What is the authenticity of the hadith: “Whoever dies without having pledged allegiance (bay'ah) dies the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah)”?

The questioner : Your Eminence, the father—may Allah preserve him—what is the authenticity of the hadith: , and may Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : This hadith is authentic (sahih); Imam Muslim narrated it in his *Sahih*. However, many people, or some of the Islamic groups today, interpret this hadith in a way other than its intended meaning. As a result, certain groupings and partisan factions arise, which increase the division among Muslims and the proliferation of parties. Allah—Mighty and Majestic—says: . Some of the parties present today in the Islamic arena repeat this hadith, claiming that it is necessary for every Muslim to pledge allegiance to whom? To whoever deserves the pledge of allegiance. This is true, because the Messenger of Allah said: . But this hadith does not mean that we should choose a person from the group present here now to pledge allegiance to him; for what purpose? So that we do not die the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance? That is not the intended meaning. Rather, this group should be expanded, its circle widened to thousands upon thousands, to millions. Then each million, or millions, would choose a leader for themselves and pledge allegiance to him. That is not the intended meaning of this hadith. Rather, the intended meaning of this hadith is that it is obligatory for the Muslims, and particularly obligatory for their elite, to take the means that make them a single mass and a single body, , as stated in the authentic hadith.
Thus, it is obligatory for the elite of the Muslims to strive to take the means that establish the Muslim community, in which they choose a Caliph who rules them by the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then, as a consequence of that, the one who is chosen as Caliph must be pledged to by all the Muslims. Otherwise, if someone rises up to oppose him and claims to be a Caliph like him, then it is stated in the authentic hadith: .
Therefore, the pledge of allegiance intended in this hadith is the pledge to the Caliph of the Muslims. If the Muslims—regrettably, as is their current reality—are divided into many sects and parties, then whom among them is to be pledged to?
Pledging allegiance to many individuals—as I said at the beginning of my speech—increases the division of the Muslims, division upon division. Therefore, understanding this hadith today is not that groups form into clusters, and each group pledges to a leader they appoint over themselves, so that this hadith does not apply to them. No, that is not the intended meaning. Rather, the intended meaning is that it is obligatory for all Muslims to strive to pave the way for establishing the Muslim community that chooses one man in the entire Islamic world to whom they pledge allegiance; because he will rule them by the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and—do not forget—by the methodology of the righteous predecessors (Salaf). That is the clear truth.
Yes.