What is the ruling on joining political groups and parties?

Al-Halabi : The first question says:The questioner : As you know, O honorable...The Shaykh : After the events of October 1988 last year, the situation in Algeria changed, and they allowed for multiple political parties. At that time, the Muslims submitted a file to register the Islamic Salvation Front in order to establish the law of Allah on earth, and on the other hand, to allow the people of the Sunnah to spread it, as they had been severely restricted before this. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah regarding this action? Should the Salafis work with the Front, work independently of it, or stay in their homes?

The Shaykh : What I see, and Allah knows best, is that the Salafis must fulfill the obligation of calling people to Allah, to the Book of Allah, and to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), following the methodology of our righteous predecessors. They should not join political parties, because political parties, up to this moment, as far as we have seen and as far as we know, there is no party on the face of the earth that is prepared to be an Islamic party in the true sense, politically, in accordance with the correct Islamic methodology. And there is no doubt that my statement here is clear: political action is not contrary to the Shari'ah; rather, politics is part of the Shari'ah. So it is no surprise that there are some writings by some of our previous imams, whom we follow and from whom we learned this Islam that we described as being derived from the Book and the Sunnah and following the methodology of the righteous predecessors. I am referring to the book of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), which he titled *Al-Siyasah al-Shar'iyyah* (The Lawful Politics). Therefore, I mean what I say: politics is part of the Shari'ah, without doubt. But who is able to govern the Muslims? If it were possible for someone to be a ruler with the power of governance in his hands, who would be able to govern the Muslim nation or the Muslim people with lawful politics? Without doubt, he must possess many qualities, the most important of which is that he must be knowledgeable of the Book and the Sunnah. Therefore, since we have not found, up to today, a group that was established and raised on this correct methodology and then prepared for correct Islamic political action, since we have not found such a group, we do not advise our Salafi brothers in the vast land of Allah, in every Islamic country, to engage in political action, even if this action originated from themselves, let alone if they were followers of others in this action. We do not advise this at all, because political action truly requires many prerequisites and the taking of many means so that those who were established and raised on this methodology can carry out lawful politics. And as far as we know, in all the environments in Islamic countries today, there is no group, and let us use a Qur'anic term, no *ummah* (community) that has united and gathered on this correct Islamic methodology, such that nothing is lacking for them in performing the religious obligations except political action. We do not know of any sect, group, or *ummah* existing today on the face of the earth that lacks nothing except what? Political action. In my belief, political action comes after a period of time and extensive preparations carried out by the Victorious Group, whose mention came in the famous, mass-transmitted hadith from the Messenger (peace be upon him): Therefore, I do not advise our Algerian brothers, nor do I advise any other Muslims in all the lands of the world, to turn away from the call and spreading the call derived from the Book and the Sunnah to political action. Because there are two objections to this: the first was mentioned earlier, and the second, which is very important, is that engaging in political action before the group or the *ummah* is prepared for it will divert them from proceeding in their methodology of calling to the Book and the Sunnah and raising the *ummah*. The intention is not just the call, not just the speech, but the intention is the speech and acting upon it, as we know from the encouragement and warning in the Book and the Sunnah against speech without action and knowledge without application of that knowledge, as Allah the Exalted said in the well-known verse: Therefore, engaging in political action before the *ummah* or the group reaches the stage of this political action will result in the collapse of the call and a regression. Some people do not accept this theory from a scholarly perspective, and it is sufficient for them to take a quick look at some Islamic countries where some political actions took place, and the outcome of their affair was not wisdom and it was not success, but the outcome of their affair was regression and returning to the past in the call. They were proceeding in their call as the Shari'ah commands, and then, due to a sudden rise in political action, the outcome of their affair and their rise was that they regressed. So some of the wise said, as is mentioned about some of them: "Whoever hastens a thing before its time is tested with its deprivation." This is a very natural matter before it is a religious matter. Therefore, we always and forever take as our example the saying of Allah the Exalted: Our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him), if there had been a political action requiring fighting the disbelievers and fighting the hypocrites in one sudden burst, it would have been the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and some of his Companions who would have risen to this action. But that is the Sunnah of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) in His creation, and you will not find a change in the Sunnah of Allah, that it is necessary to take the means, as the Lord of Lords indicated in His saying in the Noble Qur'an: Here, we must pause briefly when we read this noble verse: Without doubt, the strength mentioned here is material strength. But who are the addressees of this noble verse, which includes the preparation of material strength? "And prepare, you people of the *ummah* of Muhammad in general, and specifically, you Companions of Muhammad, that is, you who are truly believers, prepare material strength." So if we can understand from this noble verse that there are two strengths: the spiritual strength, which is what we mean when we say that upbringing is necessary; and the material strength. The spiritual strength in the verse is understood implicitly because it was not mentioned explicitly, unlike the other strength, which is material strength, which is explicit. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated something of this meaning, that the strength mentioned here is material strength, when he (peace be upon him) said: But my purpose in this note is that many believing, enthusiastic youths should not rush. They say, "My brother, our Lord is commanding us to prepare strength." We say, "This is true, but there is a point of attention here: who are those commanded to prepare? They are the truly believers." If any group exists today on the face of the earth, as mentioned in the question, for example, if the state, may Allah forbid, I do not know in this question or the one after it, if the ruling state here or there, in any place in the lands of Islam, all lands of Islam should be ruled by one rule. If the ruling state prevented them, would they engage in jihad? This is a strange question, a question from one who does not know the danger of this issue. Would they engage in jihad? Did they prepare themselves first for jihad in the path of Allah with this preparation, which is preceded by correct knowledge and sound action, and so on, so that the Muslims are on one heart? From this preparation, that the Muslims who want to fight the enemies should all be on the heart of one man. Did they do this? I do not believe that there is a group in any of the many and vast lands of Islam, a group truly united, loving each other for the sake of Allah, connected by a strong religious bond, as if they were on the heart of one man. I do not believe this exists, but I believe there are individuals walking on this path. But when will they reach it? That is not important; its knowledge is with my Lord. Then let us assume, and this is imagination, let us assume that there is a group or an *ummah* from the *ummah* of Muslims who have united and loved each other for the sake of Allah and were on the heart of one man. When they want to be asked, do they go out with jihad to fight those who stand as a stumbling block in the path of the call? Where did they prepare for this preparation that we were commanded in the previous verse, the material preparation? For all of this, I believe it is premature to think about this material jihad and political action. Rather, we must proceed in studying Islam from the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous predecessors, calling Muslims to this correct Islam and raising them upon it. Then Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) will create what you do not know. I said earlier that I do not mean that political action is not prescribed in Islam; rather, it is part of Islam. But we said it should be derived from Islam. Here I mention a word that has become for me like a wisdom, and some wisdoms may be suitable for some times and circumstances and not be a constant wisdom. That is because I said, and I still say, because time has not changed since years, perhaps since twenty years or so, when I was invited to the intelligence in Syria and they interrogated you, as you know, much and long, after it became clear to the interrogator, of course he represents the Ba'ath in the Ba'athist government, that we do not have political action, but we are callers and a group that rectifies ideas and actions in light of the Book and the Sunnah. He said, "If you start, no, do not work in politics." Here I found myself compelled to make this person understand that he should not understand from my previous words that we do not believe that there is political action in Islam. So I said to him: "Your word, which you insist on, that I should not work in politics, compelled me now to correct what I missed in my speech. So I say my previous statement and my explanation of my current situation: I call Muslims to understand the Book and the Sunnah correctly and to raise themselves on this correct understanding. I want to tell you that I do not mean by this that Islam does not call for political action. Islam calls for political action, and the state of Islam does not stand except with politics. I do not say except by politics. I hope you pay attention: the Islamic state does not stand except with politics, not except by Islam with politics, meaning the application of Islam in all stages of life, including the management of the affairs of the *ummah*. So I said to him: "We believe that political action on the methodology of Islam is part of Islam. But here is the point: I said to this man, 'But we see now that part of politics is leaving politics. We see now that part of politics is leaving politics. Not forever and until the end of time.'" Therefore, my advice to our brothers in Algeria is to continue in the call. And the truth is that their continuation in the call will cost them tremendous efforts. If they turn away to that, they will find themselves not thinking about what is now called jihad, which is rising against the rulers. Because the study to understand Islam as it was revealed to the heart of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) requires available efforts from a gathering of many Muslims, from their scholars, to study Islam so that they can call others to this Islam and then raise them upon it. And we know the wisdom that says, "He who lacks a thing cannot give it." For example, I read in the issue you presented to me, which is the methodology for the rise of the program of the Islamic Front, and I felt completely that this methodology, which took up about two large pages of the magazine or newspaper, is truly a tremendous intellectual work and the work of a person specialized in this field. But I felt that he does not have *fiqh* (jurisprudence) in Islam, and I felt that this methodology, which was written under the name of the rise, and what did we say? The Islamic Front, this was as if it was presented to them, and undoubtedly this or this methodology was adorned with verses from the Noble Qur'an and authentic hadiths. And this delighted me, and I also felt that this methodology contains a touch of Islamic call. But the one who set the methodology is not a Salafi at all. Despite the existence of this phenomenon of this methodology being influenced by a Salafi Islamic direction, I noticed that the directors of this written system from some of our Salafi brothers there are in great need of studying knowledge. Because I passed by a hadith, and it is a fabricated hadith. How did this hadith slip into the minds of those, I do not say those who set this methodology, because I believe the one who set it is a man of politics, not a man of knowledge. But I believe on the other hand that this methodology was looked at by some of our Salafi brothers. So how was that hadith hidden from them, which is: This is a fabricated hadith. So this alerted me that our Salafi brothers here and there must expand their study of the Shari'ah before they engage in political action, otherwise they will fall, as they say in the modern era, into pitfalls from which they cannot rise at all. This is from one side. And from another side, the methodology set for every Salafi group should originate from their own selves, and not be presented to them as a gift from others. Even if they tried to treat it and correct it, their reliance on others is a very clear indication in this field, which is the political field. Their reliance on others in it means, in a clear and obvious way, that they have not yet reached in their call a point where nothing is lacking for them except political action. Added to this, finally, if the Salafis rely on others who have not lived a long period in the Salafi call, it is feared that the call will be exploited until the exploiter reaches the position he was seeking due to a new gathering, even if under the name of a Salafi call or an Islamic rise or something similar. So the fear of exploitation by others means we should not get entangled and cooperate with others, especially if these others have the upper hand and intellectual control over the Salafi group. In my belief, if they live a quarter of a century, or even half of it, in the path of studying Islam and applying it to themselves and raising their families, then conveying that in action and thought, this will be the greatest work that Muslims can do in whatever country they are and wherever they settle. This is my answer to this question.

The questioner : O Shaykh, what is your advice for the leaders of the Islamic Salvation Front? What advice do you have for them regarding what they should do, given that they have become entangled in this matter?

The Shaykh : By Allah, this is an answer to that question. If I were there, I might be able to answer it, because the entanglement they have fallen into—how do they withdraw from it? I must know the atmosphere; I must know the people who joined them who were not among them before. Are they individuals or a group, or what? I am ignorant of all this. But I say that they must compel these newcomers who have descended into their arena, whom they did not know before to be, for example, Salafis—you mentioned the names of two to me and I read them in the statement, but I do not memorize the names, and the name is not as important to me as the one named. Are they, in appearance, committed to the Sunnah? I do not say in their inner selves, because the knowledge of the inner self is with Allah, but the appearance is the indicator of the inner self, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So are they, in appearance, committed to the da'wah? I do not say committed to the Sunnah only, because the Sunnah in its technical definition is what is below what? The obligatory; but in the Salafi scientific concept, the Sunnah is the way of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), as indicated to us by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith: So are they committed to the Sunnah in this sense?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Committed?

The questioner : Committed.

The Shaykh : The leaders, meaning those who joined the group?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, for example, they have beards, they do not wear French clothing, and their women are veiled and their daughters likewise?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : In that case, they are wrong to work with them until things begin to alert them that the group is moving away from them, as the Syrian proverb says: "I prayed until I got what I wanted, and when I got it, I stopped praying." Do you understand this language?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : It means he pretended to pray until he achieved his desire, and when he achieved it, he turned away from prayer. If they are of this nature in terms of appearance, I cannot say now how they should withdraw, having become entangled. Rather, they must continue to monitor them very closely and impose their methodology by force. I noticed, for example, an observation that is not strong in the sense that it has no relation to the Sunnah in the sense related to the obligatory, but in the sense related to the methodology in general. The first thing I read in this methodology was that its author began it with "Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace upon His Prophet, his family, and his Companions," as people do, perfectly. Whereas they should have raised the banner of the Salafi da'wah in the first word: "Indeed, praise is to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness..." and so on. But where did I see this? I saw it in the interior, because the one who wrote what is in the interior is not the one who wrote what is in the preface, as they say. Do you understand how?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So these brothers must monitor these people and impose their methodology on them in every big and small matter. I am as certain as certainty itself that after that, the truth will appear. Either they are sincere in their hearts in joining the Salafi group, in which case there is no harm in cooperation; but this cooperation should not be to reach power, because if they reach power, they will not be able to change the ruling as long as the president and his entourage are themselves not convinced by the Islamic da'wah. So they must remain in the da'wah until...