To whom is the pledge of allegiance? And what is the ruling on one who casts doubt on the pledge of allegiance and says that the pledge is for the Grand Imam, or says that he has not pledged allegiance, or says that the pledge is for the King and not for his brothers?
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The questioner : Noble Shaykh, there are those who try to cast doubt on the pledge of allegiance to our rulers by saying, among other things: that the pledge is only for the Grand Imam; by saying: I have not pledged allegiance; and by saying: the pledge is only for the King, not for his brothers. What is your opinion?
The Shaykh : What? What?
The questioner : He tries to cast doubt on the pledge of allegiance to the rulers.
The Shaykh : I understood, I understood all three, the two and the third, what is it?
The questioner : That the pledge is only for the King, not for his brothers.
The Shaykh : The King, what?
The questioner : Not for his brothers, I mean.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : Not for his brothers.
The Shaykh : To whom is the pledge?
The questioner : To the King only, not to his brothers.
The Shaykh : Which King?
The questioner : Our rulers in this country.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is of the same kind as what we referred to at the beginning of the answer to the first question asked of us, and that this is wrong. If he dies, he will die the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, because he will die and there is no pledge of allegiance on his neck for anyone. The general principles in the Islamic Shari'ah are that Allah says:[At-Taghabun 64:16] So if there is no Caliph for the Muslims in general, then whoever is the ruler in a region is the ruler of that region. Otherwise, if we were to say this misguided opinion, people would now have no Caliph, and all people would die the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. And who says this? The Muslim community has been divided since the time of the Companions, you know that 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr was in Makkah and the Umayyads were in Sham, and likewise in Yemen there were people and in Egypt there were people, and the Muslims continued to believe that the pledge is for the one who has authority in the place where they are, and they pledge allegiance to him and call him the Commander of the Faithful, and no one denies that.
So this is a splitting of the bond of the Muslims, on the one hand by not adhering to the pledge of allegiance, and on the other hand by contradicting the scholarly consensus of the Muslims from an early time. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is one point.
The second: he says that he has not pledged allegiance. This is in fact the call of an ignorant person, one of the most ignorant of Allah's servants. When the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr, did every old woman, every old man, and every young person come and pledge, or did the people of authority and decision pledge? Answer, people. The people of authority and decision did not go, people did not come to pledge their young ones and old ones, their males and females. When the people of authority and decision pledge allegiance to a ruler over the land, the pledge is complete and he becomes a ruler whose obedience is obligatory.
And the third: they did not pledge to the King. What made them know that they did not pledge to the King? People pledged to the King. I was present at the pledge to Khalid (may Allah have mercy on him) and to King Fahd, and we pledged allegiance. It is true that not every young person and old person came to pledge, but only the people of authority and decision pledged.
Then, if a person is pledged as a ruler over a country, and then a Crown Prince is appointed for him, he is the Crown Prince after him. When the first one's rule ends, this second one becomes the ruler without a new pledge. People are not right except with this. If we said that the Crown Prince has no right to succeed until he is pledged anew, there would be chaos. But such opinions are cast by Satan into the hearts of some people in order to divide the community of Muslims and to cause the sowing of discord that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned. He said:Sahih Muslim 2812a So convey to this brother my advice to him to fear Allah the Exalted and Mighty, and to believe that he is now under the shadow of a ruler who has authority over him, so that he does not die after that while dying the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Yes.
The Shaykh : What? What?
The questioner : He tries to cast doubt on the pledge of allegiance to the rulers.
The Shaykh : I understood, I understood all three, the two and the third, what is it?
The questioner : That the pledge is only for the King, not for his brothers.
The Shaykh : The King, what?
The questioner : Not for his brothers, I mean.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : Not for his brothers.
The Shaykh : To whom is the pledge?
The questioner : To the King only, not to his brothers.
The Shaykh : Which King?
The questioner : Our rulers in this country.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is of the same kind as what we referred to at the beginning of the answer to the first question asked of us, and that this is wrong. If he dies, he will die the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, because he will die and there is no pledge of allegiance on his neck for anyone. The general principles in the Islamic Shari'ah are that Allah says:
So fear Allah as much as you are able
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْSo this is a splitting of the bond of the Muslims, on the one hand by not adhering to the pledge of allegiance, and on the other hand by contradicting the scholarly consensus of the Muslims from an early time. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Obey and listen, even if a black slave from Habashah is appointed over you.
اسمعوا وأطيعوا وإن تأمر عليكم عبد حبشيThe second: he says that he has not pledged allegiance. This is in fact the call of an ignorant person, one of the most ignorant of Allah's servants. When the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr, did every old woman, every old man, and every young person come and pledge, or did the people of authority and decision pledge? Answer, people. The people of authority and decision did not go, people did not come to pledge their young ones and old ones, their males and females. When the people of authority and decision pledge allegiance to a ruler over the land, the pledge is complete and he becomes a ruler whose obedience is obligatory.
And the third: they did not pledge to the King. What made them know that they did not pledge to the King? People pledged to the King. I was present at the pledge to Khalid (may Allah have mercy on him) and to King Fahd, and we pledged allegiance. It is true that not every young person and old person came to pledge, but only the people of authority and decision pledged.
Then, if a person is pledged as a ruler over a country, and then a Crown Prince is appointed for him, he is the Crown Prince after him. When the first one's rule ends, this second one becomes the ruler without a new pledge. People are not right except with this. If we said that the Crown Prince has no right to succeed until he is pledged anew, there would be chaos. But such opinions are cast by Satan into the hearts of some people in order to divide the community of Muslims and to cause the sowing of discord that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned. He said: