Where, when, and how is boycotting to be carried out?

The Shaykh : If we were to warn people against it and link that warning with what I said earlier about boycotting him, this warning, this boycotting, and this severance would not yield the expected result from these three terms: warning, boycotting, and severance. Why? Because if you boycott him, you will find hundreds of people like you who maintain contact with him. Consequently, the situation will be reversed, and you will become the one boycotted by him, rather than him being boycotted by you. So what is the benefit of your boycotting him? This reminds me of a Syrian proverb, which has a similar one here, but the Syrian expression goes: "They claimed that a sinner who had abandoned prayer repented to Allah and turned back to Him. For the first time, he went to the mosque to pray and found it closed. He said: 'You are an alcoholic, and I am one who has invalidated [my prayer].'" Is this proverb understood? Yes. Similarly, the state of mind of this sinner today who abandons prayer, if you want to sever ties with him, boycott him, or warn him, he does not care about you. His state of mind says: "You are an alcoholic, and I am one who has invalidated [my prayer]." You are boycotting me, and I am severing ties with you and distancing myself from you. And so on. The conclusion of this speech is that the principle of boycotting and severance today is not applicable, because we are in a time of weakness for the Muslims. And the bond that ties them to the correct Islam, as represented in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith: The Muslims today are not like that. Therefore, we do not have today a means that should be relied upon to gather this scattered, dispersed, and scattered group today, except by relying on the saying of the Exalted: This is the means that we should rely on now. So if we see a sinner who is neglecting some of what Allah has made obligatory for the Muslim, we admonish him, remind him, and be gentle with him. Likewise, if we see a person or people whom we cannot call sinners, because we assume they are maintaining the known obligatory duties whose obligation is agreed upon by all Muslims, meaning they are from the category that is said to be known from the religion by necessity, we may find people who perform these obligatory duties without neglecting them, such that their persistence in these obligatory duties prevents us from applying the term "sinner" to them. Do you understand?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, but even so, there may be a deviation in these people from the correct creed in some place, or in many creeds. This is possible. The sects whose names we hear today are recorded in the books of sects and history, and we do not find their names mentioned in the present age, but we find their effect in the reality of many Islamic groups or Muslim individuals. For example, the Mu'tazilah, the Jabriyyah, the Qadariyyah, the Khawarij, and so on. These sects contained people who deviated from the Sunnah in creed, who were considered among the righteous servants, yet they were among the misguided, like 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd the Mu'tazili. He is cited as an example of his righteousness and piety, but he held the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah. So he is not called a sinner, but it is said that he is misguided from the correct creed. This type exists today in the Muslim land, even if there is no sect or group that says, "We are Mu'tazilah." I have not heard of anyone except one man who declares it openly in this country before people, saying: "I am a Mu'tazili." He says it openly, "I am a Mu'tazili," and he is indeed a Mu'tazili, and more misguided than that, but we are not dealing with that now. The point is that for these misguided people as well, we must be gentle with them and establish the proof against them from the Book of Allah, from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and from the sayings of the righteous Salaf and the mujtahid imams. This is how our position should be toward those who deviate from Islam, whether in action or in thought, until the Muslims become strong and have power and authority. Then, when these people reach the correct Islam and do not refrain from their sin or misguidance, they will have another ruling. This ruling does not concern an individual among the righteous Muslims, but rather concerns the Muslim ruler. And this may be near, if Allah wills. Have I answered your question?

The questioner : Yes, the continuation of this, as well as non-Muslims, such as the Christians, and so on.

The Shaykh : Today, unfortunately, my brother, the situation of the Muslims is very dangerous. Today, the Christians, and even the Jews, and even the Zoroastrians, live in the Islamic homeland as citizens, and the ruling authority does not distinguish between a Muslim and a non-Muslim; they are all included under the term "citizen." And our Lord, the Exalted, says: Therefore, this society, which has reached this level of corruption, it is not permissible for an individual among the righteous, practicing Muslims to confront this society with force, from which they would then retreat in defeat. Rather, it is with the force that cannot be defeated, which is the force of proof and explanation. Anything else?

The questioner : Likewise, the continuation of the question: Shaykh, the mercy of the Muslim toward them before, meaning, before establishing the hudud punishments.

The Shaykh : This is all, meaning This is its meaning. And I say on this occasion that many of our brothers who are enthusiastic for the correct Islam look at the other Muslims who are deviating due to their ignorance of the Book and the Sunnah with a look of disdain, contempt, and hidden hatred and aversion. For example, many shaykhs permit seeking aid from the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous, and they permit what is less than that, a fortiori, seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) through them instead of the Lord of the Worlds. They permit frequenting their graves and seeking blessing from visiting them, and so on. And another type forbids following the Book and the Sunnah on the pretext that the common people do not understand the Book and the Sunnah, and they make taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) obligatory for them. So the position of the others who are with us on the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous Salaf is to oppose these people and hate them intensely, to the point that this one cannot meet with that one. This is a mistake. I say, and I do not hesitate to call them by their name, that these are misguided from the truth. There is no problem in applying this expression Islamically. When I say that they are misguided from the truth, Allah the Exalted applied to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when he was before the revelation of the revelation to him, He said: So these who contradict the Book and the Sunnah are undoubtedly misguided. I wanted to say that as long as they are so, they are sick, and we must have mercy on them and treat them with gentleness and call them, as came in the previous verse: And we remain in this position until it becomes clear to us from one of them that he is stubborn and denies the facts, and that gentleness and softness with him does not benefit anything. At that time, the saying of our Lord, the Exalted, comes: Bring the next question.