What is your opinion on the author of *Our Contemporary Reality* clarifying the issue of the abode of war and the abode of Islam by saying:
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The questioner : Shaykh, regarding the previous second question, meaning regarding the abode of disbelief and the abode of Islam, the author of *Our Contemporary Reality* says: "The majority of scholars hold that a land takes its description from the prevalence of rulings upon it. Thus, the land governed by the Shari'ah of Allah is an abode of Islam, even if most of its inhabitants are non-Muslims, as was the case with India during eight centuries of Islamic rule, where most of its inhabitants were Zoroastrians who worshipped cows. Likewise, the land not governed by the Shari'ah of Allah is an abode of war, even if most of its inhabitants are Muslims, or an abode of apostasy, if its people were Muslims and then apostatized from Islam". Is this statement correct?
The Shaykh : I do not see anything to refute this statement!
The questioner : Because we heard you, in an old tape, say that, for example, regarding Algeria and Syria, you said that as long as most of their inhabitants are Muslims, the fact that their rulers do not rule by what Allah has revealed does not take it out of being an abode of Islam into being an abode of war!
The Shaykh : Yes, but are their rulers not Muslims?!
The questioner : We cannot be certain of that.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The questioner : We cannot say that.
The Shaykh : Ah, therefore the statement remains as it is.
The questioner : I mean, what?
The Shaykh : That it is an abode of Islam.
The questioner : That it is an abode of Islam. So his statement is incorrect because he says:
The Shaykh : Ah, he does not say that. He is not speaking about the type we are talking about now. He does not say the rulers are Muslims. Read his phrase.
The questioner : He says in the last paragraph: "Likewise, the land not governed by the Shari'ah of Allah is an abode of war, even if most of its inhabitants are Muslims, or an abode of apostasy, if its people were Muslims and then apostatized from Islam".
The Shaykh : We do not want the abode of apostasy. What does he say before the abode of apostasy?
The questioner : To war: "Likewise, the land not governed by the Shari'ah of Allah is an abode of war, even if most of its inhabitants are Muslims".
The Shaykh : So he did not speak about the rulers, correct?
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So there is no problem.
The Shaykh : In any case, the issue remains
The questioner : a matter of scholarly disagreement.
The Shaykh : It involves extreme precision.
The Shaykh : I do not see anything to refute this statement!
The questioner : Because we heard you, in an old tape, say that, for example, regarding Algeria and Syria, you said that as long as most of their inhabitants are Muslims, the fact that their rulers do not rule by what Allah has revealed does not take it out of being an abode of Islam into being an abode of war!
The Shaykh : Yes, but are their rulers not Muslims?!
The questioner : We cannot be certain of that.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The questioner : We cannot say that.
The Shaykh : Ah, therefore the statement remains as it is.
The questioner : I mean, what?
The Shaykh : That it is an abode of Islam.
The questioner : That it is an abode of Islam. So his statement is incorrect because he says:
The Shaykh : Ah, he does not say that. He is not speaking about the type we are talking about now. He does not say the rulers are Muslims. Read his phrase.
The questioner : He says in the last paragraph: "Likewise, the land not governed by the Shari'ah of Allah is an abode of war, even if most of its inhabitants are Muslims, or an abode of apostasy, if its people were Muslims and then apostatized from Islam".
The Shaykh : We do not want the abode of apostasy. What does he say before the abode of apostasy?
The questioner : To war: "Likewise, the land not governed by the Shari'ah of Allah is an abode of war, even if most of its inhabitants are Muslims".
The Shaykh : So he did not speak about the rulers, correct?
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So there is no problem.
The Shaykh : In any case, the issue remains
The questioner : a matter of scholarly disagreement.
The Shaykh : It involves extreme precision.