Double Standards When Giving Private Advice

Some people insist that you privately advise open fussaq (who were already supposed to be “privately advised” by others for several years), yet they jump the gun in publicly reprimanding others for less grievous sins. Clearly, such people are not faithfully embodying the Islamic values governing naseeha which they professedly champion.

It’s also regrettable to observe some of the variations in which "private advice" takes shape. Apparently, some people are worthy of being privately advised for years on end, while others with less grievous sins are entitled to only one single (often poorly mannered) private advice bound with a 48 hour deadline to publicly repent; otherwise, the public criticism commences. And then when the public admonishment ensues, the critic could proudly inform his readers and listeners, “I already tried to reason with the brother privately, but I now have no choice but to go public”, thereby scoring some well-earned brownie points in the eyes of the people for being so "patient" and "reasonable".

One could sure deduce a lot about a person just by observing the kind of people he arbitrarily admonishes publicly, yet chooses to “advise” privately.