The Ruling on Entering Parliaments.

Al-Halali: In the name of Allah, praise is to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. Our distinguished teacher, our brothers in Pakistan justify their entry, or the entry of some of their groups, into the Pakistani parliament. They say that the parliament in Pakistan differs greatly from the parliaments in other countries. While in other countries, the Shari'ah is put to a vote, and the hudud (fixed punishments) are also put to a vote, and the opinion of the majority is taken, in the Pakistani parliament, these matters are not put to a vote because they have been settled in the Shari'ah. What is put to a vote there are matters for which there is no explicit text in the Shari'ah, and which are a field for ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) and exchange of views. They say that Muslim entry into the parliament strengthens their power, increases their numbers, and keeps the Shari'ah elevated there. What is your opinion, may Allah bless you?

The Shaykh : Praise is to Allah, and we seek His help and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the badness of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, there is no one who can misguide him, and whoever He misguides, there is no one who can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger. As for what follows, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. We believe, as the jurists say, that what is built upon a defective foundation is itself defective. And what we know from all parliamentary systems is that their foundation is not established upon the Islamic Shari'ah. His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He, there is no doubt or dispute among the people of knowledge that any text in the Book and the Sunnah that is ambiguous, absolute, or general has been clarified by the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), which is divided by scholars into three categories: verbal, practical, and tacit. And I can add to the word "tacit" a detail that perhaps is not read in the known fiqh books today. I say the third category is the tacit Sunnah. I say, and among it is the Sunnah that we know as "Turkish," and we sometimes joke and say, "Beware of saying 'Turkish'." We know that what the Messenger (peace be upon him) left alone, as explained by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) in his books full of mature knowledge, that what he left alone is part of the Sunnah for us to leave alone. This is well known in what concerns us—and peace be upon you—regarding pure religious innovation. But what I want to reach now regarding the answer to that question is to say: His saying, Exalted is He, Do you see whether it means all Muslims, or does it mean their righteous and wicked? Second, does it mean their knowledgeable and ignorant? Third, and perhaps lastly, does it include both the righteous and the wicked among them, and both the knowledgeable and the ignorant? There is no doubt the answer regarding these categories is a complete negation. So how should we understand this verse and its like? Is this matter that we mentioned at the beginning of the answer, where the text is either ambiguous, absolute, or general, clarified by the Prophet (peace be upon him)? Absolute? A general command? How was this applied? There is no doubt or dispute, with certainty, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not consult all the Companions, but rather he consulted a specific group of the Companions, and I can say a selected elite from these specific Companions. So if we say that what is built upon a defective foundation is defective, this Pakistani parliament about which the question was asked, and we spoke of it earlier, and the question was raised: does this parliament differ from the other parliaments we know, where both Muslims and disbelievers participate? I thought that the first good news in verifying the statement quoted earlier would be that it is Muslim, and that is enough. But when the hope was dashed in the first step, and the answer came that both Muslims and non-Muslims participate in it. We regret that, and we regret the untruth of that statement which says that it differs. I do not deny that the French parliament may differ from the British, and the British from the American, and so on. But we want to look at the nature of the difference between this Islamic Pakistani parliament and the other Islamic parliaments. This was the first experience in which we returned with empty hands. Then, do all Muslims participate in it, their righteous and wicked? The answer is obviously yes, as long as the disbeliever is a partner of these Muslims in their parliament, then it is even more fitting and more likely that the wicked among the Muslims are partners of the righteous Muslims.
Al-Halali: Rather, the majority are people of innovation due to the large population.

The Shaykh : The third question comes, and as I said earlier, it is perhaps the last, and the answer will also be as before: are scholars nominated for this council, or do they participate as they say in our Syria, a mixed bag? A mixed bag. If the written text is clear from its title, then this is not a parliament that differs in essential matters. And as I said earlier, the constitutions of disbelievers may differ from one another, but what concerns us is that the parliament be in a Muslim state. And some of our brothers claim that this parliament specifically differs from other parliaments. Then, with these many negatives in this parliament about which much was said earlier, do you see that it differs from the other parliaments? If its president sees fit to suspend the parliament and stop it for a period he deems in his interest, or do they not have this?
Al-Halali: Likewise.

The Shaykh : What is the value of this parliament?
Al-Halali: It does not differ except in this point which they claim.

The Shaykh : I advise our brothers to stick to their mosques, stick to their schools, and stick to their circles of dhikr (remembrance of Allah), the Salafi dhikr and not the Sufi. That is better for them and more lasting.