What is the meaning of hisbah and rijaal al-hisbah?

We sometimes hear and read about hisbah (guarding against infringements) and rijaal al-hisbah (men who guard against infringements). Who are these men and what is their job?

Praise be to Allaah.
Rijaal al-hisbah (men who guard against infringements) are people who devote their time to denouncing visible evil whether they do that voluntarily or they are paid for it from the Bayt al-Maal (treasury) of the Muslims. Part of their job of hisbah is to denounce evil actions in marketplaces and elsewhere such as: 
1-      Free mixing of the sexes and wanton display of beauty (tabarruj) which are forbidden according to sharee’ah.
2-      Imitation of either of the sexes by the other.
3-      Men making approaches to women either verbally or by their actions.
4-      Profane, obscene or indecent speech.
5-      Playing radios, TVs or recorders etc. near mosques or in such a way as to disturb the worshippers.
6-      Non-Muslims openly manifesting their beliefs or the symbols of their religion, or showing disrespect towards the symbols and rulings of Islam.
7-      Displaying or selling pictures, books or video or audio recordings which go against Islamic etiquette or Islamic beliefs.
8-      Displaying 3-D or promiscuous images, or the symbols of non-Islamic religions such as the cross, the star of David, images of the Buddha, and the like.
9-      Manufacturing or promoting or trading in intoxicants.
10- Means that lead to immoral actions such as adultery, homosexuality and gambling, or running houses and places where evil and immoral actions may be committed.
11- Manifest bid’ah (innovation), such as venerating certain times and places for which there is no sanction in sharee’ah, or celebrating innovated, un-Islamic festivals and occasions.
12- Practising witchcraft, magic and trickery in order to consume people’s wealth unlawfully.
13- Cheating in weights and measures. 
Their work also involves the following: 
1-     Inspection of slaughterhouses to ensure that slaughter of animals is done in the manner prescribed in sharee’ah
2-     Inspection of boutiques and tailor shops catering to women. 
The presence of the police does not mean that there is no need for these rijaal al-hisbah, because the police force that exists in some countries does not denounce all evil actions and put an end to them. Rather they seek to enforce laws which at best include both truth and falsehood, whilst the rijaal al-hisbah enjoin everything that Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have enjoined and compel people to adhere to the obligatory duties, and they forbid everything that Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have forbidden, and they intervene to prevent forbidden actions. 

Ruling on being friendly towards someone who is drinking alcohol, and pouring his drink for him

We have no choice but to attend parties held in the work place (a school laboratory), where people drink beer and other alcoholic beverages. But praise be to Allaah, we do not go anywhere near those drinks. However, they have a custom whereby a person has to be nice to the person next to him and pour drink into his cup (beer or whatever he is drinking), and that person returns the favour. So they pour juice into my cup for me. What is the ruling on my pouring beer into the other person’s cup? Will i be considered as one who offers (alcohol)?

Praise be to Allaah. 
If the situation is as described, it is haraam for you to attend these parties and other gatherings with them, if you are not able to change the evil action, because then you are helping them to commit sin, or at least you are keeping quiet about it. Both of them are haraam. We ask Allaah to keep us and you safe.

Dealing with a person whose sin repeatedly hurts one

Asslamualaikum
If a person commits a sin which hurts you, and they repeatedly do it what should one do ??

Praise be to Allaah.
What you should do is advise the person who is committing sin, whether the sin hurts you directly or not, because enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil is an important obligation which Muslims are supposed to do all the time, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And when a community among them said: ‘Why do you preach to a people whom Allaah is about to destroy or to punish with a severe torment?’ (the preachers) said: ‘In order to be free from guilt before your Lord (Allaah), and perhaps they may fear Allaah.’” [al-A’raaf 7:164]
In his tafseer (commentary) of this aayah, Ibn Katheer said: “Here Allaah is describing how the people of that town had split into three groups: those who committed sin by using tricks to catch fish on the Sabbath (which Allaah had forbidden them to do), those who told them not to do this wrong deed and boycotted them, and those who kept quiet, neither committing the sin not speaking out against it. But this third group said to those who were telling the sinners not to do it: ‘Why do you preach to a people whom Allaah is about to destroy or punish with a severe torment?’ i.e., why do you warn these people when you know they are doomed and they deserve to be punished by Allaah, and your telling them not to do it is of no benefit? The preachers said to them, ‘In order to be free from guilt before your Lord (Allaah),’ i.e., we are doing this out of obedience to your Lord, Who has instructed us to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil; ‘and perhaps they may fear Allaah,’ i.e., perhaps this warning may make them stop what they are doing and return to Allaah in repentance, for if they repent, Allaah will accept their repentance and have mercy on them.”
The Muslim should use different styles of warning and calling people to Islam. Sometimes he uses a soft and encouraging tone, describing the rewards for obedience; sometimes he warns of the punishment for disobedience; sometimes he may tell stories which illustrate an important lesson; sometimes he explains the bad consequences of sin on the person’s life, and so on.
If a person can no longer bear to be close to this sinner, and there is no benefit in advising him, then he should keep away from him and have nothing to do with him. And Allaah is the source of strength and the Guide to the right path.

Drums on special occasions are an evil

What is the ruling on responding to an invitation (to parties where there will be) some evils such as race horses and drums, knowing that the one who is issuing the invitation is a relative, but the occasion involves these evils?

Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to accept such invitation whens these evils will be practiced openly. The same applies if alcohol will be drunk openly or cigarettes will be smoked, or promiscuous movies will be shown, or there will be free mixing between men and women, or there will be wantons displays of beauty (tabarruj) and no hijaab. But if you are able to remove or reduce the evil, or if you attend they will respect you and will not do these evil things, then you should attend for that purpose. Otherwise, do not go there, even if they are your relatives, except on the condition that you can remove the evil.

Going to public places in which there are evil things [munkaraat]

Is it permissible for me to go on leisure outings with my husband and children to places like parks, museums and exhibitions, without mixing or missing the prayers, knowing that by necessity I will uncover my face in these places. Is it permissible for us to accompany our children to beaches to swim, in spite of the immorality in these places and the prevalence of nakedness and permissiveness there? How should we respond to those who say that we are forbidden to enjoy that which Allaah has created, and that a person cannot lower their gaze to avoid seeing things that are forbidden by Allaah, because they are so widespread in these places?

Praise be to Allaah. 
It is not permissible to go to places in which munkaraat (evil things) are widespread. There is sufficient enjoyment in the things which Allaah has permitted for us, and we have no need of that which He has forbidden to us.

Destroying a place of evil without anyone knowing

They are building a nightclub in my community and we have tried to no avail to stop this. This will bring great immorality and corruption to our community, both to Muslims and non-Muslims. According to the shari'ah, is it allowed to destroy this place if no one is caught and the owner will lose all the money he invested in it. Is this an acceptable form of reducing evil as commanded in the Quran?

Praise be to Allaah.
We put this question to our shaykh, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Barraak, who answered as follows:
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Let there arise out of you a group inviting to all that is good, enjoining al-Ma’ruf (Islamic monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbidding al-munkar (polytheism and all that Islam has forbidden)…” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:104].
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand [by taking action against it], and if he cannot, then with his tongue [by speaking out against it], and if he cannot, then with his heart [by feeling that it is wrong], and this is the weakest of faith.” (Reported by Muslim, no. 70).
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “So keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him as much as you can…” [al-Taghaabun 64:16].
With regard to the evil thing that you mention in the question, you should try to change it or get rid of it as much as you can, so that you eliminate it or at least reduce it. This can be done by taking the matter to the people in authority who have the power to eliminate it or move it to another area, or by talking to the owner of the site and asking him to stop investing in evil which will only cause harm to him in this world and the next, and to invest in something that will be of benefit to him and the people living in the neighbourhood, without causing them any harm in either their spiritual or worldly affairs.
As for taking action by destroying the nightclub, as mentioned in the question, this is not permitted, even if the one who does this is sure he will not get caught. The evil resulting from such an action is too great, such as the destruction of property which is it not permissible to destroy, and the accusation and torture of innocent people that is bound to happen during the investigation of the incident. Moreover, the owners of the nightclub may not give up, and are most likely to try again to build the place. Beware, my zealous brother, of being too hasty to change evil things without thinking about the consequences. It is a good job that you asked this question so that matters might become clear to you, which they surely are now. And Allaah is the Guide to the Straight Path.

Ruling on sitting with smokers when they are smoking

It is no secret that the forbidden habit of smoking is widespread, in the workplace, in the home and in public areas. The question is, is it permissible to sit with smokers? If a person is sitting with a smoker in his home or in a public gathering, should he leave him and go out?

Praise be to Allaah.
As the brother has mentioned, smoking is haraam because of the general evidence that indicates that it is haraam. There is no specific text from the Messenger SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), because smoking only emerged recently, but the principles of sharee’ah are general in application, and some indications in some reports indicate that it is haraam. If a smoker sits next to you and wants to smoke, then advise him gently and kindly. Tell him, “My brother, this is haraam, and it is not permissible for you.”
I think that if you advise him kindly and gently, he will refrain from smoking, as we and others have found out by experience. If he does not refrain from smoking, then you have to leave him, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And it has already been revealed to you in the Book (this Qur’aan) that when you hear the Verses of Allaah being denied and mocked at, then sit not with them, until they engage in a talk other than that; (but if you stayed with them) certainly in that case you would be like them…” [al-Nisa’ 4:140]
But this is when it is in a public place. If it is in the workplace and you advise him but he does not refrain, then there is no sin on you, because this is the matter of necessity and you could not get away from him.

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