"You were the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah." (Al-Imran/110) And in the hadith of Hudhayfah: "By Him in whose hand is my soul, you will enjoin good and forbid evil, or Allah will soon send upon you a punishment from Him, then you will call upon Him and He will not answer you."

Based on these verses and hadiths, the Islamic sects agreed that enjoining good and forbidding evil is obligatory upon Muslims. This is what Qadi Abd al-Jabbar expressed by saying: "There is no disagreement among the Ummah regarding the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil." Except for a small group of the Imamiyyah, whose words do not affect this.

However, despite this agreement on obligation, there was a difference among the Islamic sects in the degree to which this obligation was implemented in both the theoretical and practical spheres. The Mu'tazilah were the most enthusiastic among the sects in this regard in the theoretical sphere, as they made it one of their five principles upon which they built their doctrines. Qadi Abd al-Jabbar considered that "whoever disagrees on the principle of enjoining good and forbidding evil" and said that Allah Almighty has not obligated enjoining good and forbidding evil as a principle, then he is a disbeliever, because he rejects what is necessarily known from the religion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the religion of the Ummah. If he says that this is something that has been obligated, but it is conditional upon the existence of the Imam, then he is mistaken. They were not negligent in this regard in the practical sphere either, but rather they had a strong stance in resisting evil, whether at the level of beliefs or at the level of the practice of governance.

Qadi Abd al-Jabbar said in "Sharh al-Usul al-Khamsah": "Good is every act whose doer knows its goodness or is guided to it. And evil is every act whose doer knows its ugliness or is guided to it."

Narrated by Muslim. See also a collection of hadiths in this context in "Riyadh al-Salihin" by Al-Nawawi.

Qadi Abd al-Jabbar, "Sharh al-Usul al-Khamsah." See also: Ibn Hazm, "Al-Fasl."

Al-Harajani narrated from Al-Amidi that some of the Rafidah said: Enjoining good and forbidding evil is only permissible with the appointment of an Imam.

"Sharh al-Mawaqif."

They are: Tawhid, Justice, the intermediate position between the two positions, the Promise and the Threat, and enjoining good and forbidding evil.

Qadi Abd al-Jabbar, "Sharh al-Usul al-Khamsah."

See also: Abd al-Majid al-Najjar (in collaboration), "Al-Mu'tazilah bayna al-Fikr wa al-'Amal."