For His sake, the rebels drew their swords *** thinking that they were doers of good (Defining the rebels, the ruling on rebelling against the ruler, and its conditions and causes)
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The Shaykh : He said:
"For His sake, the rebels drew their swords *** thinking that they were doers of good"
The rebels who rise up against the imams draw their swords, thinking that they are doing good. So one person says, "This caliph drinks intoxicants," and the second says, "Allahu Akbar! He is a disbeliever," and the third says, "Prepare the sword," and the fourth says, "Go forth, light and heavy." So they rise up against the imam based on such an interpretation. Is the imam who drinks intoxicants, who commits zina, and who has intercourse with women a disbeliever? Absolutely not. He is an open sinner, without doubt, but it is not permissible to rise up against him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 7055, 7056 So mere suspicion is not sufficient until you see with your own eyes clear, explicit disbelief. What involves the possibility of disbelief or open sinfulness does not permit rising up against him. Is it clear based on your suspicion, or based on the evidence of the Shari'ah?
The student: The evidence of the Shari'ah.
The Shaykh : The evidence of the Shari'ah for which you have proof from Allah. The scholars said: "Proof is decisive evidence". So the matter is very great. Also, rising up, even with the complete conditions that permit it, requires a fourth condition: that this matter is removed by the rising up. If it is not removed but rather increases, then rising up is forbidden, not because the permission for it is absent, but because it is futile. If ten people rise up after seeing clear disbelief for which they have proof from Allah, and ten people rise up against the state, one with a knife, the second with a sword, the third with a claw, the fourth with a stick, the fifth with a stone, and so on, and they say, "We are rising up against a state that has tanks, bombs, and missiles," what is their rising up? Their rising up is madness. It is not permissible for them, neither by the Shari'ah nor by reason. It is necessary to prepare the means by which this evil that we see as clear disbelief, for which we have proof from Allah, is removed. As for a group rising up and then being crushed, and then those behind them who are better being crushed, there is no doubt that this is foolishness and harm. For this reason, Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) condemned such a thing and said that they rise up to enjoin good and forbid evil. He said, "Yes, but what they do is greater than what they rise up for." So the result is that interpretation is every calamity. It is what caused the rebels to rise up against whom? Against the imams, until evils and trials occurred.
He said:
"For His sake, the rebels drew their swords *** thinking that they were doers of good"
But by Allah, they are doers of evil to themselves and to others.
"For His sake, the rebels drew their swords *** thinking that they were doers of good"
The rebels who rise up against the imams draw their swords, thinking that they are doing good. So one person says, "This caliph drinks intoxicants," and the second says, "Allahu Akbar! He is a disbeliever," and the third says, "Prepare the sword," and the fourth says, "Go forth, light and heavy." So they rise up against the imam based on such an interpretation. Is the imam who drinks intoxicants, who commits zina, and who has intercourse with women a disbeliever? Absolutely not. He is an open sinner, without doubt, but it is not permissible to rise up against him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
unless we noticed him having open Kufr (disbelief) for which we would have a proof with us from Allah
لا ، إلا أن تروا كفرا بواحا عندكم فيه من الله بُرهانThe student: The evidence of the Shari'ah.
The Shaykh : The evidence of the Shari'ah for which you have proof from Allah. The scholars said: "Proof is decisive evidence". So the matter is very great. Also, rising up, even with the complete conditions that permit it, requires a fourth condition: that this matter is removed by the rising up. If it is not removed but rather increases, then rising up is forbidden, not because the permission for it is absent, but because it is futile. If ten people rise up after seeing clear disbelief for which they have proof from Allah, and ten people rise up against the state, one with a knife, the second with a sword, the third with a claw, the fourth with a stick, the fifth with a stone, and so on, and they say, "We are rising up against a state that has tanks, bombs, and missiles," what is their rising up? Their rising up is madness. It is not permissible for them, neither by the Shari'ah nor by reason. It is necessary to prepare the means by which this evil that we see as clear disbelief, for which we have proof from Allah, is removed. As for a group rising up and then being crushed, and then those behind them who are better being crushed, there is no doubt that this is foolishness and harm. For this reason, Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) condemned such a thing and said that they rise up to enjoin good and forbid evil. He said, "Yes, but what they do is greater than what they rise up for." So the result is that interpretation is every calamity. It is what caused the rebels to rise up against whom? Against the imams, until evils and trials occurred.
He said:
"For His sake, the rebels drew their swords *** thinking that they were doers of good"
But by Allah, they are doers of evil to themselves and to others.