The Ruling on Publicly Rebuking the Rulers
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The second question, O Mansur. The second question, may Allah bless you, Shaykh. Some people, when they want to rebuke the rulers, call for people on social media sites and gather, for example, a number of students of knowledge who go, for example, to the Royal Court and rebuke them publicly, and they call people to do this. Is this the correct method? The method of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the righteous Salaf?
Answer:
No, this is not the correct method, and it does not achieve anything; rather, it results in opposite matters. The complaint should be private, not collective in this manner. Forbidding evil is not done in this manner, because it causes more harm. One person goes and approaches the official and conveys to him the complaint and the observation he has.
Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said to Musa and Harun regarding Pharaoh, who was claiming lordship, so they went to him:[Ash-Shu'ara 26:16] Your Lord. Go to him, meaning go to him: [Taha 20:43-44] or he may fear. So Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) commanded gentleness with Pharaoh and commanded going to him and meeting him if possible. If that is possible, do it; and if it is not possible, then you are excused, my brother. Or you write to the ruler a message that you send through the official channels. As for this gathering and these demonstrations, they are not permissible? Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you for this guidance.
The second question, O Mansur. The second question, may Allah bless you, Shaykh. Some people, when they want to rebuke the rulers, call for people on social media sites and gather, for example, a number of students of knowledge who go, for example, to the Royal Court and rebuke them publicly, and they call people to do this. Is this the correct method? The method of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the righteous Salaf?
Answer:
No, this is not the correct method, and it does not achieve anything; rather, it results in opposite matters. The complaint should be private, not collective in this manner. Forbidding evil is not done in this manner, because it causes more harm. One person goes and approaches the official and conveys to him the complaint and the observation he has.
Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said to Musa and Harun regarding Pharaoh, who was claiming lordship, so they went to him:
and say, 'We are the messengers
فَقُولَا إِنَّا رَسُولُ(43) Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed. (44) And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]."
اذْهَبَا إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّهُ طَغَىٰ فَقُولَا لَهُ قَوْلًا لَّيِّنًا لَّعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُThe presenter:
May Allah reward you for this guidance.
Source
قناة «مكة و المدينة»، 01 / فتاوى على الهواء - 10 01 1435هـ _ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (17:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.