wa alaykum salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Muslims should do amr bil ma'ruf wa nahiyanl munkar (enjoining the good and forbidding evil). We call people to all that is good, and tell them to leave off and be away from that which is going to be bad for them or for society. We also have al walaa' wal baraa' (love and hate for Allah's sake). So if we see a wrong, we want to put it right. However, at the same time it's vitally important to have patience and wisdom for each situation. Unless the person has experience in dealing with non-Muslims and being involved in the community, they should not be taking to the streets to make "change". Nor should they be scaring the non-Muslims, who live besides them, are their neighbours and telling them they are in a "Muslim area".
Islam teaches us to interact with "hilm" gentleness, this is the way of the Prophet Muhammad
. He and his companions were not rough and tough with the non-Muslims. They had kindness, respect and were never intimidating. They took a stand only when it was needed to be taken, i.e. when the polytheist Quraish waged war against them. At all other times, the Muslims were the best examples of good character in their society, impacting positively on their families, friends, neighbours and business associates.
I do not think anyone, Muslim or non-Muslim would want people sitting in the street drinking alcohol or being drunk. If it is near a Mosque, any other place of worship or school I am sure people would object and want those people to stop and move elsewhere.
As for them approaching women about their dress, I think it is odd and shameful for grown men to be harassing women. It's obsessive, extreme behaviour and they need to go home. If they really do not like it, then they should move out to another land. What they do is not from the sunnah, nor is it giving a good impression of Islam.
It seems that some Muslims only interact with the non-Muslims when they see something bad. There is nothing to stop them from speaking, smiling being kind at all other times! This is from the sunnah, and it also helps for the non-Muslims to actually see that we do sincerely care for the societies that we are in. It is wholly incorrect for Muslims to settle in the West, and think they are not a part of that society. Of course this does not mean you are going down the pub every evening for a pint with your friends, but it does mean you are courteous and do not shy away from being part of the wider society. Although to be fair, some of the areas that Muslims in the UK largely reside in are poorer neighbourhoods, with high crime rates, but, they can still try their best.
In my neighbourhood, my family is the only Muslim one. My neighbour who passed away, she was elderly and did not become a Muslim, but she said that she would see me walking to school since I was a child and that I was a lovely boy. (She was saying I am a boy, and I am in my 20s when this story happens) She had asked me about Christmas, and I told her I was a Muslim. She did not know much about Islam, but admitted she saw reports on the TV and that there was always violence when Muslims were mentioned. I was able to speak to her about Jesus and Mary etc in fact, I think most people in my street know about Islam now, lol. If we are unable to hold conversations with people in a general way, to make friendships, then we will end up with boundaries and mistrust. My mother would wear the niqab, and she was great friends with the neighbours, in this area where they have never seen Muslims before!!
So, unless there is true oppression, criminal acts or the rights of others are being abused, then our first call if approaching anyone should be to Tawheed. This is the foundation stone of the Deen, and everything else follows from it.
It is reported on the authority of Ibn `Abbas (ra) that Allah's Messenger
said when he sent Mu`aaz (ra) to Yemen: "You are going to a people who are from the People of the Book: So the first thing to which you call them should be the testimony that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah ." - And in another narration: "that they testify to the Oneness of Allah ." - "And if they obey you in that, then inform them that Allah has made compulsory upon them five prayers every day and night. And if they obey you in that, then inform them that Allah has made incumbent upon them a charity (Zakah) which is to be taken from the rich among them and given to their poor. And if they obey you in that then be careful not to take the best of their wealth (as Zakah), and be careful of the supplication of those who have suffered injustice, for there is no obstacle between it and Allah . (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim)
Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahab said, in Kitab Tawheed:
The Prophet
sent Mu`aaz Ibn Jabal (ra) as his representative to Yemen, and he advised him of what was required of him there, beginning with the call to worship Allah , Alone, without partners, and that if they accepted that then he must inform them of the greatest obligations upon them after Tawheed, which are: prayer and Zakah; and that if they obeyed this, then it is incumbent upon him to maintain justice with them, and not to wrong them or cause suffering to them by taking the best of their property as Zakah, for that would constitute an injustice to them and might provoke them and cause them to invoke Allah upon him - and the invocation of the oppressed and the wronged is never rejected by Allah .
Therefore it is clear with what we should be helping people towards, and not driving them away by further creating misconceptions.