The promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice as a cause of permissibility (comparative study)

أحكام الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر كسبب إباحة

Abstract

This study examines the rulings governing the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice as a cause of permissibility in Islamic legislation, in comparison with the position adopted by the Libyan legislator. The study begins by explaining the concept of enjoining good and forbidding evil and distinguishing it from the concept of repelling an aggressor, highlighting the essential differences between the two. It further addresses the legal basis of this principle in Islamic law, its jurisprudential classification, and the conditions stipulated by scholars for its proper application. The study also outlines the means recognized by Islamic law for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, together with the relevant limitations and safeguards. The study concludes that there is a clear difference between Islamic legislation and positive law regarding the recognition of enjoining good and forbidding evil as a cause of permissibility. This difference is attributed to the contrast between the individualistic utilitarian tendency of positive law—which limits intervention mainly to the right of reporting or intervening in specific cases of flagrante delicto—and the idealistic orientation of Islamic legislation. The study further emphasizes that the act of the person who enjoins good and forbids evil remains permissible, and may even be commendable, provided that it does not exceed the established legal limits or encroach upon the authority of public institutions. The research concludes by recommending the activation of the role of regulatory bodies to organize the practice of this duty in a manner that fulfills its intended purpose while preventing individual excesses.