Is it correct that some people believe the Salafi da'wah has passed the stage of purification and education, and that there is no objection to proceeding with it while preparing militarily?

The questioner : The third question, O Shaykh: Some Salafi da'wah workers believe that the Salafi da'wah has now passed the stage of purification and education.

The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah!

The questioner : Or, if that expression is correct, some da'wah workers who claim to belong to the Salafis or claim to be among the Salafis believe

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : that the Salafi da'wah has now passed the stage of purification and education, and that it must prepare for other stages required by the needs of the times. Others believe that there is no objection to proceeding with purification and education and with material and military preparation to confront the rulers, if that is possible, all of this happening at the same time. What is your comment on this?

The Shaykh : I see that their statement, even though we do not cling to the specific words, because words are the molds of meanings, that their statement "education has been passed"—if they mean by this word or another that this obligation has been fulfilled, then reality refutes them. And if they mean the apparent meaning of this word, that they have passed this stage which the Salafis must live through for many years in terms of knowledge and education, passing it before they have mastered it and before it has been realized, then we say this is contrary to what we mentioned earlier, which is: "Whoever hastens a matter before its time will be tried with its deprivation." As for what came in the question regarding material preparation and military preparation, this is in reality, as the famous proverb says, "A style we know from Akhzam." In reality, this comes from some people with unbalanced enthusiasm, without a methodology established for it, especially since many individuals have gathered on this basis, and the outcome of their affair was that they returned with their da'wah in reverse, and the souls of many of them were wasted, thrown to the winds, without any benefit worth mentioning, ever. That is because they did not follow the methodology we mentioned earlier, which is undoubtedly the methodology of education that the Messenger (peace be upon him) followed in conveying his da'wah to people, through teaching and education. If the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the best of all people, and who is supported by a rope from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with revelation from the sky, continued to call to tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and some necessary legal rulings that were being revealed to him for thirteen years in Makkah al-Mukarramah, and his Companions were harmed and he ordered them to migrate twice to Abyssinia, and the last time he (peace be upon him) migrated himself, and some of his Companions joined him in Madinah, and there the Messenger (peace be upon him) began to establish the program of preparation to meet the enemies of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And in Madinah, and we know that our Islamic community today numbers in the millions, where are these da'wah workers who have been given a community like the community of Madinah, to learn Islam in its correct form and then master the material preparation commanded in such as His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): We have not learned that a group of these people remained for the same duration that the Messenger remained, supported by the support of the sky in Makkah, and taught themselves and others, and then began to prepare materially. I see it to be a place of wisdom that thinking about implementing or realizing and applying this noble verse is not the time for its discussion, let alone the discussion of its application; because, as you see, the Muslims are unable, in their current conditions living under rulings that do not allow the application of Islam, so we must walk slowly, we must walk slowly, step by step. And begin with what is most important, as it is said:
"Knowledge, if you seek it, is much, and life is short for acquiring it.
So prioritize the more important of them over the less important."
The day a group of Muslims prepares, as we indicated, not all Muslims, a group of Muslims, a body that gathered upon the Book and the Sunnah and upon education based on them, and they were like one heart, on that day our Lord (Mighty and Majestic), by His grace and generosity which He promised the believers, will prepare for them the paths of victory over their enemies. On that day, the circumstances will come that help them to carry out the material preparation which some enthusiastic people today, without guidance from their Lord, raise their voices about the necessity of carrying out, and they see examples here and there that they do not benefit from this preparation anything except a backward return. So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to inspire us with guidance and to make us successful in taking Islam upon the methodology of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) ...