There are those who claim that the Salafi da'wah will not be established as it should be unless it has political support, as was the case with the da'wah of Imam Muhammad ibn

The questioner: There are those who claim that the Salafi da'wah, which is the da'wah of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), will not be established as it should be in reality unless it has political support... as was the case with the da'wah ofThe Shaykh : Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab; what is your opinion?

The Shaykh: We say, we are sorry for these people who think they are doing well in political work, while they have not yet corrected their 'aqidah (creed), nor understood the tawhid of their Lord; we say to them: The Salafi da'wah, with its various names that I mentioned earlier, means understanding Islam in a general and comprehensive way in all its rulings. It is not limited to tawhid, nor to what is broader than that in what concerns the circle of 'aqidah in the terminology of scholars, nor is it limited to 'ibadah (worship), nor to morals, nor to transactions. Rather, it concerns understanding Islam from its two pure sources: the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), with a very important addition, which is according to the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih (the righteous predecessors) (may Allah be pleased with them). We have all worked within the limits of our ability—Zayd, Bakr, 'Amr, and so on—each working within the limits of his ability to clarify this Islam from all its aspects. One individual may not be able to undertake explaining Islam from all its aspects, but it is obligatory upon the ummah (the Muslim community) as a whole, or—in other words—upon the specialized group of the ummah, or upon the scholars truly, for them to undertake explaining Islam in light of the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih. This is the da'wah. As for if one of us, for example, only corrects authentic hadiths and weakens weak hadiths, this does not mean he is not doing other work, but his other work may be less than that, or close to it. Similarly, if another man derives rulings from the Book of Allah alone, another from the Hadiths of the Messenger of Allah alone, and a third from the combination of both sources, the Book and the Sunnah, but he is not able, for example, to authenticate or weaken, we do not criticize him for not doing the work of the other, nor do we speak of this because he is not doing the work of the first or the third, and so on. Rather, it is obligatory upon this group of scholars to work toward making the entire Islamic ummah understand Islam with the correct concept, under the aforementioned condition.
On the day when the group that rises to this duty of clarification according to the aforementioned methodology exists, on that day the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah. Do we want to do political work, even if we took a leader of a group who works in political work and claims that he works for Islam and for establishing the state of Islam? If we asked him: What is tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship)? What is tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship)? What is tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes)? Perhaps he would be, as the old Arabic proverb says: "More confused than a man who has eaten a bean," meaning at the limit of inability to answer this question which concerns the first testimony, from which the disbeliever does not escape except by acknowledging it... Islam first, and then he does not escape from eternal abode in the Fire unless he first understands its meaning correctly, in detail as mentioned earlier, which includes that there is no god but Allah; that is, there is no one worthy of worship in existence except Allah. If he understands this meaning and believes in it from the depths of his heart, he will be saved from eternal abode in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection; otherwise, it will not benefit him that he said "There is no god but Allah," except that he was saved from shirk (associating partners with Allah) in this world.
If we asked some of those engaged in politics such a question, they would be unable to answer. And as is narrated to us, there is a joke in some Syrian countries: A Kurd met a Jew on the road during the time of the decline of Islam, so he grabbed him by the collar and drew a dagger beside him, and said to him...: "Islamize or I will kill you." He said: "What do I say?" He said: "By Allah, I do not know , he is threatening him with death so that he will Islamize!! But it is necessary... the path of Islam, he says: I do not know. With people like these, the politicians want to be victorious over the enemy surrounding us on all sides!! There is no victory ever, except first of all for understanding tawhid in the first testimony "There is no god but Allah," and then for understanding the second testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And as we have said and we say... all of us in this land and others, that the first testimony necessitates that we do not worship anyone with Allah, and the other testimony necessitates that we do not worship Allah except by what Allah has prescribed. These two meanings, most of the Muslims today—especially those who are engaged in politics—do not know this; and he who lacks a thing cannot give it. So, we do not call for political work not because political work is not prescribed (mashru'); Islam is broader than what they imagine, but as some of them said:
"If you seek knowledge, it is much
And life is short in acquiring it
“So prioritize the more important of them, then the more important.”
So we want to look today at what is most urgent for the Islamic world? What is most urgent for the Islamic world to be recognized? Is it political work, or that we understand the 'aqidah, the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah? And he improves his faith in the unseen, which is the first connector that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned in the first verse of Surat al-Baqarah Who are they? , then He mentioned , so what is the matter with the Islamic world today living in labyrinths concerning faith in the unseen, and in particular—if the expression is correct—people are lost today in faith in the unseen of the unseen, which is the Lord of the worlds (Blessed and Exalted is He); as evidenced by the fact that the specialized people of the Islamic world today in many countries do not know Allah as Allah described Himself in His Book, and as His Prophet described Him in His Sunnah? No, the calamity is greater; I say or I said earlier: they do not know Allah as He described Himself, and as His Prophet described Him, but they know Him in contradiction to that; they know Allah in contradiction to what Allah described Himself with. This is the problem of problems.
We give the famous example today, and the disagreement is standing on its feet and legs. Our Lord says in more than one verse in the Qur'an: , what is your opinion? The great scholars or the great council of scholars in many famous countries for seeking knowledge and teaching knowledge say: No, our Lord did not rise (istawa')? Like that! Why? Because they deny the verse (ta'til) and interpret it with other than its interpretation, —the truth of the Messenger of Allah; the hadith is mass-transmitted (mutawatir)—, , they say: No, our Lord does not descend, nor... nor does He move, nor anything. They wanted to purify Allah from... the created beings with distinct characteristics; I mean the angels and humans. Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) preferred them, as He said regarding humans: and , They wanted to purify Allah so as not to liken Him to the sons of Adam, because the sons of Adam descend and ascend, come and stand, and so on. So they fell into what is worse than what they fled from; they fled from likening the Creator to the created, and this is true... O Muslim, that Allah is likened to one of His creations, but they fell into what is worse than what they fled from, so they likened Him not to those whom Allah honored, who are the sons of Adam as you heard, but they likened Him to stone and ice that does not come and does not move. So, Glorified is Allah! The proverb applied to them says: "He was under the rain, then he became under the gutter!" He fled from the drops of rain, and if he is... under the gutter that collects the rain and pours it on him. They are worse, living in 'aqidah far from the Book and the Sunnah, and from the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih, and with that they want to run the ummah with politics.
We believe that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began, first of all, by calling people to worship Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone; that they should worship Allah and avoid the taghut. That was the call of all the prophets and messengers.
Glory be to Allah! When we read the story of Noah (peace be upon him)—and I say Noah because he is cited as a standard example of the length of his life and his patience with his people in his calling of them—what do you think he was calling them to? Nothing but the worship of Allah alone, who has no partner. A thousand years except fifty years. The Muslims of the last times say: "Until when will you keep occupying the Muslims with the call to tawhid (the oneness of Allah)?" That is what they say! And they do not think that Noah (peace be upon him) remained among his people for a thousand years except fifty years. There is no legislation like the legislation brought by Islam, and there is no expansion in differences regarding morals and acts of worship, but rather: "Worship Allah and avoid the taghut." Yet, despite that, they consider it excessive that we remind people of such a reminder, because it is obligatory upon all Muslims; this is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) upon every Muslim.
Knowledge is of two types: an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) and a collective obligation (fard kifayah). It is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) upon every Muslim to know Allah as Allah has described Himself, and His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also described Him in his Sunnah, as we have mentioned. They do not pay any attention to this at all. In fact, one of their callers told me explicitly, more than twenty years ago, that this is not the time to look into details and disputed issues. We said: "Do you mean even in tawhid (the oneness of Allah)?" He said: "Yes, even in tawhid." I said: "Even in understanding 'La ilaha illa Allah' (There is no deity but Allah), and you know that some of them have written a treatise interpreting 'La ilaha illa Allah' to mean 'There is no worshipped entity but Allah'?" That is: they interpreted the phrase of tawhid, the good word, with the belief that is the most misguided belief on the face of the earth, which is Wahdat al-Wujud (the unity of existence). Because—pay attention to the difference!—the correct meaning of the good word is "There is no worshipped entity with truth in existence but Allah." This means that there are many worshipped entities, but they are all false except the true worshipped entity, which is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So if this interpretation is not coupled with the word "with truth," tawhid turns into major shirk (associating partners with Allah) and the greatest misguidance, which is the claim of Wahdat al-Wujud (the unity of existence).
Several treatises have been written among us in Damascus and in Pakistan or India by some of the famous groups today; they interpret 'La ilaha illa Allah' to mean: "There is no worshipped entity but Allah." And what about these other worshipped entities that were worshipped and are still worshipped besides Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)? The answer is in the books of the Sufis: "When the Majus (Zoroastrians) worshipped the fire, they did not worship anything but the One, the Subduer!" This is the ta'wil (figurative interpretation) of the incorrect interpretation of the good word; 'La ilaha illa Allah' means: "There is no worshipped entity but Allah," so "everything you see with your eye is Allah." This is another saying of Ibn Arabi, who is known to us in the Levant!! "Everything you see with your eye is Allah!!" The fire that the Majus worshipped in ancient times, and perhaps in recent times, does not escape being the deity. The Buddhists who worship cows do not worship anything other than Allah, because this... he says in his book which he named after something other than his name, "Al-Insan al-Kamil" (The Perfect Man), in the book "Al-Insan al-Kamil" he says that phrase: "When the Majus worshipped the people, they did not worship anything but the One, the Subduer." This is an allusion to the phrase of tawhid? Wahdat al-Wujud (the unity of existence), meaning there are not two things, there is no Creator and no created, until they explicitly state that this is shirk (associating partners with Allah)! You are mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah) when you say: there are two existences; an eternal existence which is Allah, and a created existence which is the creation of Allah; this is shirk! But we, the monotheists, say in our words: "It is He and only He."
The Muslim world is living in great misguidance, and some people who are ignorant of these bitter truths want to occupy people with politics. And I give you a recent example; it indicates the ignorance of people, not the common people, but the elite, and not the elite who do not care about Muslims and Islam, but those who dream on various occasions of establishing the Islamic state, and our Qur'an and our constitution, and the like!
When Khomeini rose up...