Journal of Islamic Studies > Volume 25, No. 1, 2013

Deserting the Practice of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice: Causes and Remedies in the Light of the Qur’an and the Sunnah / Sultan Ibn-Saad Al-Saif

This research paper is concerned with the study of the causes underlying the desertion of the practice of promoting virtue and
preventing vice and with their remedies in the light of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. It aims to enhance the practice and its impact on security at
large. It seeks to achieve its aim through identifying the most significant obstacles and doubts contributing to the spread of vice among
people in great numbers. The spread of vice can be attributed to ignorance, emulation of capricious elites and self-delusion. Having identified
and discussed the obstacles and doubts in the light of the standards of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, the paper attempts to analyze them
academically, supporting the analysis with evidences from Hadith and Qur’an specialists and from statements of credible imams. The paper
follows a deductive approach. The most important conclusions of the paper are as follows: the Prophet was evidently concerned with the
practice of promoting virtue and combating vice; the desertion of the practice has disastrous consequences and leads to the destruction of
communities; strong faith helps overcome the obstacles to the practice; and the ulama stress the basic requirement of the heart’s rejection of
abominable acts. The research recommends that the practice be strongly enhanced, and that related obstacles and doubts be studied at all
levels of educational curricula and courses in simple and comprehensible ways.