Are the leaders of the Ba'ath Party disbelievers?

The questioner : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon the master of the messengers. After that: It is a source of joy for us, O noble Shaykh, to meet with your permissiveness and to present to you some questions for which we hope to receive your benefit.

The Shaykh : If Allah wills, may Allah bless you.

The questioner : The Ba'ath Party ruling in Iraq is one of the disbelieving parties. Are the leaders of this party disbelievers or not?

The Shaykh : Our answer to this question is always and forever as follows: Many Muslims who belong to some of the disbelieving parties in terms of methodology and ideology, such as the disbelieving Ba'ath Party, do not adopt the party's methodology as a creed, but rather for an immediate worldly benefit. Therefore, I do not see it as permissible to declare every person who belongs to a party like these as a disbeliever in a blanket manner, as they say in our region, "in a lump." It is not permissible to declare them disbelievers in this way. However, we say: Every individual who adopts a methodology, a school of thought, and a party whose disbelief is known from its methodology, and he adopts it as a creed, is undoubtedly a disbeliever and an apostate, even if he prays, fasts, and claims to be a Muslim. As for one who might discuss such belonging or party affiliation, and hints at it if he does not state it explicitly, the issue is that we want to live this way. We have heard from some of them, and they indeed pray and fast, but they are employees of the Ba'ath Party. For such people, we are content with ruling that they are open sinners, and we do not dare to rule that they are disbelievers. This is the answer to this question.