Hisbah

Hisbah (ḥisba, "accountability") is an Islamic doctrine referring to upholding "community morals", based on the Quranic injunction to "enjoin good and forbid wrong". In pre-modern Islam, Hisbah was not just a doctrine but an office charged with "maintenance of public law and order and supervising market transactions", covering salat prayers, "mosque maintenance, community matters, and market dealings", whose functionary was called a muhtasib. Later, the celebrated Islamic scholar Al-Ghazali (d.1111), used "Hisba" as a "general term for forbidding wrong", and specifically for the "duty of individual Muslims" to forbid wrong and command right. He also used the term "muhtasib", but for any Muslim who carried out the duty. What is "good" and what is "wrong" are based on the norms of sharia (Islamic law), according to scholars. How right is commanding and wrong forbidden can be divided into “three modes” according to an oft quoted prophetic hadith—by “hand”, i.e. using force; “tongue” i.e. verbally; by the “heart” i.e. silently. Scholars and Islamic schools of law (madhhab) differ regarding who precisely was (and is) responsible for carrying out the duty, to whom it was to be directed, and what its performance entailed—schools of law differ over whether Hisbah is an individual or collective duty, for example. Who is eligible to use force (their "hand") to command and forbid is disputed, some reserving it for the political authorities such as the muḥtasib and their subordinates. Others, like Al-Ghazali, argue that these modes extended to all qualified believers. Pre-modern Islamic literature describes Islamic revivalists (usually scholars) taking action to forbid wrong by destroying forbidden objects, especially containers of alcoholic beverages and musical instruments, and disrupting forbidden activities, such as chess games and association of unmarried members of the opposite gender. In the contemporary Muslim world, various state or parastatal bodies—often with phrases like the "Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" (Saudi Arabia), or "Hisbah" (Nigeria) in their titles—have appeared in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Malaysia, etc.