Several people have brought up to me the issue of expressing the negative,believing it to be against the sunnat of the Prophet saws.They bring up the example of Anas ra, the servant of the Prophet who said that in 10 years of service ,he had never been reproached for doing something wrong and never been scolded,directly, for not doing something he was supposed to.Like all other scriptural references this has to be put into perspective.- the perspective of the individual and the perspective of the times.We are talking about a time in which there was considerable respect for authorities and elders especially the much admired and beloved Prophet saws.And one can assume that Anas was generally a “good kid” as we would say,imbued with many spiritual qualities.

Try raising your children that way ! The American mother of the “afflenza child” who ran over four people and then ran to Mexico was always positive about what her son did and never reproaching him.Now he is in prison for a long time and four people are dead.It is inaccurate to see our Prophet saws as a “turn the other cheek” kind of leader.He had to deal with many situations of evil and ignoring it was not always an option.People were punished and even executed under his leadership.It was socially and politically necessary to do so despite his loving,compassionate heart.That is the nature of dunniya(the lower world).It is full of evil and we ignore that at our own risk and peril.

Is there any scriptural support for what I am saying here?Let us look at a couple of citations.Firstly from the Quran-referring to the mission of the Prophet saws“He commands them what is right and forbids them what is wrong, he makes lawful the things that are wholesome and makes unlawful the things that are bad and lifts from them their burdens and the yokes that were upon them.” (7:157)

Then from the hadith:

On the authority of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree (ra) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, “Whoso- ever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.

What can we conclude here?That it is not only permissible,it is actually obligatory to denounce evil- and I would add falsehood which is one of the major forms of evil.

Beyond these scriptural references there is our noble shahhada.What does it contain:”Laillaha Ilallah(There is no God but God(Himself).So we begin by denouncing falsehood and continue affirming truth.That is my modus operandi for now.Until someone can convince me otherwise I find this the most practical and balanced way of dealing with Reality.

Does that mean that we should go aroung”talking s–t about people” as the young people say.By no means.We have to be respectful and kind wherever possible.But we cannot see the world with rose-coloured lenses and go around only uttering politically correct speech either.We are not meant to be Islamic “goodie-goodies”.That would just end up turning against us as the artificiality would be apparent to all. Hope that “opens the conversation”as the Americans like to say. Salaams,Ibrahim