Punishment of Silence against Evil
Thawāb al-Aʿmāl wa ʿiqāb al-Aʿmāl|Volume 1|Book 3|Chapter 109
أَبِی ره قَالَ حَدَّثَنِی سَعْدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِنَانٍ رَفَعَهُ إِلَی أَبِی عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ: مَا قَرَبَ قَوْمٌ مِنَ الْمُنْکِرِینَ أَظْهُرَهُمْ لَا یُعَیِّرُونَهُ إِلَّا أَوْشَکَ أَنْ یَعُمَّهُمُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ بِعِقَابٍ مِنْ عِنْدِهِ.
1. My father رحمه الله said: it was narrated to me by Sa’d b. Abdillah from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Sinan who raised it to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام who said: “If some people of a community commit sins and if they are not stopped from doing so, a time will come soon when Allah will send chastisement on all of them.”
حَدَّثَنِی مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنِی مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِی الْقَاسِمِ عَنْ هَارُونَ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ عَنْ مَسْعَدَهَ بْنِ صَدَقَهَ عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ أَبِیهِ ع قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص إِنَّ الْمُصِیبَهَ إِذَا عَمِلَ بِهَا الْعَبْدُ سِرّاً لَمْ تُضِرَّ إِلَّا عَامِلَهَا وَ إِذَا عَمِلَ بِهَا عَلَانِیَهً وَ لَمْ یُعَیَّرْ عَلَیْهِ أَضَرَّتِ الْعَامَّهَ قَالَ جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ ع وَ ذَلِکَ أَنَّهُ یُذِلُّ بِعَمَلِهِ دِینَ اللَّهِ وَ یَقْتَدِی بِهِ أَهْلُ عَدَاوَهٍ.
2. Imam Ja’far Sadiq عليه السلام narrates from his ancestors that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم said, “One who is committing sins secretly, it is harmful for that individual himself. However if he is sinning openly and is not being restrained, it is harmful for everyone.” Imam Ja’far Sadiq عليه السلام said, “It is an insult of Allah’s religion. The sinners and their followers are like enemies of Allah.”
وَ بِهَذَا الْإِسْنَادِ قَالَ قَالَ عَلِیٌّ ع أَیُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَی لَا یُعَذِّبُ الْعَامَّهَ بِذَنْبِ الْخَاصَّهِ إِذَا عَمِلَتِ الْخَاصَّهُ بِالْمُنْکَرِ سِرّاً مِنْ غَیْرِ أَنْ تَعْلَمَ الْعَامَّهُ فَإِذَا عَمِلَتِ الْخَاصَّهُ بِالْمُنْکَرِ جِهَاراً فَلَمْ یُعَیِّرْ ذَلِکَ الْعَامَّهُ اسْتَوْجَبَ الْفَرِیقَانِ الْعُقُوبَهَ مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَی- وَ قَالَ لَا یَحْضُرَنَّ أَحَدُکُمْ رَجُلًا یَضْرِبُهُ سُلْطَانٌ جَائِرٌ ظُلْماً وَ عُدْوَاناً وَ لَا مَقْبُولًا وَ لَا مَظْلُوماً إِذَا لَمْ یَنْصُرْهُ- لِأَنَّ نُصْرَهَ الْمُؤْمِنِ فَرِیضَهٌ وَاجِبَهٌ فَإِذَا هُوَ حَضَرَهُ وَ الْعَافِیَهُ أَوْسَعُ مَا لَمْ یَلْزَمْکَ الْحُجَّهُ الْحَاضِرَهُ قَالَ وَ لَمَّا وَقَعَ التَّقْصِیرُ فِی بَنِی إِسْرَائِیلَ جَعَلَ الرَّجُلُ مِنْهُمْ یَرَی أَخَاهُ عَلَی الذَّنْبِ فَیَنْهَاهُ فَلَا یَنْتَهِی فَلَا یَمْنَعُهُ مِنْ ذَلِکَ أَنْ یَکُونَ أَکِیلَهُ وَ جَلِیسَهُ وَ شَرِیبَهُ حَتَّی ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَی قُلُوبَ بَعْضِهِمْ بِبَعْضٍ وَ نَزَلَ فِیهِمُ الْقُرْآنُ حَیْثُ یَقُولُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ- لُعِنَ الَّذِینَ کَفَرُوا مِنْ بَنِی إِسْرائِیلَ عَلی لِسانِ داوُدَ وَ عِیسَی ابْنِ مَرْیَمَ ذلِکَ بِما عَصَوْا وَ کانُوا یَعْتَدُونَ. کانُوا لا یَتَناهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنکَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ إِلَی آخِرِ الْآیَهِ.
3. Amirul Momineen عليه السلام said, “Surely Allah will not send chastisement on all because of the sins of some people until they commit sins secretly and others are not aware of it. However if they sin openly and are not restrained from it, everybody will be deserving of divine chastisement. If an unjust king kills someone out of oppression and enmity or does any other injustice, you should not remain over there. If you are, helping the victim becomes obligatory for you. However there is no responsibility upon you until the innocence of the victim is proved. People of Bani Israel were careless about prohibited deeds. Once a person sinned in front of his brother who advised him not to do so but he turned a deaf ear to his words. This sin did not affect their friendship in any way. At last, Allah put the love of that sin in their hearts and these verses are revealed for those persons: Those who disbelieved from among the children of Israel were cursed by the tongue of Dawood and Isa, son of Maryam; this was because they disobeyed and used to exceed the limit. They used not to forbid each other the hateful things (which) they did; certainly evil was that which they did.”46