The Ruling on Saying That Supplication for the Ruler Is Hypocrisy
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner says: What is your opinion of the one who says that supplicating for the ruler is hypocrisy?
Answer:
This is hypocrisy; this is what hypocrisy is. As for supplicating for the ruler, that is advice; it is not hypocrisy. This is part of faith. This indicates that he hates the ruler, and this is contrary to the Sunnah. The Sunnah is that one supplicates for the ruler as long as he is a Muslim; one supplicates for him with prayer. You are not trying to praise him or commend what he is, but you are supplicating for him with prayer. If guidance is established, the affairs of the Muslims are set right. So when you supplicate for the Imam, you are supplicating for the Muslims, because if the Imam is set right, the people are set right. The Salaf used to supplicate for the Imam. Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad said, and this is also narrated from Imam Ahmad: "If I had a supplication that would be answered, I would direct it to the ruler." You are not praising him or commending his actions to the point where it is said that this is hypocrisy. You are supplicating for his rectitude, you are supplicating for his guidance, because this is for the benefit of the Muslims. This is advice to the ruler and advice to the Muslims. Those who do not love the Imam, they have a departure from the methodology of the Khawarij. Those who do not supplicate for the Imam, this is the beginning of rebellion; this is one of the principles of the Khawarij. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
This questioner says: What is your opinion of the one who says that supplicating for the ruler is hypocrisy?
Answer:
This is hypocrisy; this is what hypocrisy is. As for supplicating for the ruler, that is advice; it is not hypocrisy. This is part of faith. This indicates that he hates the ruler, and this is contrary to the Sunnah. The Sunnah is that one supplicates for the ruler as long as he is a Muslim; one supplicates for him with prayer. You are not trying to praise him or commend what he is, but you are supplicating for him with prayer. If guidance is established, the affairs of the Muslims are set right. So when you supplicate for the Imam, you are supplicating for the Muslims, because if the Imam is set right, the people are set right. The Salaf used to supplicate for the Imam. Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad said, and this is also narrated from Imam Ahmad: "If I had a supplication that would be answered, I would direct it to the ruler." You are not praising him or commending his actions to the point where it is said that this is hypocrisy. You are supplicating for his rectitude, you are supplicating for his guidance, because this is for the benefit of the Muslims. This is advice to the ruler and advice to the Muslims. Those who do not love the Imam, they have a departure from the methodology of the Khawarij. Those who do not supplicate for the Imam, this is the beginning of rebellion; this is one of the principles of the Khawarij. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
شرح أحاديث في الفتن والحوادث، تابع باب في الفتن 2 — islamhouse.com (38:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.