Advice to political preachers in all parts of the world.

The questioner : Our hearts bleed for our brothers in Egypt regarding the call to Islam and others, for example, intervening in politics, debating the ruler, and brandishing weapons in another place. We know the answer from your eminence beforehand, but we want your eminence to offer general advice to these brothers that is better than prisons and the like.

The Shaykh : We have spoken a great deal and advised many times and many times. Our call is not, I do not say it is based on turning away from politics, but it is based on starting with the most important of political matters in Islam, and of course, we mean the Shari'ah politics. Shari'ah politics is a necessity. When the Islamic community becomes an established reality, there must then be a person who governs them and directs them by the wise Shari'ah. But before engaging in politics, and as you see, people are scattered into parties and sects: , this is not the time for Islam to engage in politics. Politics comes later. But the most important thing that every Islamic group must agree upon is the realization of the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. We believe that the millions of Muslims testify to these two testimonies, saying "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," but at the same time, most of these millions do not know the meaning of this good word, "There is no god but Allah," and what follows it, the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They do not understand its meanings or their meanings. Most of these millions of Muslims are like this. Then, if there are among them, and there are, praise be to Allah, those who understand the meaning of this good word, many of them do not fulfill its right in action. They understand it, unlike the majority, they understand the meaning but do not act upon what it requires of Shari'ah actions. Therefore, it is obligatory for every Muslim group that wants to make the state of Islam an established reality, and for the Muslims to regain their past glory and honor, that before anything else, before calling for politics, economics, society, and the like of the modern terms today, which the disbelievers revolve around because they do not care about anything else except that, because their worldly, immediate life is based on politics, economics, and so on, but Muslims are not like that. Muslims must believe, before anything else, in their immediate life, their eternal, everlasting life, in the manner that pleases Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And it is not to be done by engaging in these matters initially. I confirm to you, initially, that they must start by understanding this good word, calling to it, and acting upon it to the extent of each individual Muslim's ability. Among the sayings we have passed through is the saying of some: "Whoever hastens a matter before its time is afflicted with its deprivation." These revolutions carried out by some Islamic groups are a case of hastening a matter before its time. And so the result was that they were afflicted with its deprivation. How many, how many, how many revolutions have risen here and there, and what did they gain from it except thorns and bitter gourd, the bitter patience? Why? As a result of the fact that they contradicted the guidance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in that many of them want to follow his Sunnah (peace be upon him), but the unbridled emotions, whose unbridling is not restrained except by beneficial knowledge, which is the knowledge derived from the Book of Allah and from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which is the authentic hadith, they have forbidden it when they rose up and hastened the matter. Because we all share in knowing that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when the first thing that descended upon his heart was: , when he was commanded with this command, he did not engage in fighting the society in which he lived with the sword and force. Rather, he did not even work to fight the evils that surrounded him (peace be upon him) from every side, such as consuming people's wealth by riba (usury or interest) and falsely, and engaging in drinking intoxicants, and the like. Does this mean that these are not evil matters? No, but it is not the time now to address them Shari'ah-wise. By the inspiration of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), He commanded him, before anything else, to focus on tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and on the prayer, which is obligatory. So when some people revolt, thinking that they have prepared the society in which they live to accept their call and their rule, and the reality is that the matter is not so; therefore, they resort to using force. They are afflicted with an overwhelming force that destroys their strength and stops the movement of their call, for as many years as Allah wills. And with great regret, the clearest example for us is the fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) of the Makkah Haram, where the Salafi call was at its peak and in its highest glory in the Saudi state, because it is the closest of states to the Book and the Sunnah. The Salafi call there was proceeding with complete freedom, unlike in other states. The mere occurrence of this revolution that contradicted the Shari'ah turned the call upside down, and it was suppressed, so you do not hear its clear call except what Allah wills, within the limits of words that a Muslim might say in any country. This is one of the results of contradicting the previous wisdom: "Whoever hastens a matter before its time is afflicted with its deprivation." Therefore, we hope for our Muslim brothers, in every country and land, that they be patient and deliberate in their call, and that they focus on explaining it to the people, the general public, and not just selecting some individuals. This is not enough. It is necessary to spread the call among the general people so that it becomes the ruling, the prevailing, the controlling, and the guiding force for these individuals. And we see that the call has truly become somewhat apparent and differs from what it was before, but it is apparent when it enters the homes of Muslims, when it enters the hearts of those called, so that we return to the previous hadith to the end, so that the rectitude of this faith that has entered the hearts is apparent in the limbs, in the homes, in the women, in the children. This phenomenon is very rare, and therefore it is not enough for us to see this rarity spread among some individuals. As for the society in which we live, it is still living in its first jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance). It is not permissible for us to hasten the matter. We must remain callers to explaining to people the reality of the two testimonies, and to educating them to act upon them. As for mere speech first... then correct second, this is all not enough. It is necessary to combine action with speech and testimony. For this reason, we have said more than once, and we remind you, and we do not prolong the speech.