Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Turbulent Times: In the Pursuit of Justice or Stability?

The complexity and continuity of interpreting the duty of commanding right and forbidding wrong (al-amr bi-l-ma‘ruf wa-l-nahy ‘an al-munkar) in the 21st century has been illuminated by the recent political and social unrest in the Arab world. This thesis examines the theological and fiqhi arguments made by different Muslim scholars on the legitimacy of challenging political authority within the broader context of the classical perspective, which were evoked by some Egyptian scholars in response to the events of 2013 in Egypt. The thesis analyzes the use, manipulation, and development of scholarly arguments in the public religious discourse and scrutinizes the point of views which were used to justify and condemn choices between tolerating injustice for the sake of the “nation” and stability or pursuing justice and facing the possibility of ensuing violence and chaos. The author identifies the challenges of prioritizing and reconciling moral values with political and social realities from the perspective of the Islamic scholarly community.