Do the rulings applied to the group apply to the individual?

The questioner : I mean, Shaykh, right now, so that we can move on to the second question, because it is completely separate from the first. Is this regarding the group as a whole, or the individual, person by person? If it becomes clear that they are all, as a group or sect or whatever, stubborn, then if you deal with an individual, does this application apply at the level of the individual?

The Shaykh : No. What is applied to the group is not applied to the individual. We say, for example, some of the parties existing today on the Islamic land, unfortunately, there is no doubt that their system and law are disbelieving, like the Ba'ath party, for example, and the Communist party. There is no doubt that these systems are disbelieving, and whoever adopts this system as a religion is a disbeliever. But we know, from the reality, in many Islamic countries, especially Syria, for example, that many of those who belonged to the Ba'ath used to pray, fast, and maintain the obligatory acts with complete maintenance. So when they are reminded and warned against belonging to such a party, they say—and they are wrong in their saying—but we understand that they do not adopt the Ba'ath as a substitute for Islam, because they say: "My brother, what are we supposed to do? We need to live, we need to live." So such a person is like any other open sinner who commits a forbidden matter in the path of living, in the path of obtaining sustenance. And how many are the crafts, professions, and trades that many Muslims engage in today, and they contain forbidden matters? So when you remind them and say to them, "This is forbidden, and this is forbidden," they will say to you, "My brother, what are we supposed to do?" And the good among them will say to you, "By Allah, I am thinking that I have found another thing to do that will be, meaning, permissible, until it becomes easy for me to continue in what I am in." And so on. All of this indicates that it is not permissible to declare these people disbelievers, as we declare the system disbeliever, and whoever adopts the system as a creed. Therefore, there may be individuals in such parties who are actually disbelievers because they adopted their system as a substitute for Islam. And there are individuals among them who are not so, but rather, as I gave an example just now, they take it as a means of living. I do not mean that this is a permissible means, but I mean that as long as he does not adopt it as a creed, system, and thought, it is not permissible to treat him as the system itself is treated, and as one who adopts it by creed is treated. There is something else regarding the first question.