Tradition

لا يَنْبَغِى لِلْمُؤْمِنِ أَنْ يَجْلِسَ مَجْلِساً يُعْصَى اللّهُ فِيْهِ وَ لا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى تَغْيِيرِهِ

Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) is narrated to have said: “It is not worthy of the believers to sit in a gathering where there is sin while they are unable to stop it.”1

Brief Commentary

Participating in a gathering of sin is a sin itself even if the individual does not commit any sins and he doesn’t become like the people of that gathering. This is because being part of such a gathering is the same as approving of that sin unless the individual has the intention of stopping them or transforming the gathering into one which is positive and where good is performed. This is actually a major responsibility in Islam and it is known as ‘commanding the good and forbidding the evil.’ When someone looks at something that is sinful while he is indifferent towards what is happening, it creates a spirit within them where the ugliness of that sin is lessened and the individual is slowly made accustomed to the performance of that sin.

• 1. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 374, Wasa'il Al-Shi’a, vol. 16, p. 260.