What is the ruling on praying behind a Ba'athist? And does one Ba'athist differ from another?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, if you please: Iraqi brothers are asking about the ruling on praying behind a Ba'athist. What is the ruling on praying behind him?
The Shaykh : A Ba'athist, my brother, is either a Ba'athist in creed, in which case he is not a Muslim, or he is a Ba'athist for the sake of interest, but deep down in his heart he is a Muslim, and he may pray and fast, and so on. This person has the ruling of the original state, which is Islam, unlike the first one. Therefore, one should not mix the two matters, because we know that when we were in Syria, many of the Ba'athists were Ba'athists only for the sake of interest, yes?
The questioner : Benefit.
The Shaykh : For interest only, and it is possible that if the situation were left to them, they would mock, but this is, of course, not something that Islam approves of. However, we say this in the context of clarifying what is said: "O my Lord, some evil is less than some," meaning that the one who is a Ba'athist in creed is not a Muslim, obviously. As for the one who believes that Islam is the truth, and that it is what must be implemented, and the like of that, but he needs to live, as the moneylender, the seller of intoxicants, and many of those who engage in forbidden things would say to you: "We need to live." When you remind him, he agrees with you, but he says to you: "We need to live." So he does not fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but despite that, his lack of fear of Allah does not lead us to rule that he is a disbeliever or an apostate.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is the answer.
The questioner : Likewise, Shaykh, can you imagine!
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : If there are imams in the Ba'ath Party, even in the mosques!
The Shaykh : Hahaha, Allahu Akbar! What?
The questioner : That is, if there are Ba'athist imams in the Ba'ath Party who cover the mosques?
The Shaykh : A Ba'athist, my brother, is either a Ba'athist in creed, in which case he is not a Muslim, or he is a Ba'athist for the sake of interest, but deep down in his heart he is a Muslim, and he may pray and fast, and so on. This person has the ruling of the original state, which is Islam, unlike the first one. Therefore, one should not mix the two matters, because we know that when we were in Syria, many of the Ba'athists were Ba'athists only for the sake of interest, yes?
The questioner : Benefit.
The Shaykh : For interest only, and it is possible that if the situation were left to them, they would mock, but this is, of course, not something that Islam approves of. However, we say this in the context of clarifying what is said: "O my Lord, some evil is less than some," meaning that the one who is a Ba'athist in creed is not a Muslim, obviously. As for the one who believes that Islam is the truth, and that it is what must be implemented, and the like of that, but he needs to live, as the moneylender, the seller of intoxicants, and many of those who engage in forbidden things would say to you: "We need to live." When you remind him, he agrees with you, but he says to you: "We need to live." So he does not fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but despite that, his lack of fear of Allah does not lead us to rule that he is a disbeliever or an apostate.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is the answer.
The questioner : Likewise, Shaykh, can you imagine!
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : If there are imams in the Ba'ath Party, even in the mosques!
The Shaykh : Hahaha, Allahu Akbar! What?
The questioner : That is, if there are Ba'athist imams in the Ba'ath Party who cover the mosques?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.