The Classification of the Orders of the Rulers Regarding Obedience and Disobedience
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Your Eminence! Are all the orders of the rulers obligatory? Or are some of them obligatory and others recommended? And how can one know that? May Allah reward you.
The orders of the rulers are divided into categories: The first category: That which is not permissible to obey: This is when he orders him to disobey Allah,For example: such as ordering him to shave his beard, or ordering him to do things that are wrong; in this case, it is not permissible to obey them;For Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Nisa: 59] It links the obedience of those in authority to the obedience of Allah and His Messenger; without repeating the verb, which indicates that the obedience of those in authority is in the capacity of a follower;And because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Obedience is only in what is right) meaning: in what is not wrong, and because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a man on a military expedition, and ordered them to obey him, and one day they angered him, so he ordered them to gather firewood, so they gathered firewood, then he ordered them to set it on fire, so they set it on fire, then he ordered them to throw themselves into it, so they hesitated,And they said: saying: We did not follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) except out of fear of the Fire! And they refused to enter the fire, so when they returned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him,He said: (If they had entered it, they would not have come out of it. Obedience is only in what is right) This is one point.
The second category: That he orders what Allah and His Messenger have ordered: That the ruler orders what Allah and His Messenger have ordered from acts of worship,So if this is obligatory, such as: such as ordering congregational prayer, and checking on people regarding it, so his obedience here is obligatory,It is obligatory from two perspectives: The first aspect: That it is obligatory in the Shari'ah without the order of the ruler.
And the second: That it becomes more emphasized when the ruler orders it.
The third category: That he orders a worship that is not obligatory;But it is prescribed: such as ordering people to fast,He says: saying: O people! Fast tomorrow, for we are going out for the prayer for rain to seek rain, and the supplication of the fasting person is answered, so fast tomorrow, here his obedience is not obligatory; because this is a worship between the servant and his Lord, so his obedience is not obligatory.
The fourth category: That he orders what preserves security and the well-being of society: In this case, his obedience is obligatory, even if Allah and His Messenger have not ordered it, as long as it is not disobedience, like the current orders; in the systems that are established and do not contradict the Shari'ah, then obedience to the ruler in them is obligatory, and whoever disobeys and contradicts is sinful.
This is what comes to my mind now regarding the categories of obedience to the rulers.
But here is an issue, which is: That some people, out of their zeal for the religion of Allah the Exalted, when they see these wrongs, and that these wrongs are widespread among people, which is found in the newspapers, or heard on some radio stations, or seen via (satellite dishes) -for example- and they are zealous about this, and they see that the government is falling short in this matter, then they go and spread the bad points of the government among people and incite their hearts against it, and the result of this action is that people will hate their rulers.
And the truth: That this is a very wrong path, and contrary to the Shari'ah, and dangerous for society, and a cause of fitnah, and if he had striven to reform society itself, it would have been better for him,For example: to warn people from what is broadcast in the media, whether read, heard, or seen,He says: saying: Beware -for example- of these magazines! Beware of watching harmful things in religion, and in this world! Beware of such and such! Beware of such and such! Beware of riba, for example! Beware of bribery! That would have been better for him, and if society is reformed, then the rulers are part of society, they must be reformed, either by choice or by necessity, whereas pouring out his zeal on the rulers, in order to incite the hearts of people against them, so that evil and corruption result; this is undoubtedly contrary to the right path, and a deviation from the sound path, and it is not hidden from you all what happened of great fitnahs in the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, indeed in the time of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), so the evil and corruption that happened, and the permissibility of taking lives and wealth; was due to this; because the one who magnifies the fire is the one who minimizes the sparks.
Therefore, we see that such a path is a wrong and forbidden path, and it is not permissible.
If a person has true zeal, let him direct the people to good, and the wonder is that you find some people pouring out their zeal on their rulers, while they find in their people those who associate partners with Allah the Exalted, and they do not speak! And shirk is greater than what happened of sins from the rulers, or he goes and tries to interpret the verses according to the meanings he desires.
He says, for example: [Al-Ma'idah: 44] Then he says: Every system or every law that contradicts the Shari'ah is disbelief, and this is also an error.
And if we assume -on the far-fetched assumption- that the ruler is a disbeliever, does that mean that we should incite the hearts of people against him so that rebellion, chaos, and fighting occur? No, this is a mistake, and there is no doubt in that, so the benefit that this person wants cannot be achieved by this path, but rather great harms will result; because -for example- if a group of people rises against the ruler in the country, and the ruler has power and authority that these people do not have, what will happen? Will this small group prevail? They will not prevail, but on the contrary, evil, chaos, and corruption will occur, and affairs will not be straightened out.
And a person must look: First: With the eye of the Shari'ah, and he does not look at the Shari'ah with a blind eye either; to the texts from one side without the other side, but he combines the texts.
Second: He also looks with the eye of reason and wisdom, what are the consequences of this thing? Therefore, we see that such a path is a very wrong and dangerous path, and it is not permissible for a person to support one who follows it, but he should reject this with a firm rejection, and we are not speaking about a specific government; but we are speaking in general terms.
As for what concerns this government -and praise be to Allah- the country -as you know- is a country governed by the Islamic Shari'ah, and the judges do not judge except by the Islamic Shari'ah, and fasting is established, and Hajj is established, and lessons in the mosques are established, except for one who commits a violation or from whom fitnah is feared, then he must be prevented to avert evil and the causes of evil.
Then if we look -and praise be to Allah- to our country, we find that there is no building on graves, and no circumambulation of graves, and no Sufi innovations or others apparently, there may be Sufi innovations among people, or something similar secretly, this secret matter is not free from any society, so every society must have something of corruption in it.
If we look at this, and compare -and praise be to Allah- between this Kingdom, and the other countries near us; we find the great difference, in some countries near us, jars of intoxicants are openly sold in the markets, and restaurants are opened during the day in Ramadan, a person eats and drinks as he wishes, indeed there are prostitutes openly, until some people told me that those who come to some countries for tourism, since their descent from the airport; they find with them girls and boys -may Allah protect us-He says: saying: What do you choose? A boy or a girl? Openly, Glory be to Allah! A person must look at the reality of his government and the reality of his country, and not go and spread the bad points which the ruler may be excused for; for a reason or another, then he is completely blind to the benefits and utilities, as if the government has no good at all, this is not justice.
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: [Al-Ma'idah: 8] .
If someone were to say: What makes this a reality?We say: First: Zeal that has no limits,It is not restricted by the Shari'ah or by reason: And this returns to ignorance.
Second: Desire: So its cause is two things: either ignorance of the Shari'ah or of wisdom.
Or it is desire: Meaning that the person knows that this is a mistake; but for something in his heart against the rulers, he wants to vent himself by spreading such things; which cause people to be repelled by their rulers, and to incite their hearts against them.
The orders of the rulers are divided into categories: The first category: That which is not permissible to obey: This is when he orders him to disobey Allah,For example: such as ordering him to shave his beard, or ordering him to do things that are wrong; in this case, it is not permissible to obey them;For Allah the Exalted said:
O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْThe second category: That he orders what Allah and His Messenger have ordered: That the ruler orders what Allah and His Messenger have ordered from acts of worship,So if this is obligatory, such as: such as ordering congregational prayer, and checking on people regarding it, so his obedience here is obligatory,It is obligatory from two perspectives: The first aspect: That it is obligatory in the Shari'ah without the order of the ruler.
And the second: That it becomes more emphasized when the ruler orders it.
The third category: That he orders a worship that is not obligatory;But it is prescribed: such as ordering people to fast,He says: saying: O people! Fast tomorrow, for we are going out for the prayer for rain to seek rain, and the supplication of the fasting person is answered, so fast tomorrow, here his obedience is not obligatory; because this is a worship between the servant and his Lord, so his obedience is not obligatory.
The fourth category: That he orders what preserves security and the well-being of society: In this case, his obedience is obligatory, even if Allah and His Messenger have not ordered it, as long as it is not disobedience, like the current orders; in the systems that are established and do not contradict the Shari'ah, then obedience to the ruler in them is obligatory, and whoever disobeys and contradicts is sinful.
This is what comes to my mind now regarding the categories of obedience to the rulers.
But here is an issue, which is: That some people, out of their zeal for the religion of Allah the Exalted, when they see these wrongs, and that these wrongs are widespread among people, which is found in the newspapers, or heard on some radio stations, or seen via (satellite dishes) -for example- and they are zealous about this, and they see that the government is falling short in this matter, then they go and spread the bad points of the government among people and incite their hearts against it, and the result of this action is that people will hate their rulers.
And the truth: That this is a very wrong path, and contrary to the Shari'ah, and dangerous for society, and a cause of fitnah, and if he had striven to reform society itself, it would have been better for him,For example: to warn people from what is broadcast in the media, whether read, heard, or seen,He says: saying: Beware -for example- of these magazines! Beware of watching harmful things in religion, and in this world! Beware of such and such! Beware of such and such! Beware of riba, for example! Beware of bribery! That would have been better for him, and if society is reformed, then the rulers are part of society, they must be reformed, either by choice or by necessity, whereas pouring out his zeal on the rulers, in order to incite the hearts of people against them, so that evil and corruption result; this is undoubtedly contrary to the right path, and a deviation from the sound path, and it is not hidden from you all what happened of great fitnahs in the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, indeed in the time of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), so the evil and corruption that happened, and the permissibility of taking lives and wealth; was due to this; because the one who magnifies the fire is the one who minimizes the sparks.
Therefore, we see that such a path is a wrong and forbidden path, and it is not permissible.
If a person has true zeal, let him direct the people to good, and the wonder is that you find some people pouring out their zeal on their rulers, while they find in their people those who associate partners with Allah the Exalted, and they do not speak! And shirk is greater than what happened of sins from the rulers, or he goes and tries to interpret the verses according to the meanings he desires.
He says, for example:
And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers.
وَمَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَAnd if we assume -on the far-fetched assumption- that the ruler is a disbeliever, does that mean that we should incite the hearts of people against him so that rebellion, chaos, and fighting occur? No, this is a mistake, and there is no doubt in that, so the benefit that this person wants cannot be achieved by this path, but rather great harms will result; because -for example- if a group of people rises against the ruler in the country, and the ruler has power and authority that these people do not have, what will happen? Will this small group prevail? They will not prevail, but on the contrary, evil, chaos, and corruption will occur, and affairs will not be straightened out.
And a person must look: First: With the eye of the Shari'ah, and he does not look at the Shari'ah with a blind eye either; to the texts from one side without the other side, but he combines the texts.
Second: He also looks with the eye of reason and wisdom, what are the consequences of this thing? Therefore, we see that such a path is a very wrong and dangerous path, and it is not permissible for a person to support one who follows it, but he should reject this with a firm rejection, and we are not speaking about a specific government; but we are speaking in general terms.
As for what concerns this government -and praise be to Allah- the country -as you know- is a country governed by the Islamic Shari'ah, and the judges do not judge except by the Islamic Shari'ah, and fasting is established, and Hajj is established, and lessons in the mosques are established, except for one who commits a violation or from whom fitnah is feared, then he must be prevented to avert evil and the causes of evil.
Then if we look -and praise be to Allah- to our country, we find that there is no building on graves, and no circumambulation of graves, and no Sufi innovations or others apparently, there may be Sufi innovations among people, or something similar secretly, this secret matter is not free from any society, so every society must have something of corruption in it.
If we look at this, and compare -and praise be to Allah- between this Kingdom, and the other countries near us; we find the great difference, in some countries near us, jars of intoxicants are openly sold in the markets, and restaurants are opened during the day in Ramadan, a person eats and drinks as he wishes, indeed there are prostitutes openly, until some people told me that those who come to some countries for tourism, since their descent from the airport; they find with them girls and boys -may Allah protect us-He says: saying: What do you choose? A boy or a girl? Openly, Glory be to Allah! A person must look at the reality of his government and the reality of his country, and not go and spread the bad points which the ruler may be excused for; for a reason or another, then he is completely blind to the benefits and utilities, as if the government has no good at all, this is not justice.
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:
O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىIf someone were to say: What makes this a reality?We say: First: Zeal that has no limits,It is not restricted by the Shari'ah or by reason: And this returns to ignorance.
Second: Desire: So its cause is two things: either ignorance of the Shari'ah or of wisdom.
Or it is desire: Meaning that the person knows that this is a mistake; but for something in his heart against the rulers, he wants to vent himself by spreading such things; which cause people to be repelled by their rulers, and to incite their hearts against them.