Do you think that Saddam is the one responsible for what happened to the Muslims, namely the splitting of their ranks and the spreading of division among them, by giving the disbelievers a legal justification for entering Kuwait?

The questioner : Yes, may Allah reward you with good. I say, do you not think that Saddam remains the one responsible for the harm that has happened and is happening now to the Muslims, in the splitting of their ranks and the division among them, by his entry into Kuwait? We all know that the disbelievers wanted to eliminate him originally, since about a year ago. But by entering Kuwait, he gave them the legal justification for which they wanted, or rather, they announced to people that we want to eliminate him and fight him. If he had remained within his borders, meaning within Iraq, we would have found, as you are asking us now, may Allah reward you with good, and as the scholars in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere are ruling, that it was a single opinion: the obligation to stand by the people of Iraq to protect and defend them against the disbelievers.

The Shaykh : Yes, I think if you had paid attention to my statement at the beginning of this session, and in every word we speak about this fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), that when Saddam attacked Kuwait, he was a baghy (armed rebellion against legitimate authority).

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, this is the answer to your question, and you have already taken it beforehand. It is not just you, but everyone knows this truth. In fact, some of our brothers present have heard me repeatedly and over and over that I said that the cause of this evil that befell the Saudi state was Saddam Hussein. What do you think? This is more than what you asked in the question.

The questioner : I heard that you said the wall asked the nail, "Why do you split me?" and it said to it, "Ask the one who drives me."

The Shaykh : Yes, that is it.
Al-Halabi : You have understood, so adhere to it.

The Shaykh: Yes.
Al-Halabi : You have understood, so adhere to it.

The Shaykh : I know, so stick to it. But of course, I do not give any excuse to the Saudis at all. I believe that both states made a grave error regarding Islam and the Muslims. And you see now the consequence of deviating in violating the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law), which began with the violator, as you heard before and after, namely Saddam, and the one who responded to the violation fell into what is more evil. I believe that the disbelievers' seizure of the Saudi lands in this soft manner is worse than if it had been decreed that Saddam seized Saudi Arabia by force of arms; it is worse than that. And so we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to make the outcome of this fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) good for the Muslims, in the sense of .