Should he enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong to someone who will not listen to what he says?

Praise
be to Allah.

Firstly: 

Undoubtedly the one who enjoins what is right and forbids
what is wrong should be complying with what he enjoins and avoiding what he
forbids. 

Al-Qaadi Abu Ya‘la said: It is more appropriate for the one
who seeks to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong to be one of the
people of discretion, decency, and good character, and one who is accepted
and well-liked by people, because if he meets this description, the one whom
he enjoins will have respect for him and may respond to him and accept what
he says… When a person is like this, his words are more likely to have an
impact and be accepted.

End quote from his essay al-Amr bi’l-Ma‘roof (p. 47). 

But this does not allow the sinner or the one who falls short
to refrain from enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong on the
grounds that they fall short in some deeds or fall into some objectionable
actions. 

The view of the majority of scholars among the earlier and
later generations is that it is not stipulated that the one who wants to
enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong should be of exemplary conduct
and never commit any wrong deeds or sins, because this condition would close
the door to enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. Could
anyone be free of wrongdoing and sins?! 

That is because what is required of the individual is two
things: avoiding wrong deeds and telling others not to do them. If he fails
in one of the two, that does not mean that the other is waived. 

Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi said: It is not stipulated that he
should be of exemplary conduct according to Ahl as-Sunnah, but the
innovators said that no one can change wrong actions except one who is of
exemplary conduct. 

This is wrong, because truly exemplary conduct is limited to
very few people, but forbidding what is wrong is something that is required
of all people.

End quote from Ahkaam al-Qur’an (1/349) 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The scholars
said: With regard to enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong,
it is not stipulated that one must be perfect, complying fully with what he
enjoins and avoiding fully what he forbids; rather he must enjoin what is
right, even if he is falling short in what he enjoins, and he must forbid
what is wrong, even if he does some of that which he forbids. 

So two things are required of him: to enjoin himself to do
what is right and to forbid himself to do what is wrong, and to enjoin
others to do what is right and forbid them to do what is wrong. If he falls
short in one of them, how can it be permissible for him to fall short in the
other?!

End quote from Sharh Saheeh Muslim (2/23) 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said: With regard to the one who says
that no one should enjoin what is right except one who is free of all
faults, if he means that this is what is preferable, all well and good,
otherwise it implies closing the door to enjoining what is good, if there is
no one else who can meet that condition.

End quote from Fath al-Baari (13/53). 

As-Safaareeni said: It is not stipulated, with regard to
enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, that the one who does
that must be of exemplary conduct, according to the correct view. Rather the
ruler, the judge, the scholar, the ignorant man, the man of good character
and the evildoer are all equal in that regard. Yes, his actions should not
contradict his words; rather he should enjoin what is right and comply with
that, and forbid what is wrong and avoid it. 

If you say: these saheeh reports clearly stipulate that being
of exemplary conduct is essential in the one who wants to enjoin what is
right and forbid what is wrong, our response is that this is the best-case
scenario, but we say that it is required of every believer to be pious and
of exemplary conduct. However, people must enjoin what is right and forbid
what is wrong; if only those who are infallible or divinely protected were
to exhort people, then no one would enjoy what is right and forbid what is
wrong, even though that is of utmost importance in supporting the religion. 

It was said: 

If no one who is a sinner were to admonish the people, then
who would admonish the sinners after Muhammad? 

It was said to al-Hasan al-Basri: So and so does not admonish
the people and he says: I am afraid to say what I do not do. Al-Hasan said:
Which of us does what he says? That is what the Shaytaan wants people to
think, then no one would enjoin anything that is right or forbid anything
that is wrong. 

To sum up: every believer, in line with the conditions
outlined above, is required to enjoin what is right and forbid what is
wrong, even if he is an evildoer, or that is without the permission of the
authorities, and even with his companions in wrongdoing and even with
himself. So he should rebuke himself for doing wrong, because people are
accountable for enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. 

End quote from Ghidha’ al-Albaab fi Sharh Manzoomat al-Adaab
(1/215). 

Secondly: 

There are several Islamic texts from which it may be
understood that one of the conditions that must be met by the one who wants
to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong is that he should himself
already be complying with these exhortations. These texts include the
following: 

1.

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“Enjoin you
Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and each and every act of obedience to
Allah) on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves, while you
recite the Scripture! Have you then no sense?”

[al-Baqarah 2:44]. 

2.

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do?

Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do
not do”

[as-Saff 61:2-3]. 

3.

It was narrated that Usaamah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased
with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: “A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown into
the Fire; his intestines will spill forth in the Fire and he will go around
them as a donkey goes around the millstone. The people of Hell will gather
around him and will say: O So and so, what is the matter with you? Did you
not enjoin us to do what is good and forbid us to do what is evil? He will
say: Yes, but I used to enjoin good and not do it, and I used to forbid evil
and do it.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3267) and Muslim (2989). 

4.

Anas narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said:

“On the night on which I was taken on the
Night Journey (Isra’), I saw men whose lips were being cut off with scissors
of fire. I said: ‘O Jibreel, who are these?’ He said: ‘These are the
khateebs from among your ummah who used to enjoin righteousness on the
people and forget themselves, and they used to recite the Book but they did
not understand.’”

Narrated by Imam Ahmad (13515); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani
in as-Silsilah as-Saheehah (291). 

Some people understood from these texts that one should not
enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong if the one who wants to do so
is not of a certain level of righteousness and obedience, or is not adhering
to what he is enjoining and forbidding. 

The response to that is as follows: 

What is intended in these texts is to criticise the one who
does not do the good deed that he is enjoining others to do, and to
criticise the one who commits the evil deed that he is forbidding others to
do. There is nothing to suggest criticism of enjoining what is right and
forbidding what is wrong in itself. It is criticism of him for failing to do
what he is enjoining others to do, not for enjoining what he does not do
himself. The difference between the two matters is obvious. 

In his commentary on the verse in which Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), “Enjoin
you Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and each and every act of obedience to
Allah) on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves?”
[al-Baqarah 2:44], al-Qurtubi
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

It should be understood that the rebuke in this verse has to
do with failing to do deeds of piety, righteousness and obedience to Allah;
it does not have to do with enjoining such deeds.

End quote from Tafseer al-Qurtubi (1/366) 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer said:

What we understand from this is that Allah, may He be
exalted, criticised them for this attitude, and pointed out their mistake
with regard to themselves, as they used to enjoin others to do good but not
do it themselves. It does not mean that they are criticised for enjoining
righteousness when they themselves did not do it; rather they are criticised
for failing to do it. 

Enjoining what is right is good and it is obligatory upon the
one who has knowledge, but it is obligatory and more appropriate for the one
who has knowledge to do what is right whilst also enjoining it upon others,
and he should not be different from them, as Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him)
said: “I
wish not, in contradiction to you, to do that which I forbid you. I only
desire reform so far as I am able, to the best of my power. And my guidance
cannot come except from Allah, in Him I trust and unto Him I repent”
[Hood 11:88]. 

Both enjoining what is right and doing it are obligatory, and
neither is waived if the other is not done, according to the more correct of
the two scholarly opinions among the earlier and later generations. 

Some scholars were of the view that the one who commits sins
should not tell others not to do them, but this view is da‘eef (weak), and
even weaker than that is their quoting this verse, because there is no proof
for their view in it. 

The correct view is that the one who has knowledge should
enjoin what is right, even if he does not do it himself, and he should
forbid what is wrong, even if he does it himself. 

Maalik said, narrating from Rabee‘ah: I heard Sa‘eed ibn
Jubayr say to him: If a person refrains from enjoining what is right and
forbidding what is evil until he is perfect (and free of any sin), no one
would enjoin what is right or forbid what is evil. 

Maalik said: and he spoke the truth; who is there who does
not have any faults? 

I say: But – if that is the case – he is to be criticised for
not doing acts of obedience and for doing acts of disobedience, because he
was aware of that, but he went against it knowingly. The one who knows is
not like the one who does not know; for that reason the hadiths warn against
that.

End quote from Tafseer al-Qur’an al-‘Azeem (1/248) 

Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi said: Rather the criticism in this
case is for committing that which he was forbidden to do, not for forbidding
what is wrong.

End quote from Ahkaam al-Qur’an (1/349) 

Shaykh Khaalid as-Sabt said: In these texts, the criticism
and warnings have to do with committing the wrong actions that the person
wants to forbid others to do. There is no criticism of the act of forbidding
what is wrong; rather that is to be commended and not to be criticised, for
it is obedience to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and is a deed
that brings one closer to Him. Undoubtedly the doing of wrong by one who is
forbidding others to do it is more abhorrent than the same action on the
part of one who does not know that it is an evil deed, or who knows but does
not call others to refrain from it. This does not mean that he is excused
from enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.

End quote from al-Amr bi’l-Ma‘roof wa’n-Nahi ‘an al-Munkar:
Usooluhu wa Dawaabituhu (p. 165) 

Conclusion: 

Enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong is one
of the prominent symbols of Islam, and it is not waived in the case of a
person who falls short or fails to do some obligatory duties or commits some
sins. 

Undoubtedly the most effective and beneficial of people in
enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and the best of them
in his call, is the one who complies with what he enjoins and avoids what he
forbids, as in the case of the Messengers. Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him) said:
“I
wish not, in contradiction to you, to do that which I forbid you. I only
desire reform so far as I am able, to the best of my power”
[Hood 11:88]. 

Please see also the answers to questions no.
175916, 11403 and
112164

And Allah knows best.