered by a sense of responsibility as a leader, the second Caliph who is known to be very strict is then trying to find out what happened in the house.

After it was confirmed that in the house there was indeed a crime being carried out by the shohibul bait (the owner of the house), Umar RA broke into the house by climbing it because the door of the house was tightly locked. He found the man was indeed doing munkar (no history, what munkar was done by the man: Red).

Seeing the Caliph suddenly in his house, the man was angry. He admitted that he had indeed sinned. But according to him there was only one fault. "But you have made three mistakes at once, O Amirul Mu'minin," he said.

The first mistake, he continued, is that you have been looking for the ugliness of others (tajassus) which is clearly prohibited in the Qur'an Surah Al-Hujurat:12. Second, you enter someone else's house by climbing and not through the door as the Qur'an in Surah Al-Baqarah:189 commands. Third, you enter someone else's house without permission and without greeting, even though Allah commanded it in the Qur'an Surah Al-Nuur: 27.

Realizing the mistake of his actions, Caliph Umar RA finally left the person and only told him to repent. Arriving at home, Umar gathered friends to be consulted, he asked, "What if a leader witnesses an evil in front of his eyes alone (without witnesses), is he still under the obligation to give punishment?"

Friends of Ali bin Abu Talib KW then replied, the sentence can be carried out at least with two fair witnesses, not just one person. (Source: Ihya' Ulumuddin, Vol. 2, p. 320)

Through this story, Hujjatul Islam Al-Ghazali requires that nahi munkar can only be done if the munkar occurs in a public space. If the munkar is done secretly in one's own house which is tightly closed and does not cause noise, then there is no right for other people to barge in in order to witness the munkar. That is, the obligation of nahi munkar is invalid.