What is your opinion on what some people do by going on hunger strikes to influence rulers so that their demands are met?

The questioner : May Allah reward you. Is it permissible for the general public, or some of the general public, to fast in front of the rulers' palaces and in front of the rulers, so that some of their requests are granted?

The Shaykh : To fast from food?

The questioner : To fast from food, express disapproval, and stand in front of the palaces and in front of this, so that...

The Shaykh : No. This is a custom of the disbelieving foreigners. It is not permissible for a Muslim to adopt it as a means to express their dissatisfaction with something issued by the state. And we must keep in mind on this occasion his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in his well-known hadith: Among those hadiths that can be considered a detail for this hadith is His saying (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him): , , and stranger than this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was returning from a military expedition when they passed by some date palm trees on which the polytheists used to hang their weapons. So some of the Companions said: a word they said So he (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) said, expressing disapproval: Look at the difference between the two statements. Those people said, "Make for us a god to worship other than Allah." As for the followers of the Messenger, "Make for us a tree with a Dhat Anwat, as they have a Dhat Anwat." There is a great difference between the two statements. The first has to do with belief, indeed with worship, with the oneness of Allah, and with what contradicts the oneness of Allah, namely major shirk: "Make for us a god as they have gods." And the saying of some of the Companions: has no relation to belief or to jurisprudence, but rather it has a relation that we might call some social aspects. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not approve of this imitation, even though the subject matter is completely separate from the other. He rebuked them for saying "as they have a Dhat Anwat." So this hadith confirms that Muslims must have a distinct personality completely independent of the disbelievers, not only inwardly but also outwardly. They have a special personality distinguished from the personalities of the disbelieving nations or peoples. So a Muslim starving himself is exactly like shaving the head. In some Sufi paths, if a Muslim belonged to a Shaykh who had a path, he would show him his complete submission, represented by their saying, meaning the Sufis, "The aspirant before the Shaykh is like the dead before the washer." To realize this blind submission, which contradicts the saying of the Exalted: They declare that principle, which contradicts insight, by ordering the one who belongs to the path to shave his head. So we know that shaving the head is worship and obedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in some places, and it is permissible in other places, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: As for in Hajj, And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as it came in the two Sahihs, said: So, since shaving is worship and a ritual of Hajj, it is not permissible by the Shari'ah to transfer it to another occasion, as the Sufis or some of the Sufi Shaykhs adopted it as a method and a path for them, which I explained just now. Likewise, fasting. Fasting is obedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and it has its system, its conditions, and its pillars. If a Muslim wanted to continue the night with the day, he would be a sinner, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So continuing the fast, which is obedience and worship to Allah, is not permissible. How then is it permissible in the Shari'ah of Allah to go on a hunger strike and continue the night and the day, following the way of the disbelievers? Here there are two violations. The first violation is what we have been discussing, which is imitating the disbelievers. And the other violation is that we have legislated for ourselves continuing to abstain from food, where it is not permissible in worship, let alone in other than worship. Yes.