The Shaykh’s advice regarding what is mentioned in the hadith of al-‘Arba’ ibn Sari‘ah concerning the fear of Allah the Exalted and obedience to those in authority

The Shaykh: And secondly: There is no doubt that the advice I have offered, which you have requested of me, will undoubtedly be, for some of our brothers present, like the old Arabic proverb about the date carrier to al-Hajar. This will certainly be the case for some of our brothers present. However, since the request is for the general Muslim community, I advise them, above all else, with what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) advised his Companions, as mentioned in the hadith of al-‘Arba’ ibn Sari‘ah (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us a sermon that made our hearts tremble and our eyes shed tears. So we said: O Messenger of Allah, advise us with an advice to which we shall not need anyone after it, forever.” He said: . In another hadith in *Sunan al-Nasa'i*, there is a confirmed addition, and praise be to Allah, which is his saying (peace be upon him): . So with what should a student of knowledge like me advise, after such advice from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the most prominent and comprehensive of which is what came in this hadith of al-‘Arba’, where he (peace be upon him) said: . This phrase from the hadith is, in reality, what the Muslim world most needs, especially those among them who are afflicted with what is known as the group of declaring people disbelievers and the group of rebelling against rulers. . As for the fear of Allah, it is known among the people of knowledge, and it is of two types: a fear of Allah that is necessary, which is doing what Allah has commanded and abstaining from what Allah has forbidden; and a fear of Allah that comes after scrupulousness, which is an increase in the fear of Allah lest one falls into what He does not approve of. This is what came in the advice of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to his grandson al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with them both), where he said to him: . This is a lofty and very high level of fear of Allah, exceeding the first type, which is what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) referred to in the hadith of al-Bukhari from al-Nu‘man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them both). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in: . This is the pinnacle of the fear of Allah: avoiding doubtful matters.
I advise you to fear Allah. This is what concerns the individual, and every Muslim who should walk in his religion with the fear of his Lord (Mighty and Majestic). Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed to another aspect, concerning the position of Muslims toward their rulers, where he said: . It is not hidden from the people of knowledge, nor indeed from the students of knowledge, that this obedience which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) commanded, to obey the ruler even if he is an Abyssinian slave, is qualified by his saying (peace be upon him): . And with great regret, we state as a fact that Muslims today are afflicted with many rulers who rule in many of their rulings without guidance from their Lord. In such rulings, it is not permissible for a Muslim to obey them. But unfortunately, the matter has become confused for some of the young Muslims, who deduced from the ruling of some of these people by other than what Allah has revealed that they must rebel against them, and they deduced even more than that, which is to declare them disbelievers and that they have exited Islam. These are two very dangerous matters. We have tapes on these two issues, some of which have been completed in a printed message, and perhaps the brothers present have come across it. The summary of that is that rebelling against rulers and declaring them disbelievers, as long as they raise the banner of the testimony that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and as long as they establish the prayer, and it has come in the authentic hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he mentioned such rulers who will oppress people and strike their backs, was asked: “Shall we rebel against them? Shall we fight them?” He said: .