He spoke about the hadith: (Whoever dies without having a pledge of allegiance in his neck dies the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance).

The Shaykh : The answer to the pledge of allegiance is: leave your question for now and suppose your situation is that of a merchant. If he is not in a port, does he make a pledge of allegiance with whom he trades?

The questioner : No

The Shaykh : This is the reality. The hadith you referred to at the beginning of the discussion, which concerns the pledge of allegiance, the Messenger of Allah said: This is a hadith by which some parties mislead the Muslim community, making them form factions blindly and compelling them to pledge allegiance to those with whom it is not permissible to pledge allegiance. Because the meaning of the hadith is: that is, there are those who pledge allegiance, while you remain a head to yourself, living apart from the community. So if, may Allah forbid, you die in this state, you die the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. But the Muslims, as you see them, are scattered, in parties, in schools of thought, and so on. Who do you pledge allegiance to, my brother? There is no one to pledge allegiance to. Is that clear?

The questioner : Yes, but one last question, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : What is the good news in this? This is the word "last question." What is the good news?