The Detail on Publicly Rebuking the Rulers
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Your Eminence, Shaykh! There are those who say: Publicly rebuking the rulers is part of the methodology of the Salaf. It is supported by the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri regarding his rebuke of Marwan ibn al-Hakim when he placed the sermon before the prayer,And by his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: (Rulers will come after me, and you will know [what is right] and you will deny [what is wrong]. Whoever dislikes it is free from blame, and whoever denies it is safe) and by the hadith (The master of the martyrs is a man who stands up to a tyrannical ruler, commands him to do what is right and forbids him from doing what is wrong, and he kills him) Is this statement correct? And how do you reconcile these authentic reports with his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: (Whoever wants to advise a person in authority should not do so publicly) We ask for detail on this issue, as many of the youth of the awakening are unaware of the correct ruling in this matter,Especially since there are among the callers to Allah those who say: Publicly rebuking the rulers is part of the methodology of the Salaf, which leads the youth to rebel and assume that not rebuking them publicly is evidence of compromising in the religion and the like. Given the seriousness of this issue, we ask for detail, and may Allah reward you with good?
This question is important, and its answer is actually more important than the question. There is no doubt that forbidding evil is obligatory upon everyone who is able to do so,By the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): [Al Imran: 104-105] and the lam in His saying: (Let there be) is the lam of command,And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: (Let you enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and let you take hold of the hand of the foolish man, and let you force him to the truth forcefully, or else Allah will strike the hearts of some of you against others, and then He will curse you as He cursed them) meaning: as He cursed the Children of Israel, about whom Allah said: [Al Ma'idah: 78-79] .
But we must know that the legislative commands in such matters have a scope, and wisdom must be employed. If we see that public rebuke will remove the evil and bring about good, then let us rebuke publicly. If we see that public rebuke will not remove the evil, nor bring about good, but rather will increase the pressure of the rulers on those who rebuke and the people of good, then the good is to rebuke in secret. In this way, the evidences are reconciled. The evidences indicating that rebuke is to be public apply when we expect benefit, which is the realization of good and the removal of evil. The texts indicating that rebuke is to be secret apply when publicizing the rebuke increases the evil and does not bring about good.
And I tell you: No one has gone astray from this Ummah except because they took one side of the texts and left the other side, whether in creed, in dealing with rulers, in dealing with people, or otherwise. We give you examples so that the matter becomes clear to those present and to the listeners: For example: the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah saw the texts containing threats regarding some major sins, so they took these texts and forgot the texts of promise that open the door of hope. -For example-They said: If a person kills a believer intentionally, he becomes a disbeliever -according to the view of the Khawarij- his blood is permissible and he is eternal in the Fire,And according to the view of the Mu'tazilah they say: If he kills him, he exits Islam but does not enter disbelief; because we cannot be certain that he is a disbeliever,So we say: He exited Islam and was in a state between Islam and disbelief, but he is eternal in the Fire. Then they neglected the verses of promise and the hadiths of promise indicating that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, will take out of the Fire whoever has in his heart the least weight of a mustard seed of faith.
Then others opposed them and said: No matter what sins a person commits that are less than disbelief, he is a believer with complete faith and will never enter the Fire,And they said: His saying, may He be Exalted:
[An Nisa: 93] this is regarding the disbeliever who kills a believer. Now, why did these and those go astray? Because they took one side of the texts.
Likewise -for example- in the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, you find that some people said: That Allah, Mighty and Majestic, cannot come down Himself, and cannot descend to the lowest heaven, and He has no Face, and He has no two hands. Why?They said: Because Allah said: [Ash Shura: 11] They said: And if you affirm these matters, you are likening Allah to creation.
And other people opposed them and said: Allah, the Exalted, has affirmed for Himself a Face, and affirmed for Him two hands, and affirmed that He descends, and that He comes. So His Face is like our faces, His hand is like our hands, His descent is like our descent, and His coming is like our coming; because we do not comprehend coming, hand, or face except what we observe, and Allah addressed us with what can be perceived, so the coming of Allah, the Face of Allah, the hand of Allah, and the descent of Allah are like what is affirmed for us.
Therefore: These are on one side and these are on the other side, and all of them are astray; because each one took one side,So we say: Allah, the Exalted, has a Face and two hands, and He comes and descends, but not like our hands and our faces, and far is He from that, Mighty and Majestic; because [Ash Shura: 11] .
Likewise, in the issue of advising the rulers, some people want to take one side of the texts, which is publicizing the rebuke of the rulers, no matter what harms result from it,And among them are those who say: It is not possible to publicize it absolutely. The obligatory thing is to advise the rulers in secret, as came in the text mentioned by the questioner,And we say: The texts do not lie to one another, nor do they contradict one another. So rebuke is to be public when there is benefit, and the benefit is that the evil is removed and the good is established. And it is to be secret if publicizing the rebuke does not serve the benefit, does not remove the evil, and does not establish the good.
And you know -may Allah bless you- that the rulers cannot please all people ever, even the imam of the mosque, does he please all the worshippers? No.
Some of them say: Some say: He is too early! And some say: It is too long! And some say: It is too short! And in winter they dispute, and the one who prays in the sun and the one who prays in the shade do not reach agreement. So if the rebuke of the rulers is publicized, those who hate it will exploit it (and make a dome out of a grain) and the fitnah will rise, and what harmed the people was only such a matter! The Khawarij were with 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, against the army of Sham. And when 'Ali reconciled with the army of Sham to spare the blood of the Muslims, they turned against him,And they said: You are a disbeliever.
They declared 'Ali ibn Abi Talib a disbeliever -may Allah protect us from that- Why? Because the rabble of the people and the mob of the people cannot be controlled ever, and publicizing the rebuke of the rulers is exploited by these mobs to reach their goals,And as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: (Indeed, Satan has despaired of being worshipped by the praying people in the Arabian Peninsula, but he has accepted sowing discord between them) Between whom? Between the inhabitants of the Peninsula. He sows discord between them until the issues lead to killing, and a person meets his brother in Islam, and perhaps his brother in lineage, or his cousin, or his brother-in-law, and kills him over anything? Or over nothing.
So the result is that we say: The youth of the awakening must look at the texts from all sides, and not proceed to anything until they look at its consequences,If the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: (Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent) So make this a measure for you in all your words, and likewise in all your actions. And Allah is the One who grants success.
Your Eminence, Shaykh! There are those who say: Publicly rebuking the rulers is part of the methodology of the Salaf. It is supported by the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri regarding his rebuke of Marwan ibn al-Hakim when he placed the sermon before the prayer,And by his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: (Rulers will come after me, and you will know [what is right] and you will deny [what is wrong]. Whoever dislikes it is free from blame, and whoever denies it is safe) and by the hadith (The master of the martyrs is a man who stands up to a tyrannical ruler, commands him to do what is right and forbids him from doing what is wrong, and he kills him) Is this statement correct? And how do you reconcile these authentic reports with his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: (Whoever wants to advise a person in authority should not do so publicly) We ask for detail on this issue, as many of the youth of the awakening are unaware of the correct ruling in this matter,Especially since there are among the callers to Allah those who say: Publicly rebuking the rulers is part of the methodology of the Salaf, which leads the youth to rebel and assume that not rebuking them publicly is evidence of compromising in the religion and the like. Given the seriousness of this issue, we ask for detail, and may Allah reward you with good?
This question is important, and its answer is actually more important than the question. There is no doubt that forbidding evil is obligatory upon everyone who is able to do so,By the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He):
(104) And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful. (105) And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment.
وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ * وَلا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ(78) Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed. (79) They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did. How wretched was that which they were doing.
لُعِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرائيلَ عَلَى لِسَانِ دَاوُدَ وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ * كَانُوا لا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُBut we must know that the legislative commands in such matters have a scope, and wisdom must be employed. If we see that public rebuke will remove the evil and bring about good, then let us rebuke publicly. If we see that public rebuke will not remove the evil, nor bring about good, but rather will increase the pressure of the rulers on those who rebuke and the people of good, then the good is to rebuke in secret. In this way, the evidences are reconciled. The evidences indicating that rebuke is to be public apply when we expect benefit, which is the realization of good and the removal of evil. The texts indicating that rebuke is to be secret apply when publicizing the rebuke increases the evil and does not bring about good.
And I tell you: No one has gone astray from this Ummah except because they took one side of the texts and left the other side, whether in creed, in dealing with rulers, in dealing with people, or otherwise. We give you examples so that the matter becomes clear to those present and to the listeners: For example: the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah saw the texts containing threats regarding some major sins, so they took these texts and forgot the texts of promise that open the door of hope. -For example-They said: If a person kills a believer intentionally, he becomes a disbeliever -according to the view of the Khawarij- his blood is permissible and he is eternal in the Fire,And according to the view of the Mu'tazilah they say: If he kills him, he exits Islam but does not enter disbelief; because we cannot be certain that he is a disbeliever,So we say: He exited Islam and was in a state between Islam and disbelief, but he is eternal in the Fire. Then they neglected the verses of promise and the hadiths of promise indicating that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, will take out of the Fire whoever has in his heart the least weight of a mustard seed of faith.
Then others opposed them and said: No matter what sins a person commits that are less than disbelief, he is a believer with complete faith and will never enter the Fire,And they said: His saying, may He be Exalted:
And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hellfire.
وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِناً مُتَعَمِّداً فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ.Likewise -for example- in the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, you find that some people said: That Allah, Mighty and Majestic, cannot come down Himself, and cannot descend to the lowest heaven, and He has no Face, and He has no two hands. Why?They said: Because Allah said:
There is nothing like unto Him
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌAnd other people opposed them and said: Allah, the Exalted, has affirmed for Himself a Face, and affirmed for Him two hands, and affirmed that He descends, and that He comes. So His Face is like our faces, His hand is like our hands, His descent is like our descent, and His coming is like our coming; because we do not comprehend coming, hand, or face except what we observe, and Allah addressed us with what can be perceived, so the coming of Allah, the Face of Allah, the hand of Allah, and the descent of Allah are like what is affirmed for us.
Therefore: These are on one side and these are on the other side, and all of them are astray; because each one took one side,So we say: Allah, the Exalted, has a Face and two hands, and He comes and descends, but not like our hands and our faces, and far is He from that, Mighty and Majestic; because
There is nothing like unto Him
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌLikewise, in the issue of advising the rulers, some people want to take one side of the texts, which is publicizing the rebuke of the rulers, no matter what harms result from it,And among them are those who say: It is not possible to publicize it absolutely. The obligatory thing is to advise the rulers in secret, as came in the text mentioned by the questioner,And we say: The texts do not lie to one another, nor do they contradict one another. So rebuke is to be public when there is benefit, and the benefit is that the evil is removed and the good is established. And it is to be secret if publicizing the rebuke does not serve the benefit, does not remove the evil, and does not establish the good.
And you know -may Allah bless you- that the rulers cannot please all people ever, even the imam of the mosque, does he please all the worshippers? No.
Some of them say: Some say: He is too early! And some say: It is too long! And some say: It is too short! And in winter they dispute, and the one who prays in the sun and the one who prays in the shade do not reach agreement. So if the rebuke of the rulers is publicized, those who hate it will exploit it (and make a dome out of a grain) and the fitnah will rise, and what harmed the people was only such a matter! The Khawarij were with 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, against the army of Sham. And when 'Ali reconciled with the army of Sham to spare the blood of the Muslims, they turned against him,And they said: You are a disbeliever.
They declared 'Ali ibn Abi Talib a disbeliever -may Allah protect us from that- Why? Because the rabble of the people and the mob of the people cannot be controlled ever, and publicizing the rebuke of the rulers is exploited by these mobs to reach their goals,And as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: (Indeed, Satan has despaired of being worshipped by the praying people in the Arabian Peninsula, but he has accepted sowing discord between them) Between whom? Between the inhabitants of the Peninsula. He sows discord between them until the issues lead to killing, and a person meets his brother in Islam, and perhaps his brother in lineage, or his cousin, or his brother-in-law, and kills him over anything? Or over nothing.
So the result is that we say: The youth of the awakening must look at the texts from all sides, and not proceed to anything until they look at its consequences,If the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: (Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent) So make this a measure for you in all your words, and likewise in all your actions. And Allah is the One who grants success.