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law-lā yanhāhumu r-rabbāniyyūna wa-l-ʾaḥbāru ʿan qawlihimu l-ʾithma wa-ʾaklihimu s-suḥta la-biʾsa mā kānū yaṣnaʿūna
Why do not the rabbis and the scribes forbid them from sinful speech and consuming illicit gains? Surely, evil is what they have been working.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Ma'idah, Verse 63
Then, in this holy verse, the attack is targeted at the learned men of such societies who, by their own silence, encourage them to committing sin; It says:
That is, in order to improve an immoral society, the knowledgeable men among them must change their incorrect thoughts and creeds. Thus, the verse shows the style of improving an immoral society to the learned people that they must begin with mental revolution. And, at the end of the verse, the Qur'an has blamed the indifferent scholars who remain silent and those who abandon 'enjoining right' and 'forbidding wrong' in the same level that it has blamed the evil-doers, where it says:
Thus, it becomes clear that the fate of those who do not perform the great duty of 'enjoining right and forbidding wrong', especially when they are among scholars and learned ones, is equivalent with the fate of the sinners. They have indeed, a share of their crime. Ibn-Abbas, the famous commentator, has been narrated from that he used to say: "This verse is the most intensive verse which scorns and blames the undutiful and indifferent scholars."
It is evident that this command does not pertain exclusively to the silent scholars of the Jews and the Christians. It encompasses all the mental leaders and scholars who sit silent at the time that people become polluted with committing sin and go forward in the path of injustice and corruption, because the law of Allah is the same for all human beings. In a tradition from Imam Ali (as), mentioned in Sermon No.192, we recite that he has said:
" ...because Allah, the Glorified, did not curse the past age except for that they had left off enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong. In fact, Allah cursed the foolish for committing sins and the wise because they gave up refraining others from evils. ..."
In other words, this part of the sermon means that former nations were destroyed for their committing sins and that their wise men did not forbid people from evils. At this time the misfortunes and divine retributions came down over them. Then, O' people! Beware to do 'enjoining right and forbidding wrong' so that you may not have a similar fate of theirs, either.