Munkar
Definition
Munkar refers specifically to actions that are prohibited by clear Quranic verse or authentic prophetic hadith — the category of definite wrong that the Muslim has an obligation to address when they encounter it. Al-Ghazali is careful to distinguish munkar from what is merely unfamiliar, culturally different, or personally distasteful: the obligation of forbidding applies only to what is established as prohibited, not to the full range of things one personally dislikes or disagrees with. One of the most common failures in the practice of nahy ʿan al-munkar is addressing personal preferences or cultural habits as though they were divine prohibitions.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Munkar.
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"As for investigating the specifics of punishment and reward, that is superfluous and a waste of time. Statement on the questioning by Munkar and Nakir, and their appearance, and the pressure of the grave, and the remaining discussion. on the punishment of the grave. Abu Huraira narrated that the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said, when a servant dies, two angels come to him, dark and blue, one called Munkar and the other Nakir."
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 40: The Book of the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife
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"It is interpreted that in worldly life refers to the time of the soul's departure, and in the hereafter refers to the questioning by Munkar and Nakir. Abu Huraira narrated that the messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, when one of you is buried, two black and blue angels come to him, one called Munkar and the other Nakir."
— Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Al-Ghunya li-Ṭālibī Ṭarīq al-Ḥaqq — Volume One
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"If a state of fear is desired, one should first consider their visible and hidden sins, then consider death and its agonies, then what follows—such as the questioning by Munkar and Nakir, the torment of the grave, its serpents, scorpions, and worms. Then reflect on the terror of being called to account at the sound of the trumpet, on the terror of resurrection when all creatures are gathered on one plain, on the scrutiny during the reckoning down to the minutest details, on the narrowness and sharpness of the path [Sirat], and on the grave matter of being directed to the left to be among the companions of the Fire, or to the right to dwell in the abode of permanence."
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 39: The Book of Contemplation
Appears in
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