Help for Straying Muslim Brother
24-7-2001 | IslamWeb
Question:
Please what should I do? One of my brothers who used to be very strict in guarding himself from Shaitan seems to have forgotten all that he used to preach. He didn't used to go clubbing, listen to music, watch TV, flirt, and talk vanities and he used to call all my other brothers back to the dean and pursue them to practicing and obeying Allah. But now he has totally changed (he now does the things he used to forbid and the things he didn't used to do). When we noticed these changes in him we all became scared because we used to look up to him as our role model. The most painful part is that the people that he used to preach to in the mosque saw him in the club doing (Subhannallah) disgraceful things. These people were disgusted and annoyed and as a result left the club in despair that they will never be the pious brothers they pray to be because of what happened to my brother. Please what can I do? I once tried to talk to him about his changes and I prayed before doing so but all he did was laugh saying that he hasn't changed but he doesn't know that I'm aware that he now call the people he used to preach to, to go clubbing with him but they refuse to. Please help me. Is there's any prayer to do to bring him back to obeying Allah and prevent others from accepting his invitation.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
A Muslim should say quite frequently: "O Turner of the hearts, keep me steadfast in your religion." Verily the hearts are between two Fingers of Allah and He turns them as He likes.
No doubt that the deviation of the one who knows the truth and deliberately leaves it is greater than that of the one who did not know the truth and did not get the taste of belief.
Therefore, it is your responsibility and the responsibility of all brothers who know the brother you mentioned to spare no effort to pull him out of the depths to which he has fallen. Try your best to encourage him to end what he is doing now and repent to Allah. Once he was kind to people and had helped to guide them to the right path; now he himself is in need, so they should not forget his goodness towards them; rather, they should treat him kindly and wisely.
A pious person among these people who has a good Islamic knowledge should try to befriend him, remind him of the benefits of being steadfast and the dangers of deviation, etc., and to remove his doubts and misconceptions. The pious brothers should not leave him alone to be trapped by bad friends; rather, they should be with him, spend much time with him, and make frequent visits to him. It is quite likely that he will pass through this trial and will return to the truth. We ask Allah to keep our hearts steadfast on His Religion and return this brother to the right path.
Allah knows best.