When is a Call to Allāh Dead? And When Is It Alive?

Shaikh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī Al-Madkhalī, may Allāh protect him, said:

Any call [to Allāh] that does not carry out this obligation [of establishing and clarifying the truth while warning against and refuting falsehood and its people] is a failed, dead call—it carries the germs of death within itself. The call [to Allāh] is not alive except when it is raising the flag of truth and disgracing falsehood at the same time. This is the correct way, and it’s for this reason Allāh says:

كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ

You, [O followers of Muḥammad], are the best of people brought forth to mankind—you tell [people] to do what’s right and good and forbid [them] from doing what’s wrong and evil. (Āli ʿImrān, 110)

Someone who doesn’t refute falsehood, how can he tell [people] to do what’s right and good? How can he forbid [them] from doing what’s wrong and evil?

Majmūʿ Al-Fatāwá li-l-Shaikh Rabīʿ Al-Madkhalī, vol. 14, p. 279.