Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil and Covert and Overt Sins

Is enjoining the good and forbidding the evil as an obligatory action peculiar to the “good” or “bad” deeds which are openly performed or forsaken or is it an obligation in all cases of good or bad actions? In other words, do people and the government have any responsibility to forbid people from doing evil deeds or sins which are committed in hidden and in one’s own privacy? This article seeks to study two prevalent views on the subject in question, along with the arguments each may offer for and against it. It is worth nothing that what is emphasized on here is that, even according to those who consider commanding the good and forbidding the bad as a collective responsibility and who extends it to cover the private life of the individuals, one must take two points into consideration: 1. It is forbidden to probe into someone’s personal life (privacy), whether this is out of good intention or as one to prevent him or her from committing sins. 2. In case one happens to become aware of someone committing sins in his or her private life, not being probed into by anyone, it is permitted to embark on forbidding his or her evil deeds in secret or in a hidden manner and especially when all its necessary conditions are fulfilled. Therefore, to embark on openly warning someone against a sin when it was committed in hidden is not only unnecessary but also impermissible and even forbidden.