Punishment of Silence against Evil

“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.”

2. Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) narrates from his ancestors that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) 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 (a.s.) said, “It is an insult of Allah’s religion. The sinners and their followers are like enemies of Allah.”

3. Amirul Momineen (a.s.) 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