It discusses the evolution of the Islamic concept of enjoining good and forbidding wrong (al-amr bi-ma’ruf wa nahi ‘an al-munkar).

[2] An epitome of Michael Cook's book was published by the Cambridge University Press in 2003 under the title Forbidding Wrong in Islam.

According to Cook, while the first title is organized around "schools, sects, and individuals", the epitome version focuses on the thematic questions.

[6] He follows in his book the development of the ideas over Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong via investigating the large amount of content produced by Muslim scholars.

[5] Michael Cook discusses the distinction between Islamic and Western concepts of wrong along with the actions to take in this regard.

[8] Fred Donner praises the book as the pinnacle of classical philological orientalism, Christopher Melchert, Paul R. Powers, and Andrew Rippen all give positive assessments, and Michael Chamberlain calls it a "masterpiece".

Wilfred Madelung adds one paragraph of criticism while at the same time predicting that the book will certainly become "a standard reference work in Islamic studies".