The Ruling on Publicizing the Faults of Rulers
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The youth believe that advising the rulers should be done in secret, but if they do not respond, it is permissible to publicize the advice and expose their faults.
The Shaykh : No, that is a mistake; this is a serious error.
The questioner : If.
The Shaykh : Exposing the faults of rulers is not like exposing the faults of ordinary people in the marketplace. If you expose the faults of ordinary people in the marketplace, it only harms that man. But if you expose the faults of the rulers while they are in a state where it is not permissible to rebel against them, this becomes a call to oppose them, rebel against them, and accuse them, even in matters where there is reform. Therefore, the matter is not like that of others; the rulers are not like others. For this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded this, saying: “Ask Allah for the rights they have over you, and ask Allah for the rights you have over them.” He also commanded patience with them.
The Shaykh : No, that is a mistake; this is a serious error.
The questioner : If.
The Shaykh : Exposing the faults of rulers is not like exposing the faults of ordinary people in the marketplace. If you expose the faults of ordinary people in the marketplace, it only harms that man. But if you expose the faults of the rulers while they are in a state where it is not permissible to rebel against them, this becomes a call to oppose them, rebel against them, and accuse them, even in matters where there is reform. Therefore, the matter is not like that of others; the rulers are not like others. For this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded this, saying: “Ask Allah for the rights they have over you, and ask Allah for the rights you have over them.” He also commanded patience with them.
Source
لقاء مفتوح مع فضيلته بحائل — archive.org (1:08:31)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.