Islam Guidance

verse63

(63) لَوْلاَ يَنْهَاهُمُ الرَّبَّانِيُّونَ وَالأَحْبَارُ عَن قَوْلِهِمُ الإِثْمَ وَأَكْلِهِمُ السُّحْتَ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُواْ يَصْنَعُونَ

63. " Why do not the learned men and the doctors of law prohibit them (the people) from uttering sinful words and devouring the unlawful? Verily evil is what they have been working. "

Commentary:
Then, in this holy verse, the attack is targeted at the learned men of such societies who, by their own silence, encourage them to committing sin. It says:
" Why do not the learned men and the doctors of law prohibit them (the people) from uttering sinful words and devouring the unlawful? ... "
That is, in order to improve an immoral society, the knowledgable men among them must change their incorrect thoughts and creeds. Thus, the verse shows the style of improving an immoral society to the learned people that they must begin from mental revolution.
And, at the end of the verse, the Qur'an has blamed the indifferent scholars who remain silent and those who abundon ' enjoining right and forbidding wrong ' in the same level that it has blamed the evil-doers, where it says:
" ... Verily evil is what they have been working. "
Thus, it becomes clear that the fate of those who do not perform the great duty of ' enjoining right and forbidding wrong ', specially when they are among scholars and learned ones, is equivalent with the fate of the sinners. They have, indeed, a share of their crime.
Ibn-Abbas, the famous commentator, has been narrated from that he used to say: " This verse is the most intensive verse which scorn and blame the undutiful and indifferent scholars. "
It is evident that this command does not pertain exclusively to the silent scholars of the Jews and the Chritians. It encompasses all the mental leaders and scholars who sit silent at the time that people become polluted with committing sin and go forward in the path of injustice and corruption, because the law of Allah is the same for all human beings.
In a tradition from Imam Ali (a.s.), mentioned in Sermon No.192, we recite that he has said:
" ... because Allah, the Glorified, did not curse the pastage except for that they had left off enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong. In fact, Allah cursed the foolish for committing sins and the wise because they gave up refraining others from evils. ... "
In other words, this part of the sermon means that: former nations were destroyed for their committing sins and that their wise men didnot forbid people from evils. At this time the misfortunes and divine retributions came down over them.
Then, o' people! beware to do ' enjoining right and forbidding wrong' so that you may not have their fate.

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