Who wants to be promoted to a higher position than his current one in order to guide people to the truth of the Salafi call? Is that permissible for him?

The questioner : I say that this matter is different under an Islamic state that works to serve its subjects and checks on their conditions, and is therefore more aware of their affairs and what is best for them. But as things stand, we are strangers in this world, and by strangers I mean that no one has recognized us and we have not recognized anyone. If we do not seek this livelihood through a job or through such and such, we are forced to work in a field that may, as a result, drag us into something with no good outcome. So here we seek this knowledge, perhaps we will benefit from it, perhaps with the intention you mentioned earlier, we will benefit and be benefited, perhaps. So from this perspective, I say that many of us are now applying for jobs in education and training, for example. I applied a short time ago for a guidance position or a higher rank in supervision, with the aim that a true Salafi methodology be realized in our schools, if Allah wills. I worked to convince some of our supervisors to adopt these ideas, and in fact they practiced them, and this is from the grace of Allah. We have this in our schools, especially in teaching Islamic education and similar subjects in Arabic. So if I aspire or think about taking a job like this, would I be a sinner in the shadow of such a state?

The Shaykh : Repeat the summary for me. What did you think?

The questioner : That I apply for a position higher than the one I am in. Would I be a sinner? Or would I fall into what is forbidden?

The Shaykh : Did you think about it or did you apply?

The questioner : No, I applied before. But now, is it now...
Al-Halabi : As if nothing happened?

The Shaykh : I am not asking you, may Allah reward you, what you did, but I am asking you now. Are you asking me if you thought about applying or if you want to apply?

The questioner : I thought about it, or I want to. It is still in the stage of contemplation.

The Shaykh : There is a great difference between the two.
Al-Halabi : Contemplation or deep contemplation? - He laughsThe Shaykh : (may Allah have mercy on him).

The questioner : Contemplating something that Allah is pleased with. Contemplating something he wanted but did not do.

The Shaykh : If he contemplates a sin, is he held accountable?

The questioner : If he contemplates it and does not do it, he is not held accountable.

The Shaykh : Okay, I want to understand here. Is it just contemplation or is it the act?

The questioner : And with passion, truly, I say with passion, truly, I contemplated it and I was eager, and perhaps...

The Shaykh : After the contemplation, what?

The questioner : Now I say...

The Shaykh : I say there is nothing in the contemplation, there is nothing in the contemplation, but for example...

The questioner : If it comes out into reality?

The Shaykh : That is it. And so I wanted to, but it is you or anyone else; because the matter is not specifically about a certain person, but as a principle, you or anyone else. If you come and submit a request to the official above you in rank or ranks, saying that I am qualified to be such and such, for example, this is not called contemplation, but action. So if you contemplated it and did not do it, there is nothing in that, whatever the type of transgression. But if you did it, then the previous discussion applies. Therefore, I want to return to the condition you set earlier, that this statement is accepted when the Islamic state is functioning well. But what I want us all to think about is: does the Islamic state stand on the basis that every individual in this Ummah, on whose shoulders the Muslim state is supposed to stand, is lax in a religious ruling, claiming that the current situation is not what the ruling for Islam should be? Does the establishment of Islam stand on this basis of laxity in religious rulings, claiming that there is no Islamic rule? Or is it the opposite?

The questioner : May Allah reward you for us.

The Shaykh : And you, yes.