Keep Away From Wickedness and Immorality

The second condition also enjoins saving oneself from wickedness and immorality.

Almighty Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:1

And know that among you is the Messenger of Allah; if he were to comply with your wishes in most of the matters, you would surely come to trouble; but Allah has endeared the faith to you and has made it look beautiful to your hearts, and He has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience hateful to you. Such indeed are those who follow the right course.

In a hadith pertaining to this subject, Hazrat Aswad(ra) narrates from Hazrat Abu Hurairah(ra) that:

When someone is fasting, he should not indulge in foul talk, nor talk of wickedness or ignorance. If someone deals with him in ways of ignorance, he should simply respond, ‘I am fasting.’ (Musnadu Ahmadabni Hanbal, vol. 2, p. 356, printed in Beirut)

The Holy Prophet(sa) has also said, ‘To rebuke a believer is wickedness and to fight him is disbelief.’ (Musnadu Ahmadabni Hanbal, vol. 1, p. 439, printed in Beirut)

‘Abdur-Rahman Bin Shibl narrates the Holy Prophet(sa) said, ‘The merchants are wicked.’ The narrator adds that he was asked, ‘Does Allah not make trade lawful?’ The Holy Prophet(sa) said, ‘Why not? But when they make a deal, they tell lies and raise the price making statements under oath.’

The narrator adds that:

The Holy Prophet(sa) said, ‘The wicked will be in hell.’ He was asked, ‘Who are the wicked?’ He answered, ‘Some women are wicked.’ A man asked, ‘Prophet of Allah, are they not our mothers, sisters, and wives?’ He answered, ‘Why not? But when something is given to them, they are not grateful; and when a hardship befalls them, they do not show patience.’ (Musnadu Ahmadabni Hanbal, vol. 3, p. 428, printed in Beirut)

The businessmen need to ponder over this. Clean dealings are a condition of bai‘at.

The Promised Messiah(as) says:

It is established from hadith that the wicked should be punished before the disbelievers…. This is the way of Allah, that when a nation becomes wicked and immoral, another nation is made to rule over it. (Malfuzat, new edition, vol. 2, p. 653)

Then he says:

When wickedness and immorality exceeded their limits, and people started disrespecting the commandments and signs of Allah, and were lost into the affairs of the world and its adornment, God caused their ruin at the hands of Halaku and Changez Khan. It is written that at that time a cry was heard from heaven:2

In short, the wicked and the immoral are lower and more despicable than disbelievers in the eyes of Allah. (Malfuzat, new edition, vol. 3, p. 108)

Then he says:

The prayer of the wicked tyrant is not accepted because he is unmindful of Allah, and thus Allah cares not for him. If a son is unmindful of his obligations to his father, the father does not care about him, because of his disobedience. Why should Allah care for such people? (Al-Badr, vol. 2, February 13, 1903, p. 28, col. 2)