A dispute arose among the brothers in our country (the questioner is Shaykh Mashhur) regarding the money collected for the zakah committees, and everyone accuses the others, and some say that
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Mashhur: Our Shaykh, some of the brothers among us, students of knowledge, have a severe disagreement regarding the money, and I mean the money collected in the name of the zakah committee!
The Shaykh : There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
Mashhur: And some of the brothers quote from you some fatwas, saying the Shaykh permits whoever goes abroad to collect money to take a percentage if they specified it and he did not specify it. We ask our Shaykhs for advice to these brothers, for the accusations have almost reached every worshipper who prays in the mosques... completely, and everyone is accused of being a thief, and everyone speaks ill of the other, and the disagreement is severe and indescribable, and everyone accuses the other of amounts, whether small or large, some of them truthful, some of them lying, they are all liars, Allah knows best about that. I want us to benefit from the Shari'ah ruling in the matter I mentioned and quoted from you, may Allah reward you with good. And I also want a word from you and from Shaykh Abu Malik, may Allah reward you with good, as advice to these brothers: should they remain in the committees... zakah committees? Should we gather? What is our position toward each other, and everyone is surrounded by doubts, and there are signs and indicators of accusation?
Abu Malik: Regarding the question for the brother Mashhur...
The Shaykh : How long has this been going on?
Mashhur: It started from the very beginning, about a year ago, and now Abu Malik: I am accusing you now
Mashhur: May Allah honor you...
Abu Malik: ... it was supposed to be expedited from the beginning of the matter until... and so that it does not leave negative effects... more than what you indicated...
Mashhur: ... the truth is, we sat for a long time, we disagreed a lot, and we said our Shaykhs are busy with what they are busy with... the matter is between us, and we made many appointments, and there were sessions and sessions, and despite this, now the boycott is the natural state between the brothers, meaning it is not just boycott, but also accusation and the like?
The Shaykh : Less than a week ago, I advised one of them, and he had come to me to take from me a certificate of good character... from the certification committee, and I advised him not to participate...
Mashhur: ... after the advice.
The Shaykh : ... and now, due to the many complaints that reach us, and I feel from some of their questions to me that they want to take from me an approval that helps them to take... from a bounty or from a salary or pension!
Abu Malik: An implicit approval, not explicit...
The Shaykh : I see now that the matter of these committees is exactly like the matter of elections held in some Islamic countries, and you all know that we do not see the legitimacy of these elections because, first, they are foreign, Western, disbelieving methods, and second, fraud, deception, and buying of consciences and the like can occur in them. But at the same time, I see that if there are groups or parties, and each party proposes people, and among them are Islamic people, we see, from the perspective of reducing evil and encouraging good, and from the perspective of repelling the greater harm with the lesser, that we should vote. And we do not see, neither that we vote nor that we are voted for, but that we vote for the least evil among those who reach what they call the National Assembly, i.e., the parliament.
Mashhur: Our Shaykh, the entire disagreement among us is between the Salafi brothers, and the Endowments speak about the Salafis with words that have no beginning or end. The officials now are liars, charlatans, and thieves, and the Endowments have what proves against some of the brothers, and the brothers against themselves forged my signature and gave me his signature, meaning words of this kind... advice from our Shaykh specifically regarding this incident, may Allah honor you.
The Shaykh : I presented this to say that, just as we do not advise anyone to nominate himself to be elected, so we do not advise any of our brothers to nominate himself to be in one of the zakah committees. And I said to the one I advised not to do so that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say, as it came in the authentic hadithSahih Ibn Hibban 13:15 and we are exposed to trials. So this collector who is tasked to go to the lands of disbelief and misguidance to collect from some Muslims who were afflicted with residing in those lands, who prevents him from stealing something that was given to him and for which he did not present a receipt? And who guarantees, as you quoted and as we also heard from some people before, we were afflicted with people like them two or three years ago, and it is the manipulation of numbers, and this is a very easy matter, yes.
Mashhur: The ledgers, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And therefore, among what I said to this one and others, we are in need of students of knowledge who, after earning their lawful sustenance through lawful earnings, devote themselves to knowledge, because society is in need of students of knowledge, let alone that they are in need of... their preoccupation with collecting money, I said to one of them, these means of collecting money are mastered perhaps by disbelievers more than Muslims, and among Muslims are those who are not there in righteousness and piety, because this... and therefore we never advise any of our brothers, even if he is not a Salafi but he is righteous, not to enter this entrance and not to go through this passage.
Mashhur: Our Shaykh, I want to ask about some details.
The Shaykh : Please proceed.
Mashhur: May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
Mashhur: And some of the brothers quote from you some fatwas, saying the Shaykh permits whoever goes abroad to collect money to take a percentage if they specified it and he did not specify it. We ask our Shaykhs for advice to these brothers, for the accusations have almost reached every worshipper who prays in the mosques... completely, and everyone is accused of being a thief, and everyone speaks ill of the other, and the disagreement is severe and indescribable, and everyone accuses the other of amounts, whether small or large, some of them truthful, some of them lying, they are all liars, Allah knows best about that. I want us to benefit from the Shari'ah ruling in the matter I mentioned and quoted from you, may Allah reward you with good. And I also want a word from you and from Shaykh Abu Malik, may Allah reward you with good, as advice to these brothers: should they remain in the committees... zakah committees? Should we gather? What is our position toward each other, and everyone is surrounded by doubts, and there are signs and indicators of accusation?
Abu Malik: Regarding the question for the brother Mashhur...
The Shaykh : How long has this been going on?
Mashhur: It started from the very beginning, about a year ago, and now Abu Malik: I am accusing you now
Mashhur: May Allah honor you...
Abu Malik: ... it was supposed to be expedited from the beginning of the matter until... and so that it does not leave negative effects... more than what you indicated...
Mashhur: ... the truth is, we sat for a long time, we disagreed a lot, and we said our Shaykhs are busy with what they are busy with... the matter is between us, and we made many appointments, and there were sessions and sessions, and despite this, now the boycott is the natural state between the brothers, meaning it is not just boycott, but also accusation and the like?
The Shaykh : Less than a week ago, I advised one of them, and he had come to me to take from me a certificate of good character... from the certification committee, and I advised him not to participate...
Mashhur: ... after the advice.
The Shaykh : ... and now, due to the many complaints that reach us, and I feel from some of their questions to me that they want to take from me an approval that helps them to take... from a bounty or from a salary or pension!
Abu Malik: An implicit approval, not explicit...
The Shaykh : I see now that the matter of these committees is exactly like the matter of elections held in some Islamic countries, and you all know that we do not see the legitimacy of these elections because, first, they are foreign, Western, disbelieving methods, and second, fraud, deception, and buying of consciences and the like can occur in them. But at the same time, I see that if there are groups or parties, and each party proposes people, and among them are Islamic people, we see, from the perspective of reducing evil and encouraging good, and from the perspective of repelling the greater harm with the lesser, that we should vote. And we do not see, neither that we vote nor that we are voted for, but that we vote for the least evil among those who reach what they call the National Assembly, i.e., the parliament.
Mashhur: Our Shaykh, the entire disagreement among us is between the Salafi brothers, and the Endowments speak about the Salafis with words that have no beginning or end. The officials now are liars, charlatans, and thieves, and the Endowments have what proves against some of the brothers, and the brothers against themselves forged my signature and gave me his signature, meaning words of this kind... advice from our Shaykh specifically regarding this incident, may Allah honor you.
The Shaykh : I presented this to say that, just as we do not advise anyone to nominate himself to be elected, so we do not advise any of our brothers to nominate himself to be in one of the zakah committees. And I said to the one I advised not to do so that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say, as it came in the authentic hadith
Every nation has a trial, and the trial of my nation is wealth
إن لكل أمة فتنة و إن فتنة أمتي المالMashhur: The ledgers, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And therefore, among what I said to this one and others, we are in need of students of knowledge who, after earning their lawful sustenance through lawful earnings, devote themselves to knowledge, because society is in need of students of knowledge, let alone that they are in need of... their preoccupation with collecting money, I said to one of them, these means of collecting money are mastered perhaps by disbelievers more than Muslims, and among Muslims are those who are not there in righteousness and piety, because this... and therefore we never advise any of our brothers, even if he is not a Salafi but he is righteous, not to enter this entrance and not to go through this passage.
Mashhur: Our Shaykh, I want to ask about some details.
The Shaykh : Please proceed.
Mashhur: May Allah bless you.