What is the ruling on seeking the assistance of disbelievers? And a response to Hassan 'Abd al-Mannan, who denied the obligation of seeking permission from one's parents in collective obligation jihad.

The Shaykh : On this occasion, an example comes to mind, and there are many, many examples, but they do not always come to mind except for one that I recently studied and drew a lesson from. On this occasion, I say: Have you looked at a book about seeking the assistance of disbelievers? Is this a new book?
Al-Halabi : Is the author Hassan?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is it.
Al-Halabi : Have you seen it?

The Shaykh : Who is this Hassan?
Al-Halabi : It is the same Shaykh, our Shaykh, who called you regarding the hadiths, the one who was with Shu'ayb.

The Shaykh : It is this one.
Al-Halabi : Yes, exactly.

The Shaykh : This research addressed this topic very well to a large extent. The issue of seeking the assistance of disbelievers, which actually occurred in Saudi Arabia, was comprehensively covered...
Al-Halabi : In this specific issue, or in the book as a whole?

The Shaykh : In this specific issue.
Al-Halabi : So your current statement is about this specific issue?

The Shaykh : No. I am saying that he spoke well specifically about this issue, but the example I want to mention now is what came before this issue. He addressed the topic of jihad and its virtue, and that scholars say jihad is of two types: individual obligation and collective obligation. And that scholars—and here the man begins his error—criticized the scholars who said that the one who fights in the second type, which is collective obligation, must seek permission from his parents. He denied this and relied on the general evidences that encourage jihad and explain its virtue, and so on. He thus fell into a very serious error that a scholar or jurist with a general culture of the evidences of the Book and the Sunnah in legal rulings could not possibly make. For example, if he had kept in mind the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): And you all know that there are days designated for very great virtues, such as fasting on the day of 'Ashura and fasting on the day of 'Arafah, which expiates the past and future year. This is not part of Ramadan, so a wife does not have the right to fast anything other than Ramadan, even these virtuous days, without her husband's permission. And such hadiths are other evidences that restrict the wife to obeying her husband except in disobedience to Allah. Also included in this is obeying the Muslim ruler who adopts Islam as a system, constitution, and law. It is obligatory to obey him in what is not originally obligatory by law and Shari'ah, and it is not permissible to disobey him. If he orders something that is not obligatory, that order, which was not obligatory, becomes obligatory, and it is not permissible to disobey him absolutely, except in the case of individual obligation. These texts give the one who studies them a specific culture. When he comes to a topic like collective obligation jihad and finds scholars saying that permission must be sought, he then objects: Why is this great obligation, by which our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) honors Islam and its people, restricted in this way? And on this occasion, he tries to divert the meaning of the well-known hadith in which a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have come to you to fight with you, and I have left my parents weeping." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He says here that there is no command to seek permission; that is what he says, because he took the wording literally. These are examples, or a few of the examples, that if a person is ignorant of them, he falls into such a very broad understanding that even the most obedient of people to Allah and His Messenger cannot proceed to present any knowledge to people, even if it is at the height of perfection. I say that if every Muslim performed what is obligatory of knowledge upon him, the Muslims would not be in the state they are currently living in. But if we expand this circle to say that it is obligatory for every Muslim to present any known information to the Muslims, I say now that because knowledge may have a very broad implication, any information he knows that benefits people in it, even in food and drink and the like, this means that we have placed ourselves in disobedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) without being obligated to impose such a restriction on ourselves. This is, in reality, part of the misfortune of relying on study that is not restricted by a scientific methodology upon which the efforts of scholars have converged since Allah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) until Allah inherits the earth and those upon it. This is the answer to what you asked, from what comes to mind.
Abu Layla : Our Shaykh, regarding the issue of seeking assistance, in a book of a brother who, of course, sought assistance in some of the tapes that you spoke about regarding the issue of seeking assistance and so on...

The Shaykh : You reminded me. Do you know what came to my mind? That this is your authorship, but you hid behind a name because of the many ideas that are my ideas...
Abu Layla : Our Shaykh, he took the tapes from us.