It is a commonly held notion among us Muslims that no matter what the nature of a problem the best way of dealing with it is to have a private talk with the person or persons concerned. One is always supposed to take these concerned persons to a corner and whisper in their ears. Public discussion, criticism or questioning is considered as something always undesirable and unbefitting of a good pious Muslim, even in matters of public concern. The whole of the Holy Qur'an is, in fact, a public protest against the moral wrongs into which men have fallen at various stages of history and into which they still continue to fall. All prophets and their true servants have publicly criticized certain classes, groups, institutions and public figures in their societies for some of their wrong ways.
Islamic history is full of examples of public criticism or questioning in public matters.
One such example is provided by a well-known story about Hadrat 'Umar. It is reported that one day Hadrat 'Umar was delivering a speech in the Mosque of the Prophet. Hadrat 'Umar usually wore simple patched-up clothes, but this time he was dressed in a new robe. Noticing this, one of the audience stood up and asked the speaker whether he bought his new clothes from public money. These days it may look strange to us that someone should think of raising a question about such a small thing as a new robe, but we must remember that in those days many Arabs were still used to extreme poverty, so that acquisition of a new robe would not be as insignificant a matter for them as it would be for most people in Canada today.