Is it permissible to work in da'wah through an organization officially licensed by the government or the country in which a person lives, whether that country is Muslim or
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The questioner : Shaykh, regarding the question that came from Egypt: is it permissible to work, or to engage in da'wah, through an organization officially licensed by the government or the country in which a person lives, whether that country is Muslim or non-Muslim?
The Shaykh : I said, and I say: In such work with such an organization, if it is free from the worker falling into any violation of the Shari'ah, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. And I am surprised by the direction of such questions. I think they come from a person to whom they were conveyed, rather than arising from his own mind, like our friend here did with the questions he posed just now. None of them are from his own bag; rather, they are from someone else's bag. He wants to know the answers to them. So I say: If there is an organized group, whether this organization is, as mentioned in the question, in an Islamic state, or at least in a Muslim community, or in a non-Muslim state: if his work in this organization does not lead him to violate the Shari'ah in some of what he does, then there is nothing wrong with such work. In fact, we say: the original ruling for it is permissibility, first of all.
And secondly: as we said on a previous occasion: "When your wind blows, seize it". If, for example, in some European countries, some of the non-Muslims do not allow Islamic da'wah activity, as the Soviets did, and perhaps still do today, even after weakness, illness, and disintegration have begun to seep into them. They used to fight all religions, and especially the religion of Islam. But in other European countries, they allow da'wah to Islam, and the building of mosques and schools, and the like. So here we say: What prevents working in this state for the benefit of Islam and for the benefit of the da'wah of Islam?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, except according to the view of the group of takfir who say: The ruler who rules by other than what Allah has revealed is a disbeliever, and the employees under his rule are like him, disbelievers. Even the imams of the mosques, the preachers of the mosques, and the teachers of Islamic education in the schools; all these people they associate with the ruler whom they have declared a disbeliever.
This reminds us of an Albanian joke I heard when I was young from my father (may Allah have mercy on him). This chain of reasoning reminded me of the following story:
A learned, virtuous man visited a friend of his at his home and sat with him for a while, then he left or asked permission to leave. When he went out, he declared his friend a disbeliever. Why?
In our country—and perhaps this is the case in some other countries too—out of respect for a venerable shaykh, if he enters, they take off their sandals. So when he begins to wrap them up to put on the sandal, no, we direct the sandal toward him, and he catches it directed at him and walks. This guest, or rather host, did not prepare the sandal for the shaykh; he left it as he had taken it off. This means he did not honor the shaykh, so he declared him a disbeliever. He said: He is a disbeliever, because he did not honor the scholar. And whoever does not honor the scholar does not honor the knowledge. And whoever does not honor the knowledge does not honor the one who brought the knowledge, who is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And whoever does not honor Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) does not honor Allah, Lord of the worlds, who revealed the knowledge to him. So the result is: So-and-so is a disbeliever.
And these are the people of takfir: The ruler is a disbeliever, and the ruled who are in his departments are also disbelievers. And since the imams of the mosques and the mu'adhdhins of the mosques are also employees, if they are in the Waqf Department, because it is a department of the state, then all these people are disbelievers. This chain of reasoning is not supported by either intellect or Shari'ah.
The Shaykh : I said, and I say: In such work with such an organization, if it is free from the worker falling into any violation of the Shari'ah, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. And I am surprised by the direction of such questions. I think they come from a person to whom they were conveyed, rather than arising from his own mind, like our friend here did with the questions he posed just now. None of them are from his own bag; rather, they are from someone else's bag. He wants to know the answers to them. So I say: If there is an organized group, whether this organization is, as mentioned in the question, in an Islamic state, or at least in a Muslim community, or in a non-Muslim state: if his work in this organization does not lead him to violate the Shari'ah in some of what he does, then there is nothing wrong with such work. In fact, we say: the original ruling for it is permissibility, first of all.
And secondly: as we said on a previous occasion: "When your wind blows, seize it". If, for example, in some European countries, some of the non-Muslims do not allow Islamic da'wah activity, as the Soviets did, and perhaps still do today, even after weakness, illness, and disintegration have begun to seep into them. They used to fight all religions, and especially the religion of Islam. But in other European countries, they allow da'wah to Islam, and the building of mosques and schools, and the like. So here we say: What prevents working in this state for the benefit of Islam and for the benefit of the da'wah of Islam?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, except according to the view of the group of takfir who say: The ruler who rules by other than what Allah has revealed is a disbeliever, and the employees under his rule are like him, disbelievers. Even the imams of the mosques, the preachers of the mosques, and the teachers of Islamic education in the schools; all these people they associate with the ruler whom they have declared a disbeliever.
This reminds us of an Albanian joke I heard when I was young from my father (may Allah have mercy on him). This chain of reasoning reminded me of the following story:
A learned, virtuous man visited a friend of his at his home and sat with him for a while, then he left or asked permission to leave. When he went out, he declared his friend a disbeliever. Why?
In our country—and perhaps this is the case in some other countries too—out of respect for a venerable shaykh, if he enters, they take off their sandals. So when he begins to wrap them up to put on the sandal, no, we direct the sandal toward him, and he catches it directed at him and walks. This guest, or rather host, did not prepare the sandal for the shaykh; he left it as he had taken it off. This means he did not honor the shaykh, so he declared him a disbeliever. He said: He is a disbeliever, because he did not honor the scholar. And whoever does not honor the scholar does not honor the knowledge. And whoever does not honor the knowledge does not honor the one who brought the knowledge, who is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And whoever does not honor Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) does not honor Allah, Lord of the worlds, who revealed the knowledge to him. So the result is: So-and-so is a disbeliever.
And these are the people of takfir: The ruler is a disbeliever, and the ruled who are in his departments are also disbelievers. And since the imams of the mosques and the mu'adhdhins of the mosques are also employees, if they are in the Waqf Department, because it is a department of the state, then all these people are disbelievers. This chain of reasoning is not supported by either intellect or Shari'ah.