What is the Muslim’s position regarding the Gulf fitnah?

A question via telephone

The questioner : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

The questioner : How are you, Shaykh Nasser?

The Shaykh : I praise Allah for that, and how are you?

The questioner : May Allah keep you safe and give you health.

The Shaykh : May Allah keep you well.

The questioner : May Allah keep you safe, is the time appropriate, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.

The questioner : May Allah keep you safe and give you health.

The Shaykh : May Allah keep you safe.

The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah reward you for this call, I want to ask you, may Allah bless you, about our current circumstances. What do you advise us, especially since, if Allah wills, a war may or may not occur. We seek help from Allah, we do not know, but we want you to advise us. And if Allah wills, as students of knowledge, we ask Allah to make us sincere students of knowledge.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless that, that is the hope.

The questioner : And we want advice from you, may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : First of all, you have come across some of the tapes that contain my opinion.

The questioner : Yes, I have heard them, and they are being circulated manually, and the name of the two tapes is "The Rebellious Faction," they are yours, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Good. Based on what we said, we still stand by what we said. Now, if the event occurs—and my belief is that nothing of that sort will happen, and Allah knows best—but if the event occurs, we advise the Muslims, and the Muslim women even more so, to all stay in their homes, as stated in the authentic hadith I have mentioned this hadith in more than one tape. This is because if fighting occurs, it will be between Muslims, some of them against others, while the disbelievers watch them. Whichever of the two fighting factions wins, it is a victory for the disbeliever, because it results in the destruction of a large group of Muslims, whether they are from the faction that is originally the rebellious faction, or from the other faction that is the one being rebelled against. If fighting occurs, those whom Allah wills from both factions will perish, and this is what the Crusaders have schemed and prepared for. They have occupied some of the Islamic lands today without any fighting. I was afraid to say "jihad" so I corrected myself and said "no, there is no jihad with them." Therefore, without any fighting, if the battle were between a group of Muslims and a group or state of disbelievers, then we would say it is obligatory for every Muslim who is able to carry a weapon to mobilize with the people in general, and for the other gender, the women, to participate in what is appropriate to their femininity. They should not carry weapons and should not mix with men, because this is not among the matters that Islam permits. But this is far from reality; that is, killing will not be between a disbeliever and a Muslim, but rather between Muslims themselves. Therefore, whatever the Muslims can do to stay away from such a battle, let them do it. Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. I do not know if I rambled around what you intended in your mind when you posed your question in your words, or if I strayed. So guide me so that I can cooperate with you.

The questioner : By Allah, your words, Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good, it is all good and blessing. May Allah keep you safe. Shaykh Nasser, from this same speech, I want to ask, for example, should our constant practice be the Qur'an, and that we read the book, the book of jihad in "Fath al-Bari"? We read specific books and we supplicate to Allah with prayers.

The Shaykh : There is nothing but supplication and seeking help from Allah to avert from this Ummah the fitnah that has befallen them, which has no parallel in the entire Islamic history. As for reading books of jihad, whether from the books of hadith or books of jurisprudence, in my belief, this does not benefit us at all. Because we say frankly, unfortunately, there is no banner raised for jihad in the path of Allah, and it is not the time now for us to delve into and detail this issue. Especially since all Muslims know that jihad had already established its standing and its state collapsed there in Afghanistan. The Muslims in all parts of the earth were watching, while it was obligatory for them to mobilize in general, as explicitly stated in the Noble Qur'an. If they had done so, the communist state would not have remained; it would not have had a standing even after ten years of jihad in the path of Allah. Therefore, we deeply regret that there is no Muslim state that has raised the banner of jihad, so that we can prepare ourselves by reading the verses related to jihad, the hadiths related to jihad, and the jurisprudential rulings related to jihad. This, unfortunately, as the grammarians say, has no place in the declension in this period.

The questioner : Okay, Shaykh Nasser, may Allah bless you. Now, we are in the Dammam area, and there are many people in this same area who are leaving with their families to farther areas like Jeddah, Riyadh, and Medina. Some of them take their families, and some of them go and return. I don't know what to say about their intentions in leaving. Is there a ruling on leaving the land of fitnah? Is it recommended, or is there some sin in it?

The Shaykh : By Allah, if you want the truth, as is your custom, it should be that you all, men and women, stay away from the lands occupied by the disbelievers, where they have begun to spread their disbelieving customs, traditions, and morals. And because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as you must have read, or at least heard from me or others, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) meaning whoever mixes with the polytheist and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) Now, people in all Arab and Islamic lands fear that the war declared by this disbeliever Bush will occur. Therefore, they are making very strange preparations. We have seen their effects in our country here, and now we are hearing of new effects in your country there. They fear that the war will happen and its circle will turn, and they fear that the Americans occupying the coasts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be hit. Therefore, they are fleeing with themselves and their families to the interior. I see no harm in that, whatever their intention, because jihad is not at all applicable here, unless there is jihad against the Jews or jihad against the supporters of the Jews, who are the Americans, the British, and the Crusader disbelievers who follow them. But none of that exists. And because this is not present, some people with weak minds get excited by Saddam's speech and do not realize that it is darkness, because he raised his voice in fighting the Americans. So they are deceived by such honeyed words, right?

The questioner : Very clear, very good. The guidance of the Companions during the fitnahs, following the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) And they used to leave their homes when the fitnah of fighting occurred between Mu'awiyah and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both). Should we not have that guidance, as I said, staying in our homes and not traveling and leaving our homes?

The Shaykh : No, if there is fear, staying away from the fitnah is, I mean, another step that is necessary. If there is fear and no harm results from staying away, then there is no harm in it.

The questioner : Okay, Shaykh, we don't know the harm. They say there are airstrikes, there is nothing specific, and we fear there might be jamming or confusion.

The Shaykh : This is what I told you just now: in our belief, the war is nothing but a war of words. But as a precaution, if no harm results from staying away from the area that is likely to be the site of the battle, then there is no harm in this caution and this precaution. In any case, the matter is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said or the witness sees what the absent one does not see.