Is it permissible to work in da'wah through an organization officially licensed by the government or the country in which a person lives?

The questioner : Regarding the question that came from Egypt, is it permissible to work or 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 again: Work of this kind, with this type of organization, if it is free from the worker falling into any violation of the Shari'ah, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I am surprised by the direction of such questions, and I think they come from a person to whom they were relayed, rather than originating from himself, just as our friend did with the questions he posed earlier. None of them are from his own mind; they are from someone else's. He wants to know the answers to them. So I say:
If there is an organized group, whether this organization is in an Islamic state as mentioned in the question, 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 is permissibility, first. Second, as we said on a previous occasion: "When your wind blows, seize it." If the disbelievers—for example, in some European countries—some of them do not allow Islamic da'wah activity, as the Soviets did, and perhaps still do today, even after weakness, illness, and disintegration began 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, building mosques and schools, and the like. So here we ask: 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 takfir group 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 mosques, the preachers of mosques, and the teachers of Islamic education in schools—all of these they include with whom? 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). That is, this chain of logic reminded me of the following story: A noble, virtuous scholar visited a friend at his home. He sat with him for a while, then he left or asked permission to go out. When he went out, he declared his friend a disbeliever. Why? In our country—and perhaps in some other countries too—it is a mark of honoring a distinguished shaykh that when he enters, his sandals are removed. So when the host began to leave, he began to roll them up so he could put them on. No, we direct the sandals toward him, and he is what? He meets them directed at him, and he walks. This guest, or host, excuse me, did not prepare the sandals for the shaykh; he left them as he had taken them 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 knowledge. And whoever does not honor knowledge does not honor the one who brought the knowledge, who is Muhammad (peace be upon him). And whoever does not honor Muhammad (peace 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 takfir group: The ruler is a disbeliever, and the ruled who are in his departments are also disbelievers. And when they are imams of mosques and mu'adhdhins of mosques, they are also employees, if they are in the Waqf Department, because it is one of the state's departments. So all of these are disbelievers. This chain of logic is not supported by either reason or Shari'ah.