Is it correct that the permission of the imam is not a condition for jihad because there is no general imam for the Muslims?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: What is your view (Honorable Shaykh) regarding the one who says that the permission of the imam is not a condition for jihad, because there is no general imam for the Muslims, since the Muslims today are divided into separate states, and each state has a ruler?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah. This is a matter that has a scholar and a mufti, and this person is a compound ignoramus, so his statement should not be taken. The Muslims have imams, praise be to Allah. Every governor in a country, if the Muslims obey him and submit to him, as passed to you yesterday, and the Muslims obeyed him and submitted to him, then he is the one in authority and he is the imam. It is not a condition of the imam that he be a general guardian and a general caliph; that is not the case.
But after the fall of the Abbasid state and the caliphate that was from the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the lands were divided. A governor came to be in each of these lands. And the Muslims obeyed them. The people of each land submitted to their one in authority. And they became a state that is considered an Islamic state.
So it is not a condition of the imam that he be general for all the Muslims, but rather whoever the Muslims in their land submit to and obey is their imam, and it is permissible for there to be multiple imams in the regions, and this is something the Muslims have practiced. It happened even during the time of the Abbasid state. Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil (the Umayyad) was independent in al-Andalus. Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil the Umayyad was independent in al-Andalus, and they approved him for that. Even if they said, "You are a Khariji against us," this is a known matter among the Muslims. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: What is your view (Honorable Shaykh) regarding the one who says that the permission of the imam is not a condition for jihad, because there is no general imam for the Muslims, since the Muslims today are divided into separate states, and each state has a ruler?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah. This is a matter that has a scholar and a mufti, and this person is a compound ignoramus, so his statement should not be taken. The Muslims have imams, praise be to Allah. Every governor in a country, if the Muslims obey him and submit to him, as passed to you yesterday, and the Muslims obeyed him and submitted to him, then he is the one in authority and he is the imam. It is not a condition of the imam that he be a general guardian and a general caliph; that is not the case.
But after the fall of the Abbasid state and the caliphate that was from the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the lands were divided. A governor came to be in each of these lands. And the Muslims obeyed them. The people of each land submitted to their one in authority. And they became a state that is considered an Islamic state.
So it is not a condition of the imam that he be general for all the Muslims, but rather whoever the Muslims in their land submit to and obey is their imam, and it is permissible for there to be multiple imams in the regions, and this is something the Muslims have practiced. It happened even during the time of the Abbasid state. Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil (the Umayyad) was independent in al-Andalus. Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil the Umayyad was independent in al-Andalus, and they approved him for that. Even if they said, "You are a Khariji against us," this is a known matter among the Muslims. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يصح إنه لا يشترط إذن الإمام في الجهاد لأنه لا يوجد للمسلمين إمام عام؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.