How should we act toward those who act inappropriately and who do bad deeds in the community?

What somebody does is bad according to Islam and to you but you cannot tell him about it. You think of bad things but you know that the person opposite you will not understand it even if you tell him. What should be done in such cases?

Dear Brother / Sister,

When we see a bad deed, we should try to correct it based on our position.

Every Muslim is responsible for fulfilling his duty. The position (rank) of a person in a community encumbers him with some responsibilities. Every Muslim becomes responsible in accordance with his position. We can deal with the issue through the following hadith:  

“Whoever among you sees an evil, then let him stop it with his hand. Whoever is not able, then with his tongue, and whoever is not able, then with his heart.” (Tirmidhi, Fitan, 11)

People cannot interpret this hadith on their own in all situations. For instance, if you see an evil on the way and try to correct it by beating a person and if that person sues you, you may be punished. Then, how should we understand the meaning of the hadith?

Correcting/stopping something with the hand is the duty of the people with authority, that is, the state, the police. To correct something with the tongue is the duty of the scholars; to dislike it by the heart is the duty of others.

A person can be in the position of correcting with the hand in some places and correcting with the tongue in others. For instance, regarding an affair of the state, we can fulfill our duty by stopping it with the tongue or by disliking by the heart. However, in a family affair, we can correct it with the hand.

We should try to tell a person who does an evil deed about his mistakes through soft words. However, if he is likely to react or to oppose, we can dislike it by our heart and feel relaxed.

Questions on Islam