If the Shaykh were in Ibn Baz's position, would his ruling regarding the presence of disbelievers in the Kingdom change?

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : We hope our Shaykh will graciously answer a question posed by some of our brothers among the students of knowledge: If you imagine yourselves living in these circumstances in Saudi Arabia, in a situation like that of Ibn Baz, for example, would your ruling change from what it is now regarding the presence of foreigners in the lands of the Hijaz? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : This question does not arise from the current situation, as the earth is inhabited, right? In fact, a question like this was put to me in some gatherings a few weeks ago, because we were in a session andThose present : there, unfortunately, if that is the correct expression, there was a heated language, and a lot of discussion took place to convince them from the Sharia perspective that Saddam Hussein's annexation of Kuwait is not permissible. A long discussion took place on this matter, and among the things I said was that this bad aggression, which contradicts the Sharia, had many and very many consequences of trials and harms. I am now presenting the summary of them: the Saudi government sought the aid of the disbelievers, and this seeking of aid, which contradicts the Sharia, is one of the consequences of that aggressive aggression by Saddam against Kuwait. In that session, I resorted to a beautiful and appropriate Arabic proverb to illustrate the point, which is their saying: "The wall said to the nail, 'Why do you split me?' It said, 'Ask the one who hammers me.'" Some of the attendees were surprised by my statement that the Saudi state erred and contradicted the clear Islamic rule established by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who, as Allah described him in the Qur'an, said: It is not a jurisprudential rule that could be a school-specific rule for some and contradicted by other jurists; this rule was established by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) as a legislation from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and it is His saying (peace and blessings be upon him), as in Sahih Muslim: And in the other hadith narrated by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak with the wording: After I had elaborated on the error of both states, the aggressive state and the state that contradicted the text of the hadith, one of them became bold and was frank with me, saying, "This is the question you just heard, meaning, O Shaykh, if you were in Saudi Arabia, would you say this?" It seems that people today, unfortunately, no longer have good opinion of the scholars and that there may be among them those who speak out for the truth; they no longer have such an opinion. Therefore, this question came from the absence of such an opinion. He said, "If you were in Saudi Arabia, would you answer with this answer?" I said, with all frankness and simplicity, "By Allah, I do not possess anything but myself, and the hearts of the servants are between the fingers of the Merciful, who turns them as He wills. We ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) not to test us, and if He tests us, to grant us patience. I do not know and I do not judge the unseen, but in my opinion, I do not find in myself currently, nor in the past experiences and trials I have undergone, anything that would make me hesitate in answering your question. Yes, I will say exactly what you are hearing. And now, excuse me, before that, I mentioned in that session that I may have been afflicted with what you are assuming if I were tested. What would my position be? I said: The Ba'athists in Syria summoned us many times, for interrogations and questioning. On some days, they asked me, 'What do you say about the current rulers, meaning the Ba'athist rulers, the president, the ministers, and those below them?' I said, 'I do not know them.' He said, 'Okay, what do you say about the current rule, meaning the Ba'ath rule? Do you support it?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'Why?' I said, 'Because it contradicts Islam.' From there to prison, which is a byword in Sham, because there is no fortress in the capital itself, but it is on the border of Iraq in an area called al-Hasakah. This prison was built by him, and it is one of the merits of Abd al-Nasser, whose hypocrisy and harm to the Islamic world you know. The prison ceiling is about ten meters high, and in the cold winter, there is no heating and nothing else. The light is hanging there on the ceiling above. There is a story I do not want to mention now. To return to the complete answer to this question, I said to the questioner mentioned earlier, and I am now commenting on this question, that in my opinion, if I were summoned after this clear answer by which I testify to Allah, that seeking the aid of the disbelievers, especially the Americans, and being content with their entry into the lands of Islam to seek their aid against the aggressor, this contradicts the Sharia. If we assume that they summoned me and interrogated me in the Saudi intelligence, I am adding this now on the occasion of the question: I do not think the Saudi intelligence is anything but, if they are not better than the Syrian intelligence, at least they will not be worse than them. And if that is the case, what do I fear? Especially since I said in that session, and I have reached the extreme of old age, if I, in the prime of my youth, answered with the answer that contradicts the disbelieving party and said, 'I do not support it because it contradicts Islam,' then what will the Saudi intelligence do with the old man? They will imprison him. There is nothing more than that. So I think the answer will be this that you are hearing, always and forever. Some people say, 'Are you not afraid that your answer will be a reason for preventing you from Hajj and 'Umrah?' I say: Praise be to Allah, we have performed the obligatory Hajj of Islam, and we have performed about thirty Hajjs seeking nearness to Allah, and we have performed 'Umrah as Allah wills for a long time. Perhaps I do not know if I am able, if the doors of Hajj and 'Umrah are opened to me, to repeat them with the strength I have left. If they prevent me from Hajj and 'Umrah, I will say with the language of the situation, not with the language of speech: 'You are drunk and I am invalid.' ... I have taken the answer.

The questioner : Yes, but I have an addendum?

The Shaykh : Good.

The questioner : I hope you will answer it for us. Is it correct to say, out of good opinion ofThe Shaykh : Ibn Baz, that he issued his ruling to block the door of fitnah, or based on evidence that stood before him and he was convinced by it, especially since he is known for knowledge and mindfulness of Allah, and we do not praise anyone above Allah?

The Shaykh : We cannot say in the case of such a personThe Shaykh : and others like him, of whom we first testify to beneficial knowledge and secondly to righteous action, except that it must be one of two things; it cannot be anything but one of the two. But I see that there cannot be a correct evidence that justifies this painful reality, which is allowing the Crusaders, of all their races, in their great numbers and strength, to enter the lands of Islam. I do not say for the cheapest price, but without any price, but with a price paid to them instead of them paying it. There cannot be such an evidence, and we have heard in what we have read and what has been reported to us.