Questioned about how to establish the Muslim state in an era in which we apply the hadith of seclusion.

Abu Abd al-Rahman: May Allah reward you. I do not know; it seems I understood, and I want to present this understanding of mine of the hadith. That this situation is specific, meaning it may be in the end times, where affairs become corrupt and there is no option for the person except, meaning, the affairs of the people have become corrupt, unfortunately, so it is with this solution. The issue of the brother’s question stirred me, may Allah reward him with good. How is it, meaning, the establishment of the Islamic society through the action, meaning, for example, of Hudhayfah? I did not understand it, and I used to understand it previously as a specific situation, which may be in the end times, meaning, the people become corrupt such that, meaning, desire becomes widespread and spreads, such that a person saves himself. Of course, the most prominent of these, as you mentioned, is partisanship and tribalism, and so on. But it seems like a specific situation in the end times, such that the place of the question does not apply, where it is said, “How is the state of Islam established?” Such that it is better for a person to save himself, because now there is no room for a person, meaning, he can barely preserve himself or preserve his family.

Another questioner: Meaning, there is a way of escape, seclusion. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him I do not know. Did the Shaykh stop at this narration or not?

The Shaykh: How, Abu Abd al-Rahman? Meaning, the hadith is very clear that if there is no imam pledged to by the Muslims, then you seclude yourself from all those factions. You are now, as I understand from your words, and Allah knows best, restricting the indication of the hadith and confining it to a specific time, which is the end times. And first, how can the end times be defined? How is it possible, while ignoring the cause mentioned in the hadith, which is that there is no imam for that group? So now, if someone said to us, “This is the end times that pertains to the seclusion from all the factions,” and I said to him, “What is the evidence?” It is the absence of the caliph. What would be the answer? What did you say, Abu Abd al-Rahman? What did you say to me regarding your restriction of the issue to the end times, while the cause exists and is present?
Abu Abd al-Rahman: You are right, but my words did not help me; my intention was not helped, and that was my purpose.

The Shaykh : How?
Abu Abd al-Rahman: What I intended was that the Muslims reach a level of corruption. The word “end times” is undoubtedly an error, but I intended that the Muslims reach a level of corruption such that the brother’s question, “How do they establish the Islamic society?” does not apply, for example, in this situation? It is as if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke of this, that the situation reaches a great corruption, and this solution is that they do such and such. Here the question applies, meaning, it burdens them with what they cannot bear, which is more than this, and it is the brother’s question: How do they establish the Islamic society or the state of Islam through seclusion? Meaning, in this situation where the Muslims are in collapse. So I do not know what your opinion is?

The Shaykh: My brother, the Messenger. We said just now, we are the best of guidance, the guidance of Muhammad. Now we are speaking while clinging to the word “seclusion.” Did the Messenger (peace be upon him) seclude himself from the polytheists or not? And what does the verse say: So now, what is the answer? Did the prophets, and the last of them Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), seclude themselves from the polytheists or not? My answer is: they secluded themselves and they did not seclude themselves. And this answer is the answer pertaining to the hadith of Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him). But to clarify the issue, what is your answer now? Did the Messenger seclude himself from the polytheists or not?
Abu Abd al-Rahman: Yes, he secluded himself.

The Shaykh: Good. Did he fulfill the duty of advising them, guiding them, and directing them?
Abu Abd al-Rahman: Without a doubt.

The Shaykh: So it is possible to combine their seclusion and their non-seclusion. Their seclusion is in their methodology, in their misguidance, in their mixing, and so on. But this does not mean secluding from them in the sense of not fulfilling the duty of teaching them, directing them, and calling them to the oneness of Allah and to the rulings of Islam.
Abu Abd al-Rahman: Yes.

The Shaykh: And history repeats itself, and the Islamic society is not realized except that there is a core that enjoins good and forbids evil. And this does not mean that they seclude themselves from the other people, do not advise them, and do not direct them to what they want, to the good they have. So there is no problem. The Islamic society is realized with that seclusion, and with the realization of seclusion in the second sense. Yes.

The questioner: There remains a final problem, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.

The questioner: The heart is reassured by all the words you said. But when I reviewed Fath al-Bari in the explanation of the hadith by Ibn Hajar, he mentioned in a narration a path whose authenticity I did not know. This is the narration that poses a problem for the words I said.

The Shaykh: Please, and what is it?

The questioner: It contains that Hudhayfah, after asking the Prophet, “If there is no imam or group for the Muslims,” said This wording poses a problem.

The Shaykh: It is the same escape, my brother. There is no problem. Escape is seclusion. Meaning, escape is not from not advising them, but escape is from not participating in their methodology, and in their partisanship and grouping. So there is no problem. Meaning, escape and seclusion are two different terms that meet in one reality, which is secluding from their methodology and escaping from their methodology, and not escaping from calling them to act according to the Book and the Sunnah without any figurative interpretation or change.