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One should advise wrongdoers until advice does not benefit

Question

As salamu 'aleikum, I am learning how to sew clothes. The clothes I make are all modest: long, wide, and covering. The other women all make fashionable dresses that are worn at wedding parties. They are transparent, tight, and/or short. All they talk about is weddings and fashion. I have told them I do not go to wedding parties because the music they play is haram and the clothes that women wear are not suitable to wear in public. They smiled politely and shook their heads. Am I supposed to keep quiet or to continue to advise them althought it is pretty clear that it won't have any effect? Or is it haram for me to stay in such an environment anyway?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His Slave and Messenger.

Offering advice is part of Islam and it is a characteristic of believers in Allaah. It leads to much good if it is performed in a proper manner. Indeed, you have done well as you have been keen on advising the women you work with. For more benefit on the of manners of advice, please refer to Fataawa 13288 and 29197.

Regarding continuing giving advice to them or not, then this varies depending on the people and circumstances. If it is hoped that a person will benefit from it, then it is better to always remind him; and if it is believed that a person will most likely become annoyed and bored, and repeating the advice will probably lead him to become more obstinate and proud, or even to deny the truth and have an aversion to the righteous, then one should not insist on advising him in order to avoid bad consequences.

One of the greatest objectives in reminding a person is to do a favor to someone who is negligent. If the matter results in the opposite, then one should leave it. Allaah says (what means): {So remind, if the reminder should benefit.} [Quran 87:9] With regard to this verse, Tafseer As-Sa'di reads: “Remind others of Allaah's Law and Signs if the reminder is beneficial, that is, as long as the reminder is accepted, and the word of admonition is heard, whether the reminder results in all or some of the objectives. The meaning of the verse is that if the reminder does not benefit, like if the reminder increases the evil or decreases the good, then it is not commanded to remind; rather, the reminder is disliked [in this case].

As regards your presence in this environment, then if you expect that by your presence many benefits will be achieved, especially in the matter of Da’wah and giving advice, then it is better for you to stay there. But if you fear that this will have a negative effect on you, then it is better for you to leave it and search for another good environment, or work from your home.

May Allaah guide you to all that is good and increase your piety and goodness.

For more benefit on the ruling of selling revealing clothes to women, please refer to Fatwa 83049.

Allaah Knows best.

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