Discussion of the chapter on the obligation of obeying rulers in obedience and the prohibition of obeying them in disobedience
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The Shaykh : We have previously stated that the orders of the rulers are divided into three categories.
The questioner : The first is that they order what Allah has commanded, the second is that they order what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and the third is that they order what is not related to any command or prohibition.
The Shaykh : In which of these is obedience obligatory? In two.
The questioner : In what Allah has commanded, and in what is not related to any command or prohibition.
The Shaykh : What is the evidence for the obligation of obeying them in what is not related to any command or prohibition?
The questioner : The saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:59].
The Shaykh : That is correct. And what is the evidence for the obligation of obeying them in what Allah has commanded?
The questioner : That Allah has commanded it in its own right, and He, Glorified and Exalted is He, has also commanded obedience to those in authority. The evidence is:[An-Nisa 4:59].
The Shaykh : That is correct. If someone were to say, "I do not obey the rulers in matters where there is no command or prohibition because they are regulations, and I do not obey them except in what Allah has commanded," we would say: Obedience to them in what Allah has commanded is required, and were it not that obedience to them is obligatory in this category, the command to obey them would be of no benefit, because in what Allah has commanded, we are already commanded to obey Allah.
Now, if a ruler orders something that the one being ordered does not see as part of the Sunnah, but it is not forbidden? Obedience is obligatory, because the jurists say: The ruling of the judge settles the disagreement. This is the case with the judge's ruling, so how much more so with the ruler's ruling.
The questioner : The first is that they order what Allah has commanded, the second is that they order what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and the third is that they order what is not related to any command or prohibition.
The Shaykh : In which of these is obedience obligatory? In two.
The questioner : In what Allah has commanded, and in what is not related to any command or prohibition.
The Shaykh : What is the evidence for the obligation of obeying them in what is not related to any command or prohibition?
The questioner : The saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
يا أيها الذين آمنوا أطيعوا الله وأطيعوا الرسول وأولي الأمر منكمThe Shaykh : That is correct. And what is the evidence for the obligation of obeying them in what Allah has commanded?
The questioner : That Allah has commanded it in its own right, and He, Glorified and Exalted is He, has also commanded obedience to those in authority. The evidence is:
O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
يا أيها الذين آمنوا أطيعوا الله وأطيعوا الرسول وأولي الأمر منكمThe Shaykh : That is correct. If someone were to say, "I do not obey the rulers in matters where there is no command or prohibition because they are regulations, and I do not obey them except in what Allah has commanded," we would say: Obedience to them in what Allah has commanded is required, and were it not that obedience to them is obligatory in this category, the command to obey them would be of no benefit, because in what Allah has commanded, we are already commanded to obey Allah.
Now, if a ruler orders something that the one being ordered does not see as part of the Sunnah, but it is not forbidden? Obedience is obligatory, because the jurists say: The ruling of the judge settles the disagreement. This is the case with the judge's ruling, so how much more so with the ruler's ruling.