# If a religious figure does something wrong, should people expose him online? *Has a crime been committed? Report it; vigilante justice is haram* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6_dmojl-_bi/s/4/ - Date: 2017-09-29 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Propaganda against Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan - Mufti Abu Layth (10:30–13:04) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_dmOJl-_bI&t=630s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6_dmojl-_bi/ **Topics:** Public law and governance; Speech and everyday conduct; Legal theory and method **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** If a crime was committed it must be reported to the authorities, and vigilante justice is haram. If the act is only haram and not a crime, it is for Allah alone to judge, not for people online. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth holds that if a crime has been committed it must be reported to the authorities, that vigilante justice is haram, and that a haram act that is not a crime is for Allah alone to judge. **Evidence, his words at 10:43:** “vigilante justice is haram for a valid reason in Islam it is not okay for people to get together and say we will do vigilante justice” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_dmOJl-_bI&t=643s) ## Longer summary Mufti Abu Layth says the matter is very simple: since the word abuse names a criminal offence, one begins by asking whether a crime has been perpetrated. If it has, it must be reported to the authorities, which he calls mandatory, and he says vigilante justice is haram in Islam for a valid reason, so people may not get together to deliver it themselves. If no crime has been committed and the act is merely haram, then it is for Allah alone to judge. He then observes that the same preachers who normally condemn the self-appointed haram police, and in his view rightly, felt it acceptable to act the same way on this occasion, and begins his reply to the first element by saying that nobody has the right to command the good and forbid the evil in this manner and that anyone who says otherwise is misusing the shari'ah and the words of the Messenger of Allah. ## Sources and names cited - al-amr bil-ma'ruf wa al-nahy an al-munkar (commanding good and forbidding evil) - haram ## Transcript (machine tier, 10:30–13:04) [10:05] if they ever engage with the opposite gender for a personal interest they that must be deemed abuse because they are in a position of status so this was their kind of formula now I want to begin from the right from the beginning by highlighting animus Island those people just tuning in I feel if you'd like and share the live feed in Charlotte so we can maximize the benefit and post your questions below and I'll get to them Imam Hassan animus Island so this thing really is very simple very [10:43] simple you begin by asking has a crime being perpetrated has a crime being perpetrated because you're using the word abuse which which is a criminal offense to abuse somebody is a criminal offense so you these words are being used like abuse has a crime being perpetrated if it has then you must report this to the authorities we do not seek vigilante justice vigilante justice is haram for a valid reason in Islam it is not okay for people to get together and say we will [11:23] do vigilante justice No report it to the police report it to the authorities it is mandatory okay that you do that so the response to that is well because it this is from to make from the beginning it's very clear if it's a crime it must be reporting if it's not a crime and it's a haram act then it is to Allah alone who can judge such an act now let's come to the tripartite kind of formula they say our and I've seen this that people said [12:02] what's shocking is that normally the same on a man these same sorry these kind of preachers who condemn and I feel rightly so condemned the Haram police that we see and certain now are people who go around you know the field they have the right to be that the Taliban self-proclaimed Taliban and these same preachers condemn them normally and I feel rightly so on this occasion themselves feel it's ok so [12:40] they people have said we have the right to come on the good and forbid the evil first of all no you do not know you do not write anybody telling you that is misleading you and misusing the Sharia they are misusing the words of the messenger of allah muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that in itself is an abuse of religion this this ruling comes under in the Sharia they call a camel hiss per the rulings of accountability they are not for any and all they are not for anybody to just to take upon ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 6_dmOJl-_bI/s/4. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6_dmojl-_bi/s/4/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.