What is the ruling on establishing a private authority?
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The questioner : The third question: What is the ruling on authority among our brothers? Do they appoint someone to organize their affairs, such that obedience is due to him in what is right, and they do not disobey him from this standpoint? What is the ruling on authority?
The Shaykh : There is a major authority and a minor authority. The major authority is not established except for the Caliph who is pledged allegiance to by the people of knowledge and jurisprudence from the Muslim community. As for the minor authority, it is undoubtedly permissible, but it is not permissible—what is this noise?
The questioner: The microphone.
The Shaykh : But it is not permissible to impose the rulings of the major authority upon the minor authority. For example, we know that among the implications of the major authority is what you mentioned earlier in your question, that one is obeyed in what is right. However, what pertains to the major authority is that the supreme ruler must be obeyed even if he takes your wealth and beats your back. Is this also given to this ruler? The answer is no. So I will tell you a clear statement: I am not a ruler now, but if I command you to do what is right and you oppose me, you have not opposed me; rather, you have opposed the Shari'ah. So the issue of authority here, which is below the major authority, is like a company manager. Like a company manager, even if it is a purely worldly company that has no standing and whose affairs do not improve, such an authority is obeyed in what pertains to improving the affairs of the group over which he is the authority. But he is not obeyed as the pledged imam of all the Muslims is obeyed, who has the right that he must be obeyed in what is not disobedience, even if he is oppressive and unjust, and takes people's money and beats and flogs them. So this is a private authority whose affairs are managed within the limits of obedience in what is right, and nothing else.
The Shaykh : There is a major authority and a minor authority. The major authority is not established except for the Caliph who is pledged allegiance to by the people of knowledge and jurisprudence from the Muslim community. As for the minor authority, it is undoubtedly permissible, but it is not permissible—what is this noise?
The questioner: The microphone.
The Shaykh : But it is not permissible to impose the rulings of the major authority upon the minor authority. For example, we know that among the implications of the major authority is what you mentioned earlier in your question, that one is obeyed in what is right. However, what pertains to the major authority is that the supreme ruler must be obeyed even if he takes your wealth and beats your back. Is this also given to this ruler? The answer is no. So I will tell you a clear statement: I am not a ruler now, but if I command you to do what is right and you oppose me, you have not opposed me; rather, you have opposed the Shari'ah. So the issue of authority here, which is below the major authority, is like a company manager. Like a company manager, even if it is a purely worldly company that has no standing and whose affairs do not improve, such an authority is obeyed in what pertains to improving the affairs of the group over which he is the authority. But he is not obeyed as the pledged imam of all the Muslims is obeyed, who has the right that he must be obeyed in what is not disobedience, even if he is oppressive and unjust, and takes people's money and beats and flogs them. So this is a private authority whose affairs are managed within the limits of obedience in what is right, and nothing else.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.