The Ruling on Pamphlets Arriving from London and Publicizing the Rulers
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Question:
The second group of questions concerns the pamphlets arriving from London. The substance of the questioner’s, or the questioners’, statement is that they have heard the words of some scholars, but they want the ruling that you issue so that we may be clear about our affair.
Answer:
As for the pamphlets coming from al-Mas’ari and the group in London to cause confusion for this state and these lands, we have issued the advice on more than one occasion not to distribute them, but to destroy whatever is found of them, because they lead to fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), division, and disagreement. It is obligatory to destroy what is found and not to circulate them among the Muslims, and to pray for the rulers for success, guidance, and rectitude, that Allah will assist them in all good, that Allah will guide their steps and grant them righteous advisors in prayer and other matters, so that he who prays asks his Lord to keep him safe in his prostration, in the end of his prayer, and in the end of the night for the Muslims, for the rulers for success, guidance, and righteous advisors. As for publishing faults, this is among the causes of fitnah. When the Khawarij (an early sect that declared sinners disbelievers) published faults during the time of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the ignorant and the foolish rose up against 'Umar until he was killed, and 'Ali was killed, due to these malicious pamphlets and false propaganda, some of which was lies and some was truth, but none of it justifies rising up against the rulers. Rather, it necessitates praying for them for guidance and success. These things that al-Mas’ari and his like have followed are of the same kind as what 'Abdullah ibn Saba and his like followed during the time of 'Uthman and the time of 'Ali, until the ummah (the Muslim community) divided and they fought each other. So 'Uthman was killed unjustly, and Abu 'Ubaydah was killed unjustly, and a large group of the Companions (the Companions of the Prophet) were killed unjustly and oppressively due to these rumors and these fitnahs. We ask Allah for safety from this. Yes.
The second group of questions concerns the pamphlets arriving from London. The substance of the questioner’s, or the questioners’, statement is that they have heard the words of some scholars, but they want the ruling that you issue so that we may be clear about our affair.
Answer:
As for the pamphlets coming from al-Mas’ari and the group in London to cause confusion for this state and these lands, we have issued the advice on more than one occasion not to distribute them, but to destroy whatever is found of them, because they lead to fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), division, and disagreement. It is obligatory to destroy what is found and not to circulate them among the Muslims, and to pray for the rulers for success, guidance, and rectitude, that Allah will assist them in all good, that Allah will guide their steps and grant them righteous advisors in prayer and other matters, so that he who prays asks his Lord to keep him safe in his prostration, in the end of his prayer, and in the end of the night for the Muslims, for the rulers for success, guidance, and righteous advisors. As for publishing faults, this is among the causes of fitnah. When the Khawarij (an early sect that declared sinners disbelievers) published faults during the time of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the ignorant and the foolish rose up against 'Umar until he was killed, and 'Ali was killed, due to these malicious pamphlets and false propaganda, some of which was lies and some was truth, but none of it justifies rising up against the rulers. Rather, it necessitates praying for them for guidance and success. These things that al-Mas’ari and his like have followed are of the same kind as what 'Abdullah ibn Saba and his like followed during the time of 'Uthman and the time of 'Ali, until the ummah (the Muslim community) divided and they fought each other. So 'Uthman was killed unjustly, and Abu 'Ubaydah was killed unjustly, and a large group of the Companions (the Companions of the Prophet) were killed unjustly and oppressively due to these rumors and these fitnahs. We ask Allah for safety from this. Yes.
Source
لقاءات لابن باز - لقاء مفتوح مع الشيخ ابن باز — archive.org (29:44)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.