Mentioning some of the evidence for Salman al-Oudah’s position on the permissibility of seeking religious positions and discussing that.

The student: ... O Shaykh, here he says: He is saying ... "The one who is concerned for the good of himself and the good of the Muslims is the one who offers what he has of knowledge, understanding, and jurisprudence, even if it is little, without claiming what is not his, and who competes with the people of misguidance and religious innovation in leading the Islamic societies and directing them, and who benefits from the opportune moments in that, while being intensely concerned for the safety of his own self from attachment to the world, fame, and status among people ... But if he finds that his self does not submit to doing this beneficial good that benefits all people, in terms of knowledge, teaching, leadership, direction, and taking the lead, except with some worldly motives, such as acquiring wealth, or a desire for fame or rank, or the like, and the harm of these things is less than the benefit resulting from these actions, with his readiness to abandon these charitable acts out of aversion to what is mixed with them."

The Shaykh: Aversion.
The student: "Aversion to what is mixed with them, which indicates his sincerity and the goodness of his intention, and his desire for the intention in the work to be completely independent and pure from every impurity. Indeed, his direct engagement with these beneficial righteous acts, and his enduring them while struggling his self for complete sincerity so that the desire does not settle in immediate motives, is better than his withdrawal and leaving the field to no one except the corrupters, the deviants, and the hypocrites, especially when there is no one to perform these obligations and no one to take them up sufficiently to direct the general public, call them, teach them, enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong. The scholars and the righteous performing the duty of calling, conveying, and forbidding, along with what that entails of taking the lead, prominence, and visibility, is beneficial in forbidding the major wrongs that require, in their forbidding, a strength that surrounds the wrong, giving it power and weight, and protecting it from the harm of the people of wrong reaching it. This is like the widespread, famous, and established wrongs that people have become accustomed to and familiar with until they became part of their lives, and the wrongs behind which stand the hidden hypocrites, whether they are people of authority, influence, and empowerment, or those who surround the people of authority, influence, and empowerment, and the wrongs behind which stand some of those who claim to be of religion, knowledge, or the Shari'ah, while in reality they are from the people of heresy, ignorance, and desire. And among what should be noted is that Allah the Exalted praised the believers for their supplication and their saying: "

The Shaykh: Amen, amen, amen.
The student: "And seeking the Imamate in religion is something for which one is praised and commended, and there is no blame in it in any way. Likewise," when Uthman ibn Abi al-As came, he said: O Messenger of Allah, make me the Imam of my people. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "

The Shaykh: He said, how did he say it?
The student: He said: Make me the Imam of my people.

The Shaykh: The one before it.
The student: "Likewise," when Uthman ibn Abi al-As came, he said: O Messenger of Allah, make me the Imam of my people. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: . A hadith narrated by al-Tirmidhi, and the hadith is produced, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved him in seeking the Imamate and did not blame him for it, but rather said to him: , then he advised him with some advices related to the Imamate and the obligation of gentleness with the subjects and appointing the capable and sincere ones who do not seek reward except from Allah. This is regarding the religious Imamate. As for what is related to the worldly Imamate, if one’s intention is the governorship, for example, or the job, then what is said about him is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura: . So it is fitting for the caller and the student of knowledge to know the motives and obstacles and their reality, and whether they are lawful, Shari'ah-compliant motives or obstacles, or whether they are from the castings of Satan that adorn themselves in the soul with the attire of good while being the opposite of that? And often these weak, evil forces ally themselves to perfect the stories of alienation and spread fitnah, and they unite against the Sunnah and its people. And often the rulers and governors who deviate from the Shari'ah and stray from the methodology of the Prophethood find in the customs and habits of people an excuse to leave the wrongs, or even to spread and disseminate them, and to neglect enjoining what is right and suppressing it, and to restrict the people of it and deepen their disturbance ... those who claim to be of religion, from the Sufis, the mercenaries, and the self-interested, and their like who rub against it to show their concern for religion and their care for it, in exchange for being empowered to spread their misguided paths among the Muslims and promote them, in accordance with His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): " And then he continues about change by force that it is not correct.
Shuqara: I want to ask a question. This speech that he is talking about, can a person know it from himself, but do people know it from him?

The Shaykh: Of course.
The student: Those who are experts in it may know.
Shuqara: Also, the people who are closest to him do not know this matter. So if you want to judge this and have everyone judge himself by such a standard, and no one can know, as we said, by what he judges himself, then this is a matter that cannot be done in the way mentioned. When do you fix this method? If the others know from him what he knows from himself, they would say, O son of the free, do not decide. When the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abdullah ibn Samura.

The Shaykh: ... He said.
Shuqara: To Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura, when he said: , the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) knew from his Companions, even if it was not by revelation, by the intelligence Allah gave him, what the Companions knew from themselves. And so he understood the psychology of the Companions. Does this matter mean, with the prevalence of jobs and positions and their multitude, and the abundance of wealth flowing under people’s feet, and the expansion of the scope of sustenance for the servants, can all these be judged by others regarding a person? I think not. So this issue, this matter, Brother Salman treats it as if he is treating only himself, he is not treating the others. If the righteous took the positions, and let us suppose that the righteous are twenty percent of the total people existing, we estimate them this way, do you think that these twenty percent, meaning those we think are righteous in what appears to us, are they truly righteous or not? And secondly, can they be patient with the hardships of these jobs and stand firm against their temptations? And thirdly, what guarantees us the danger that these will fall into, while they know from themselves what people do not know of them? And fourthly, do you guarantee that after they fall into the traps, not of alienation, but of fitnah, wealth, jobs, and positions, do you guarantee that they will benefit the Muslims in any way? If one or two or three or four remain, we will say, by Allah, in such-and-such ministry there is a righteous man named so-and-so, but he has no control over his own affairs at all.

The Shaykh: We are seeing the big ones ... with time they developed, and I think you are with me in this.
The student: There is no doubt this exists.

The Shaykh: So how do we encourage people to ascend to these centers and positions to perform the duty? It is a duty, but we must preserve his self before others .
Al-Halabi: Our Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes.
Al-Halabi: To complete the speech of our brother, Professor Abu Malik, may Allah reward him with good, meaning and treating the same point but in another way, as I perceive, and I hope you will correct my speech, perhaps there is a side of error or correctness in it.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.
Al-Halabi: So I say, O our Shaykh, Brother Salman’s restriction, I mean his restriction of the prohibition of seeking the governorship by worldly intention, while permitting the seeking of the Imamate by religious intention, does it not reflect back on him that it can be said that there is one who seeks the Imamate, which is religious, with a worldly intention, and there is one who seeks the governorship, which is worldly, for a religious intention.
The student: This is defective. He does not permit this.
Al-Halabi: Meaning, the same speech reflects back on him, the saying reflects back on him.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student: Meaning, the research is.
Al-Halabi : I mean, is the shortening of the prayer for a worldly sin? This shortening is not something the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did. When he forbade 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Samurah, did he forbid him something purely worldly, knowing from his companions their elevation in faith and their high standing in piety? Oh, my Shaykh.
The student : I mean, now, whoever seeks the leadership in religion, and it is for the sake of the worldly life, is certainly blameworthy, without any doubt. It is not said that it is permissible for him to do so if his intention is defective.
Al-Halabi : And the opposite.
The student : And the opposite may be correct, but it is rare. For example, the saying of Yusuf (peace be upon him): .
Shuqara: Glory to Allah, I want to say that, if Allah wills, it will not be cited as evidence.
Al-Halabi : This is the same argument.
The student : Here, no, it is not here, but it is not said here that if it becomes necessary, it may be.
Shuqara: This is like Bilqis, exactly. This is like Bilqis.
The student : Now, it is not always the case. Sometimes it may become necessary for one man, with no one else available, to perform this task, and there is no one more suitable than him. In that case, it may be him.
Al-Halabi : This work, in reality, has no fixed standard, oh my Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : Yes, it has no fixed standard. We say here that matters may become narrow, so he came with the rule first and explained that matters may overlap and become mixed. Here, the Muslim must exert his effort to know the harm and the benefit, and which of the two is stronger. If he sees that the benefit is stronger and the benefits he obtains are greater than the harm he will be exposed to, he proceeds. And if he sees that the harm is greater and it prevails in his opinion that the harm is greater, he refrains.