The Shaykh’s clarification that political action is not for individuals who possess neither authority nor power.

The Shaykh : I say that if by politics one means the kind of politics by which the Muslim community is governed, then it is a collective obligation. However, it is not obligatory upon individuals who do not possess a state, nor power, nor the ability to cause harm or benefit. As for receiving news and knowing the state of the Muslims regarding their weakness and their turning away from what we call purification and education—purifying Islam from what has entered it, and educating the Muslims in this purified Islam—knowing these general conditions surrounding the Muslims is necessary. For the matter is as the old Arab poet said, quoting from an authentic hadith:
"I know evil not to do it, but to avoid it; and whoever does not know evil from good falls into it."
I said: This is derived from a hadith, and I mean the hadith of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him), which is in the Sahih of al-Bukhari and Muslim. He said: "The people used to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about good, and I used to ask him about evil, fearing that it might befall me." Therefore, knowing the state of the Muslims regarding their humiliation, weakness, and subjugation, in order to turn them away from that toward adopting the means of honor, strength, and security, is one of the obligations. As for expanding the reception of news and knowing about battles and Western politics, this falls under the category that knowing a thing is better than being ignorant of it. We do not deny this, but we do not be overly enthusiastic about it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not establish the affairs of his Companions based on knowing and tracking the news of his enemies in detail, to the extent that he was concerned with teaching his Companions on one hand, and educating them in what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded on the other hand. This is our belief regarding politics in its two divisions that I mentioned earlier.