Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Alhamdulillah Rabbil 'alameen, wassalatu wassalamu 'ala Rasoolillahi sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, amma ba'd.
Ustad Abdur Rahman Hassan, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Jazakallah khayran for joining me once again on the Hot Seat Podcast.
Jazakallah khayran for having me.
So we are actually going on a journey, both ourselves and the viewers who are watching this at home insha'Allah. And I want to remind the viewers of the journey we have taken. We initially spoke about homosexuality and the LGBTQ movement. And we came to the conclusion that it is not something from Islam. And one of the biggest problems is that the Western countries, where many of our audience live in the UK, US, they are pushing this agenda. The answer for the Muslims came in the second episode, which was to leave these countries, make hijrah, go to the lands of the Muslims. However, we also agreed in the second episode that there are going to be some people who are unable to make hijrah. The question I want to answer today is what should these people do? How can they rectify the society in the non-Muslim land they are living in? And I want to make that distinction because obviously in a Muslim land with a Muslim ruler, it has its own rules and regulations. I want to be clear that we are talking about a non-Muslim land with a non-Muslim ruler. And you have Muslims living there. How can they fix this society so it is better? And it is the best possible outcome for the Muslims who have to remain there. And again, as I always want to do, I want to begin by giving you the opportunity to lay your foundation.
The great scholars of Islam, they mentioned as a principle which they derived from the Quran and the prophetic Sunnah, that for Allah to change our situation and the problems and the hardship that we're in, for Allah to remove that, it will be done if we rectify our actions. There are many evidences in the Quran that point towards that. Allah says in this verse, the part that concerns me now is where Allah says, "Allah does not change a situation of a people until they first change their situation, their own actions."
A great scholar of Tafsir, a great Imam, especially he's called Imam Al-Mufasireen, the Imam of those who do Tafsir of the Quran, when it came to the Tafsir of this verse, he said, Ibn Jarir says, that Allah does not change a situation of a people who are upon health and they have blessings and bliss. Allah doesn't remove that from them, that blessing that they have, the health that they have, the good that they have. Allah does not remove that from them and does not bring them destruction and hardship and anarchy, except when they change their own actions. And then he mentioned some of the things that people can do that brings about Allah's punishments. He says, "When they oppress one another and when some of them exceed their limits and their boundaries regarding one another," then he said, "Then and only then does the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala come and does it then destroy them." So for us to have a better situation, we first of all have to change our actions.
Also Ibn Abi Hatim mentions in his Tafsir. Ibn Jarir Tabari brings this as well and also Ibn Kathir transmits it from Ibn Abi Hatim. That Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i, the great Tabi'i, he mentioned something which relates to the question that you just asked and also relates to the verse that I read, "Inna Allaha la yughayyiru ma biqawmin hatta yughayyiru ma bi anfusihim." Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i, he said that this prophet was told to say to his people, that there is not a people of a village or a town, people who live in their houses or residents in their own places, their towns, their villages, and they leave off or they are sorry, or they are upon the obedience of Allah. I mean these people of the village or the people of this house are upon obedience. And then they leave that. One day they choose, you know what? Let's do something different. Let's try to keep up with the world. So fayatahawwaluna minha ila maasiyati Allah. They turn away from the obedience of Allah and they go towards the disobedience of Allah. Illa tahawwala lahum mimma yuhibboona ila ma yakrahoon. Except what would happen to them is the blessing that they had, the ni'mah of Allah that they had, because they changed their situation, Allah Ta'ala will change their situation and the way that they are and the way that He will deal with them subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Also Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He says, "Allah is not one who changes a blessing that he blesses upon a people until they change their situation, they change their actions." And Allah Ta'ala is one that hears everything that the slaves say. And Allah Ta'ala has knowledge over everything. So the blessings that people have that they've been given, Allah will remove it subhanahu wa ta'ala the minute they go disobedient, they become disobedient. Allah said to Quraysh because Allah gave Quraysh everything that they wanted and everything they needed. And Allah reminded them.
Do you want this blessing to remain? Worship the Lord of this Kaaba. Worship that Lord. Worship Him alone. Don't associate partners with Him. Allah Ta'ala in worship. The Lord of this this house, the Kaaba. Why? Because He's the one. He provided for them when they were poor and they were in need. He provided for them.
And Allah Ta'ala, He took from them. The thing with Quraysh is that Quraysh, all of the other tribes, their merchants, their belongings were all stolen. If they try to go through one village to another. Like Quraysh could move their product from one spot to another spot and no one would touch it. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in another ayah. Allah talks about a village. A town. In this village and town is Makkah. Safe tranquility. The blessings of Allah were coming from every direction. Allah then says, "These people, they expressed disbelief of Allah's blessings." Allah brought about what? Allah brought about hunger and poverty. And Allah brought them fear. At the ending of the ayah, Allah says, "Because of that which they did."
Now those verses were depending on people who had blessings and the blessing was removed and hardship was brought to them. There are verses which are clear for people who Allah is saying to them, "If you want anything from Me, you have to be upright and steadfast." Allah said, "Had the deniers and those who denied Nabi Muhammad's message, had they followed the right way, We would have certainly granted them abundant rain to drink." We would have given them the... the word here is a representation. I mean it refers to Allah will give them blessings. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will bring them rizq. And Imam Al-Baghawi and other great scholars mentioned that. He says, "And if the disbelievers were to come to the true path. They came to iman and they came to guidance. They obeyed Allah and they became faithful to Allah." Now this refers to the West. Allah is saying to them subhanahu wa ta'ala, "If you believe and you come with this religion of Muhammad, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give you guys blessings." Allah says, "If the people of the village, and they came with taqwa and piety," Allah says, "I will open the sky, rain will come down for them. And the earth, Allah will make that rain, when it comes down from the sky, Allah will make that rain produce crops." And some rain is not actually a blessing. It's actually a punishment. The people of Nuh were destroyed because of a rain. But this rain, Allah is saying, "I will send on these people who came with iman and taqwa. It's a rain that will make the earth produce." Allah says, "We grabbed them because of what they did." Not because Allah has been unjust to them. Iman is not something we just claim. Iman is something we come with. He said, "Iman is not just a mere claim, wishful thinking. Iman is something that settles in the heart and then the actions of the person show."
I want to... I want to press you on something here because I really try my best to give you the open introduction and not interrupt you. But I feel like this isn't relevant to our discussion. And the reason I say that is for two reasons. You've brought many evidences that show that if people are in a state of goodness and they don't appreciate their blessings, Allah will turn that state of goodness into a state of maybe fear, maybe poverty. And that makes sense because Allah is not unjust. He's not going to do that unjustly. It's if the people themselves don't appreciate their blessings, then that will happen. The second half you actually brought ayat and evidences to prove that if the non-Muslims, if they came to Islam, then Allah would bless them with things from the dunya like rain, like rizq. All of these things. I'm not talking about the non-Muslims. I'm talking about Muslims in the West who are in a bad, difficult situation. The government is imposing homosexuality on them in their schools. How do these guys get out of that if they don't have the ability to leave the country? That's what I want to talk about.
Those of you who believe Allah has commanded the believers to believe. Because in our belief is aqeedah of Ahlul Sunnah is that "Iman yazidu bil ta'ah wa yanqusu bil ma'asiyah." The iman, "yazidu bil ta'ah wa yanqusu bil ma'asiyah," the iman increases and it decreases. When Allah is saying to the people of the scripture, "Wa law anna ahlul kitabi aamanu wa attaqaw la kafarna 3anhum sayyiatihim wa la adkhalnahum jannatin na'eem. Wa law annahum aqamu al-taurata wa al-injeela wa ma unzila ilayhim min rabbihim la akalu min fawqihim wa min tahti arjulihim. Minhum ummatum muqtasidah wa kathiruhum minhum saa'a ma ya'maloon." Allah is saying, "The people of the scripture, if they were to believe," that's not only talking to the people of the scripture. The qa'ida in the tafsir of the Quran is "al'ibratu bil'umum al-lafthi la bi khususi al-sabab." When Allah said to the Prophet, "Taqilla," is Allah only referring to the Prophet here? No, He's commanding everybody to have taqwa. So when Allah said, "Wa law anna ahlul kitabi aamanu," if the people of the scripture were to believe, "wa attaqaw," and they came with taqwa, "la kafarna 3anhum sayyiatihim," We will expiate for them their shortcomings, "wa la adkhalnahum jannatin na'eem," the Day of Judgment, Allah says, "I'll put them into Jannah." "Wa law annahum aqamu al-taurata," if they established the Taurat, "wa al-injeela," and they established the Injeel, "wa ma unzila ilayhim," and they established what was sent on them in the Quran, some of the mufasirin mentioned, "la akalu min fawqihim," they would eat from high above.
So you're saying these ayats, even though they're directed to the people of the book, to the non-believers, they apply to the Muslims as well? That's fine. Let's take that. I agree with you. Even then, you've told me that the benefits that they get from increasing their iman, increasing their faith, ad-dunyawi benefits, rizq, water, "wa la adkhalnahum jannatin na'eem," okay, that's in the akhirah. But how are they going to help their situation in their land? They don't need this rizq because that's the reason they're in the West. They've got plenty of that. The issue for them is how do they counter the attacks that the government are putting on them? Rizq is not just food. That's the understanding I think you're having here. You only think rizq is only food. What else is it?
Rizq is a very comprehensive term. It's a very comprehensive term. Children are rizq. To give you righteous children is a rizq from Allah. When Allah, He's saying, "Fear Allah, Allah will take away from the believers..." The ayah is talking about fear will be taken from them. If a group of people are living in a state of fear and poverty, they can't think. We know the famous hadith of the Prophet where he mentioned, he said, "Ibadah at the time of haraj, ibadah at the time of fitnah," the Prophet said, "It's like migrating to me." Why specifically ibadah at the time of the fitnah? Because times of fitnah, the brains have gone trials and tribulations. When it hits, it's hard to focus. That's why Allah is saying, "Worship the Lord of this house." The time when there's hunger, you can't think properly. When you're scared and you're worried for yourself, you can't. The concept of ibadah becomes very hard. Allah is saying, "I reassured you with all of those. I promised you, I'm taking care of your safety. I'm taking care of your provision. Just worship Me." This is not only for Quraysh. It's for the believers as well.
Allah says, He says: "لَسْتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ تُقِيمُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ" If you are the people of the scripture, Muslims, Christians, Jews, all of you guys, "لَسْتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ" you are upon nothing until you establish Tawrat and Tawrat and Injeel pointed towards Muhammad ﷺ. "وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ" and that which has been sent to you from your Lord, يعني القرآن. "وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم مَّا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا ۚ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ" If they establish the Qur'an and they come with what the Qur'an commands them, Allah is saying سبحانه وتعالى that He is going to make sure that He takes care of them. The Muslims in the West need that today. That's what we are dying for. That's what we are looking for. We want hardship and the struggles that we are going through for Allah to remove it. Humiliation is upon us right now in many places in the world as Muslims, we are suffering.
Abu Dawood narrated in his Sunan and also Ahmad narrated in his Musnad on the authority of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, that the Prophet ﷺ, he said: "إِذَا تَبَايَعْتُمْ بِالْعِينَةِ" When the people start to trade a form, يعني there is a type of trading which is called عِينَة. عِينَة is a trading which is رِبَى in reality, but they cloak it with بَيْع. They cloak it in a form of بَيْع which is halal. So they make it a form of بَيْع (buy and selling), but in reality, the essence of this is what? It's رِبَى. The Prophet said, "إِذَا تَبَايَعْتُمْ بِالْعِينَةِ" if you guys start doing عِينَة which is this رِبَى, "وَأَخَذْتُمْ أَذْنَابَ الْبَقَرِ وَرَضِيتُمْ بِالزَّرْعِ" and you grab onto the tails of the cows and you become pleased with the agriculture, again representation of what? Running after dunya, giving yourself to the dunya. "وَتَرَكْتُمُ الْجِهَادَ ۚ" And you leave off fighting for the sake of Allah SWT, and whether it be جهاد النفس or whether it be جِهَاد السِّلَاح يعني the way that the Sharia is set, "سَلَّطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ ذُلًّا لَّا يَنزِعُهُ حَتَّىٰ تَرْجِعُوا إِلَىٰ دِينِكُمْ" Allah will place upon you humiliation until you come back to your religion. Look at the last part of the hadith. صلى الله عليكم ذلًّا Allah will place upon you Muslims ذلًّا humility. "لَّا يَنزِعُهُ" Allah will not remove that humility from you. "حَتَّىٰ تَرْجِعُوا إِلَىٰ دِينِكُمْ" until you come back to your religion. Another riwayah explained what it means to come back to your religion because a lot of Muslims will be like, "Yeah, I'm doing what my religion calls me to." A riwayah in Musnad it says, "حَتَّىٰ تَرْجِعُوا إِلَىٰ مَا كُنتُمْ عَلَيْهِ" until you come back to that which you were upon. Again, another group of people might say, "What does that mean?" Tabarani narrated it even more clearly. He said, "حَتَّىٰ تَرْجِعُوا إِلَىٰ أَمْرِكُمُ الْأَوَّلِ" until you come back to the affairs of the beginning. يعني until you come back to what Muhammad ﷺ was upon, a religion that's not tainted, a religion that's not filled with بداع (innovation) and all of that, and it's pure, it's clean the way it was upon for Nabi ﷺ. Then you're going to find it.
شاهد (witness), you can never bring me in history, historically, في عالمنا (in our world), the world that we live in today, this عالم (world) that we're living in today, someone who came with what Muhammad ﷺ came with, in just 23 years of his life, his path, without a doubt countries, it takes them centuries and they don't even reach what he reached عليه الصلاة والسلام. And there was a method he took.
Abu Sulaiman Al-Darani said something very powerful. He said, "من صفى صفي له، ومن كدر كدر عليه، ومن أحسن في نهاره كوفي أفي نهاره" Anyone who is pure and is clean in his actions, Allah will make your outer and the reality around you and the world that you live in, Allah will make it better for you. And anyone who taints his actions with filth and disobedience, Allah will taint everything around you and your life and everything will become bad. "ومن أحسن في نهاره" Anyone who is good in his daytime, "كوفي أفي ليله" Allah will take care of your night. "ومن أحسن في ليله" Anyone who is good at night and prays and remembers Allah at night, "كوفي أفي نهاره" Allah will take over your affairs daytime. There are reasons why Muslims are being humiliated. It's not what many people are being told. The reason why many Muslims are being humiliated are as follows: number one, محادات لله ورسوله (defying Allah and His Messenger). The people are going against what Allah and His Messenger sanctioned. That's why Allah said in the ayah: "إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحَادُّونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُولَٰئِكَ فِي الْأَذَلِّينَ" Ponder on that verse. Allah says, "إِنَّ الَّذِينَ" are the ones "يُحَادُّونَ اللَّهَ" that are defying Allah and His Messenger, opposing Allah and His Messenger. "أُولَٰئِكَ فِي الْأَذَلِّينَ" مَا مَعْنَا فِي الْأَذَلِّينَ أَذَلِّينَ means humiliated. They are the ones Allah is going to put down. They are the ones Allah is going to forsake. This is something we have to understand.
وَحَادَاتُ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ (going against Allah and His Messenger) is what makes a people lose Allah Ta'ala. He said: "وَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَخْسَرِينَ" Allah Ta'ala, He was talking about Ibrahim. Imagine someone was thrown into the fire. Ibrahim was thrown into the fire. Allah says, "وَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا" they planned against Ibrahim. When they planned against him, who became the one that was lost? Who was the one humiliated? Not Ibrahim. Allah says, "وَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَخْسَرِينَ" In another place, Allah Ta'ala, He said, in one place Allah said, "وَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَخْسَرِينَ" Allah says, "وَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَسْفَرِينَ" Allah made them the lower one. Why? They can plan and plot against you as much as they like. If you have a good bond with Allah Azza wa Jalla, you have a good bond with Him Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the fire that's meant to burn, Allah Ta'ala told us. He said to the fire, "كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ" The fire Allah spoke to it. That's a مخلوق من مخلوقات الله (a creation from the creations of Allah). Allah told the fire, "Don't burn Ibrahim."
Okay, I want to interject now and I want to get into the discussion. I've given you enough time to lay your foundation, lay your introduction, and what I'm understanding from that is the hypothesis that you're putting forward is that the Muslims in the West who are being humiliated, we agree on that, who are finding it difficult to practice their faith in their country, we agree on that, the solution for them, if they can't leave which obviously is the number one solution, but if they can't leave then it's to build their relationship with Allah and as a result of that Allah will make their situation easy, have I understood your hypothesis correctly?
I wouldn't like to use the word hypothesis because this is a نصوص وحين (nusus wahin - texts of revelation). I mentioned Quran and Sunnah, so it's a fact, it's a reality. Okay. I'm not going to bang my head against those evidences that you put forward and I'll agree with you that we need to change the condition of the Muslims in the West. My theory and the theory I'd like to put forward to you today is the best, most practical way to do that is by changing the laws and regulations coming from the government while making it extremely hard for Muslims to practice their religion. Change those who are given an environment for the Muslims who can't leave the West to make it easy for them to practice their religion. And I feel that's a much more practical solution than quoting examples from Ibrahim A.S. when Allah made the fire cool for him or the Prophet A.S. what he was able to do. We're never going to be able to replicate that. Let's be honest. Let's stick to the real world, the 21st century in the West. Why don't we influence the government whilst not compromising on our religion, but influence the government to bring rules and laws and regulations that make it easy for the Muslims to practice their religion. Isn't that surely the way forward?
No, Shahid, that's really not the way forward for the Muslims to start from the top and come down is not the right way. It's not the prophetic way, by the way. Why? How can you say that? The Prophet A.S. said in a hadith. Ibn Umar A.S. narrated that the Prophet A.S. said: "بُعِثْتُ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ السَّاعَةِ بِالسَّيْفِ حَتَّىٰ يُعْبَدَ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَجُعِلَ رِزْقِي تَحْتَ ظِلِّ رُمْحِي وَجُعِلَ الذُّلُّ وَالصَّغَارُ عَلَىٰ مَنْ خَالَفَ أَمْرِي وَمَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ" The part that really concerns in the hadith. Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from the hadith of Ibn Umar. The Prophet A.S. here he said, and it's the part I want us to focus on and really understand it and digest this. This is where the crux of the whole entire discussion goes back to, which is the Prophet's statement here where he says, "And belittling is for the one who opposes my command." Then the Prophet said after that, "وَمَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ" Anyone who imitates a people is from them.
I'm going to mention to you a hadith that's going to clarify for you the way that things were for the Prophet A.S. As we know, the Prophet lived in Mecca and he lived in Mecca for 13 years of his life. After being a Prophet from the age of 40 to 53, he was in Mecca A.S. and Quraysh harmed the Messenger A.S. severely. There's a story Ibn Ishaq mentions in his Seerah. Ibn Ishaq mentions this in his Seerah. He says he was a Sayyid of his people. He one day came. He came to the assembly of Quraysh and they were sitting there. He said to them, "Quraysh," and Nabi Muhammad, by the way, was in a masjid, the Kaaba, praying. So he came to Quraysh and he said to them, "O Quraysh, why should I not go to Muhammad? What do you guys think? Should I go to Muhammad and I speak to him? And when I speak to him, I'm going to present things to him which he might accept from us. Some of it he might reject, but it's a chance for us to have a dialogue with him and talk to him." By the way, this was when... this is when Hamza took Islam and they're now... it's worrying. They're losing strong individuals. And so he came to Nabi Muhammad. When he came to the Prophet, he said to him... So Quraysh said to him, "Go and speak to him." Quraysh said, "Now go and speak to him. If you think that's going to work, then go do it." They've given up now. They can see they're losing grip of the community. Nabi Muhammad is getting publicity. The people are coming and following him. The truth that he's coming with. So they said, "Go and speak to him if that's going to change anything."
So Utbah ibn Rabi'ah stood up and he went to the Prophet. When he came to the Prophet, he said to him, "The son of my brother, my nephew, you are from us. You're a man from amongst us. You know the position you hold in the community and you're from a big tribe. You're Quraysh, you're Bani Hashim and you're one of us. The lineage and the community. You're a big figure. You're not a man who's nothing. Like that. You've come with a great issue. You've caused discord and disunity amongst the community. Uproar. A son and a father are not talking anymore. You are causing havoc. And what you've also done is you've kind of spoken bad about their fathers and their forefathers. You've belittled their fathers and said their fathers are in hell fire. And you've now insulted their idols and you've given it names and said this is wrong their religion. Listen to me. After all of that which you've done, listen to me. I have a proposal for you. I'm going to give you something." Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to him, "What is it? Present to me what you think you want to say. I'll listen to you." He said, "If what you have brought forward, you're looking for... the intent behind this message that you're coming with is wealth, we will gather all of our wealth from every tribe. We'll say this much give this much give. We'll give it all to you. We will make you the richest man in Mecca. That's it. If you're looking for honor, reputation, dignity, we'll make you our leader to the extent that you're going to make the decision which is going to follow you. If what you're looking for is kingdom that you take it and your children take it and it's inherited like that, it's long term, we will do that for you."
He went on. "حَتَّىٰ إِذَا فَرَغَ عُتْبَةُ" Utbah finished what he wanted to say. The Prophet ﷺ, he said to him, "أَقَدْ فَرَغْتَ يَا أَبَا الْوَلِيدِ" "Abu Al-Walid, have you finished what you wanted to say?" "يَا عُتْبَةُ" "O Utbah, have you finished what you wanted to say?" He said, "نعم" "I did." "فَاسْمَعْ مِنِّي" the Prophet said, "Listen to me now." Utbah said, "أَفْعَلُ" "I will listen to you." He said to him, "بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. حَامِيم ﴿١﴾ تَنزِيلٌ مِّنَ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ﴿٢﴾ كِتَابٌ فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٣﴾ فَأَعْرَضَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ ﴿٤﴾ وَقَالُوا قُلُوبُنَا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ مِّمَّا تَدْعُونَا إِلَيْهِ" He recited those verses to the Prophet. Then the Prophet ﷺ carried on reading. Utbah was listening attentively to him, not talking, not saying anything until the Prophet reached a prostration and he prostrated عليه الصلاة والسلام. And the Prophet ﷺ, he said to Utbah, "قَدْ سَمِعْتَ يَا أَبَا الْوَلِيدِ" "You've heard what I wanted to say, Abu Al-Walid." "مَا سَمِعْتَ" "That which I've said." "فَأَنتَ وَذَاكَ" "And that is what's upon you." And the Prophet stood up and he left.
شاهد (witness), قرآش (Quraysh) presented to نبي الله محمد (Nabi Allah Muhammad) power. They gave... they presented everything to him. They said, "Here it is. It's all yours. We will listen to you. You go to the top." At what cost? What did they want from him in return? That specific narration I told you, "حَتَّىٰ لَا نَقْطَعَ أَمْرًا دُونَكَ" "We will listen to everything you say." There was no compromise of the religion in that narration specifically. Are there other supporting narrations about the same? There are other narrations do mention a more powerful understanding and I want you to hear and understand it. After قرآش (Quraysh) did that to the Prophet and they saw he's not giving up. This is not what he's looking for.
Shahid, two points. The politics today, it's going to take from your religion, not necessarily anyone who... Let me explain something to you. Jamaluddin. This concept of the activism now that we're seeing today that's running like that, yeah? The first person it goes back to is not the early scholars of Islam and on. It goes back to a man by the name of Jamaluddin Al-Afghani, deviated individual. Jamaluddin Al-Afghani. This concept he came with and he propagated it that the Muslims have to be part of politics وما إلى ذلك (and so on). After him, adopted it, he stood in, Muhammad Abduh. Muhammad Abduh said, "You know what? You're right. My Sheikh is right." Took it from him and he adopted it and pushed it and spoke for it, argued for it. Until when he realized that politics is not going to work for him, he took... he spent years of his life. He said one of the things that's been transmitted from him: He said, "Majalatul Manar," Muhammad Rashid Rida mentions it. He says, "اللهم إني أعوذ بك من لفظ السياسة ومن مكان يلفظ فيه السياسة" "Oh Allah, I seek refuge in the word سياسة (politics), the place where سياسة (politics) is mentioned, ومن ساسة ويسوس وسائس" "I hate the word, the root word where it's derived from." يعني نقمة شديدة (ya'ni niqmatun shadeedah - meaning very, very upset). He became very, very, very, very upset with politics. He realized it's going to harm you. It's not going to give you. After him took Muhammad Rashid Rida. Muhammad Abduh and Jamaluddin Afghani, misguided people. لكن محمد رشيد رضا (Lakin Muhammad Rashid Rida - But Muhammad Rashid Rida) was a man that somehow had a different approach. He believed in this political thing. He believed in it. He had a belief of calling to Tawhid as well. Masha'Allah. Strengthening the people's Tawhid. Calling to the Sunnah. He was doing and all of that. But even him, because of politics, he adopted... he took on board principles because politics works on that, which is قاعدة (qa'ida - a principle): "نتعاون فيما اتفقنا عليه ويعذر بعضنا بعضا فيما اختلفنا فيه" "We work with each other on what we agree upon, and we will excuse each other on what we differ upon." A principle which then brings the LGBT, the homosexuals. All of us put our differences aside. Has no limits because "ويعذر بعضنا بعضا" "We will excuse one another in what we differ upon." Has no limitations. And if there's no point, it stops قاعدة (qa'ida - a principle) like that. So the disbeliever, the atheist, the agnostic, as long as you have the same goal, we work together on that. This is what politics is. This قاعدة الشيطانية (qa'idatun shaytaniyyah - this satanic principle), as Ibn Uthaymeen called it. That's where it's taken from. That's where it came from. People who had to do this because of politics and activism. So you find a person having to do shirk rituals, not because he believes in it. It's not him. It's not his personal قناعة نفسية (qana'atun nafsiyyah - personal conviction). He's personal content with it. It's not him. ميدان السياسة (Maydan al-Siyasah - This is what the field of politics) does to you. It destroys the division between توحيد (Tawhid - Oneness of God) and شرك (Shirk - Polytheism), سنة (Sunnah - Prophetic Tradition) and بدعة (Bid'ah - Innovation). That's why you see people who work with innovators and everything. It's adopted from that.
Look at the UK. We have the Conservative Party on one side. We have the Labour Party with their differences. They still work together on issues and some laws. But so did the Prophet ﷺ. And he even advocated it. But never did he say ﷺ, "Let's put our differences aside." He refuted their differences. And we don't have to necessarily put our differences aside, but it doesn't mean I'm not talking about, by the way, someone like trying to become an MP in the UK and trying to go through the political party route. But there is an argument for Muslims to get a bit more actively engaged because if you sit back and do nothing, which is what your proposal is. Sorry, that's not fair because you're not proposing to do nothing. You're proposing to teach books in the masjid to correct the people from the ground up.
Shahid, what I'm saying is that Muslims getting power and reaching that level that we all want. By the way, we're all saying that Insha'Allah (if Allah wills) we want Muslims to be the strongest, the up. But we're saying it doesn't come about by starting from the top and going down. No, it doesn't work like that. It works the opposite way. The community, build your community, have a strong community. The scholars, they say "الخلافة ثمرة من ثمرات التوحيد" (Al-Khilafah thamratun min thamaratit-Tawhid - The Caliphate is a fruit of the fruits of Tawhid). The concept of خلافة (Khilafah - Caliphate) it comes from توحيد (Tawhid - Oneness of God). Remember what I said to you before. Nabiullah Muhammad when he refused عطفة الربيع (Atfatu ar-Rabee') as offer and Quraysh and what they had to bring to the table. Shahid, Nabiullah Muhammad after that, what did he do and what was his approach that he took and how did he go about it? So he turned this down and he left them. He could still ask other people to give it to him. If there's like some Muslims say today, for example, they say that the reason the Prophet refused that was because there was a... there was a condition that he didn't want. No. After that, look what happened. Nabiullah Muhammad every year he would go to the Hajj and he would go to the مواسم (mawasim - seasons), the place where the people come. He would go to مجنة (Majannah) and اعقاد (Ukaaz). There's markets. The big markets where everybody's gathering. This is Hajj. Hajj is the most... you know how Hajj is now? It was like that for them as well. People would come from everywhere. The Prophet would go to Majannah, he would go to Ukaaz, he would go to Mina and just look what he'd say. He would say, "من يؤويني" (Man yu'wiynee - Who will give me shelter?), "من ينصرني" (Man yansurnee - Who will give me victory in my message?), "حتى أبلغ رسالات ربي" (Hatta uballigh risalati Rabbi - So I can convey the message of my Lord), "وله الجنة" (Wa lahu al-Jannah - And he'll receive Jannah). Shahid, ponder here and contemplate. He didn't say, "Who's going to give me victory so I can be the leader or I can get power?" He didn't. He said, "حتى أبلغ رسالات ربي" (Hatta uballigh risalati Rabbi - So I can convey the message of my Lord).
I'm not saying people have to get power. I don't know why it has to be this or that. They're not mutually mutually exclusive. Yeah, one takes away from the other. No, it doesn't. You can teach the people from the ground up the way you want to do. The way you want to do. Teach people. But at the same time, why can't we not get into power? I'm not saying that I want a Muslim Prime Minister to get into power or anything like that. I'm not taking it that far. I'm saying why can't we just lobby the governments? Just show them that we are a minority that has a big voice in the UK and when we come together... Give me your people. I'm not even... Shahid, that's what I'm saying. When you strengthen your community, you would tend to get a voice, an agreement amongst the community. You have a community that's united that's come together on fundamental issues. That's when you're in the masjid and you're teaching, you bring the people together. Then yes, we will work towards something. Our community have lost their religion. Our community are divided amongst themselves.
Now, Rishai, let me say something to you. We've seen all of this and we've lived through all of it. When Morsi, for example, came into power. This is a مثل (mathal - good example). Who Morsi came into power. Okay? He's now seen as a figurehead who's now governing in the country. He came through the system in the most pleasing way to the West. He got elected through voting. And that's the first time ever Egypt has ever had it. Ever. He came into power. He's now in power. Shahid, because the community and the society were not ready. يعني (ya'ni - meaning) they were not nurtured correctly. They were the same people who went against them. The people used against them. Shahid, there were prophets of Islam, نبي أنبياء (anbiya' - prophets) who lived under rulers when they never went into power. Prophets were living under these people. Even the closest person they use is Yusuf عليه السلام (alayhis salam - peace be upon him). نبي الله يوسف (Nabi Allah Yusuf - Prophet Joseph) he didn't lobby towards power. It was offered to him and he accepted it, which shows that it's not necessarily a bad thing to be in power. He accepted it. No, I'm not saying it's not in no way, shape, or form.
I'm saying the approach and the methods that is being taken in order to look for it, it's not right. That's not what Islam... Look. Yusuf عليه السلام (alayhis salam - peace be upon him), when the man put him in power. وقال الملك ائتوني به أستخلصه لنفسي (wa qaalal maliku'toonee bihi astakhlishu linafsee - And the king said, "Bring him to me; I will appoint him exclusively for myself.") The leader said, "Call me for him." After he interpreted the dream and he called... he called them to what? And he was conversing with them about Tawheed. He said, "First, I won't even interpret their dream." He told them the Tawheed solidifies that in their hearts. Told them about that. And then after that, he told them, "If you go out, then tell the leader that I am a free man and this accusation is false." The man went and told the interpretation of the dream to the Malik. The Malik then said, "ائتوني به" (i'toonee bihi - Bring this man to me) "أستخلصه لنفسي" (astakhlishu linafsee - I'm gonna bring this man close to me) so I can converse with him and get his advice. So I'm gonna give him something, a position in order for him to talk to me. "فَلَمَّا كَلَّمَهُ" (Falammaa kallamahu - And when he spoke to him) when he spoke to Yusuf عليه السلام, he said to Yusuf, "إِنَّكَ الْيَوْمَ لَدَيْنَا مَكِينٌ أَمِينٌ" (Innaka alyawma ladaynaa makeenun ameen - Indeed you are today among us established and trustworthy). He said to Yusuf, "Today you are to us a man who's reliable." You're not... I'm freeing your name from the accusation that was given against you. And Yusuf wanted that first to clear. Then look what he said when he said to him, "You are a reliable person to us and we are today going to... I'm gonna make you under me." يعني (ya'ni - meaning) "استخلصوا لنفسي" (astakhlishu linafsee) means "you're gonna be somebody who's gonna do something for me." Yusuf could have chosen the highest of levels. What did he ask for? He asked for the ministry of finance. He said, "قَالَ اجْعَلْنِي عَلَىٰ خَزَائِنِ الْأَرْضِ ۖ إِنِّي حَفِيظٌ عَلِيمٌ" (Qaala aj'alnee 'alaa khazaainil ardi innee hafeezun 'aleem - [Yusuf] said, "Appoint me over the storehouses of the land. Indeed, I will be a knowing guardian.") If you're gonna give me a role and that's what you're presented to be, I'll take the ministry of finance. Keeping in mind Yusuf's working under a non-Muslim. If the idea is to get into power and overtake everything, Yusuf's now been presented this position and the leader, by the way, is doing this right now because he's been foretold that there's going to come... there's going to come قَحْت (qaht - drought) to the people. People are gonna go through drought and hunger and poverty is coming their way. So they need somebody to take them out of this. And Yusuf عليه السلام specifically chose the place where he can help them on that issue.
My point to you is أنبياء و رسول (anbiya' wa rusul - prophets and messengers). There's gonna come a prophet the Day of Judgment and there's nobody with him. نبي الله محمد عليه السلام (Nabi Allah Muhammad alayhis salam - Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) set us an example. شاهد (Shahid - Witness), who brings leadership, who brings Muslims in power. Our efforts and our lobbying are running around. No. Let's look at what the Quran says regarding this. Allah says: "أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ مَّكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَا لَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّكُمْ" (Awalam yaraw kam ahlaknaa min qablihim min qarnin makkannaahum fil ardi maa lam numakkin lakum - Have they not seen how many a generation We destroyed before them which We established upon the earth more firmly than We have established you?) Allah says, "مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ" (makkannaahum fil ardi - We made them grounded on this earth) and We gave them تمكين (tamkeen - establishment), solidified them on the earth. Allah is attributing it to who? Himself.
In another ayah Allah says: "وَنُمَكِّنَ لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنُرِيَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا مِنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا يَحْذَرُونَ" (Wa numakkina lahum fil ardi wa nuriya fir'awna wa haamaana wa junoodahumaa minhum maa kaanoo yahtharoon - And establish for them a place in the land and show Pharaoh and Haman and their soldiers from them that which they used to fear). Allah says, "We made them grounded on this earth. We solidified them." Allah says in another ayah. "وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي مَا إِن مَّكَّنَّاكُمْ فِيهِ" (Wa laqad makkannaahum fee maa in makkannaakum feehi - And We had certainly established them in that with which We have not established you). In another ayah Allah says, "وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ" (Wa laqad makkannaahum fil ardi - And We had certainly established them in the land).
All the Muslims in the UK are wealthy like that and also in the West? They all pay their zakat? I'll leave the answer to you. "وَأْمُرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَنَهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ" (Wa amuroo bilma'roofi wa nahaw 'anil munkari - And enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong). When the Muslims are told this is munkar, stay away from it. You know what they say and "وَنَهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ" (Wa nahaw 'anil munkari - And forbid what is wrong). And when they are commanded to do the good, what's the response they give and the excuses they give? That's conditions Allah mentioned. These are the ones that we give them to.
Allah says in another ayah: "وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا" (Wa'adallahu allatheena aamanoo - Allah has promised those who have believed) Allah made a promise and Allah's wa'ad is true. "الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا" (Allatheena aamanoo - Those who believe) Those who believe amongst you. "وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ" (Wa 'amiloo assaalihaati - And do righteous deeds) And they come with Iman, they come with righteous actions. "لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ" (Layastakhlifannnahum fil ardi - Allah will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the land) Allah will make them powerful on this earth. Allah will give them the upper hand on this earth. "كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ" (Kama astakhlafa allatheena min qablihim - As He granted it to those before them) Like He's given to ones before. "وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ" (Wa layumakkinannna lahum deenahumulladheer-tadhaa lahum - And will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them) And Allah will solidify their religion for them. And Allah will be pleased with their religion for them and the way that they are. "وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا" (Wa layubaddilannahum min ba'di khawfihim amnan - And He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security) The fear that they had, Allah will change it to prosperity and safety. The fear they had, Allah will remove that from them. Shahid, look at this. "يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا" (Ya'budoonanee laa yushrikoona bee shay'a - They worship Me, not associating anything with Me). They worship Me alone and they don't associate partners with Me.
I often think that in the Hot Seat, it's a battle between practicalities and real life versus theory. I'll tell you why, because in France right now, they are banning Muslim sisters from wearing the hijab. You can have your teaching, your books in the masjid. You can have your cultivating the youth. You can have your teaching and knowledge. And your mother, your sister, your wife is walking outside without hijab because of a government legislation. That's what it comes back to.
Shahid, at the beginning, what did I say to you? Anyone who opposes that which Allah and His Messenger sanctioned. The hadith I mentioned, that the people when they oppose the command of the Prophet ﷺ, Allah will place on them humility that He will not remove from them unless they go back to their religion. I'm saying to you, they want to go back to their religion, they want to wear the hijab. I'm not denying there is a nice, practicing, righteous community in all countries in the world. In the West, there are righteous people, better than I. More noble than I am, more righteous than I am. That's not denying. What I'm saying to you is when the dim-witted ones, the ignorant ones are more in number, the disobedient ones are more in number. We have figureheads, let's be very frank and honest. We have people who are saying... The poet said, "When would we reach success?" If you're trying to build a building and then somebody is taking the bricks out from the bottom. When is that building going to reach its fullness? Full, complete version? It won't. We have people who are saying, "Democracy is Islam" and "Islam is democracy." And we have people who... who fight against the fundamental things of Islam. Fundamental things of Islam. And then they come with this... I call it... This false desire to say that we need to change the Muslims. That we need to do something for them. When is it going to happen? If you want to take a path to bring the Ummah success, you're looking for success, you're not taking its path. Wallahi (I swear by Allah), you're not going to reach success. The ayah mentions, "This is my path," the Prophet said. The Prophet has a path. "I use this path to call to Allah. I call the people through this path. I do that and those who follow me." We're saying here, the calamities that have hit us, the calamities that have befallen us, the type of leaders that we have upon us, the kind of world that we're living in today, there's no one else we need to blame except the one who's talking, you who's listening. Every Muslim should point the finger at himself.
Fir'aun, who we know what he is. Fir'aun who claimed... And said... Fir'aun with all of that. Allah told us in the Qur'an, Fir'aun was only placed upon the people because of their own actions. Allah said, "They were transgressive people. They were criminals." The people were criminals. And Allah made Fir'aun a leader for them. When the people become disobedient to Allah and they go against Allah's commands, Allah will place upon them devils in the forms of humans. Allah will place upon them wolves that have no rahma (mercy). Mustard seed of mercy. Allah says, "Like that we place transgressive people above them." Allah places a tyrant. A tyrannical individual. A tyrant individual who has no rahma for them.
Masoor ibn Abi Aswad, he mentioned when he came to the ayah. Durratul Manthur Suyuti mentions it. That Sulaiman ibn Mehran, the great Imam, he was asked about the ayah. That some oppressive people, they can have an oppressive leader above them. What's the meaning of this ayah? And you know what he said? "If the people are corrupt, the evilest of people will take over them." That's the type of people. That's why the scholars used to say, "Your leaders is a representation. It's your action that has been put into the form of a human." You're talking to your action. We're talking about what came first. Chicken or egg? My whole argument is that I agree that people are corrupt. The people on the ground are corrupt. But the easiest way to change them is to change the laws and the legislations that are making it harder to practice their religion. You'd rather take the approach of changing millions and millions of Muslims rather than changing one or two at the top. One or two non-Muslims at the top.
Where does the leader come from? From the sky? You're saying that the leader will come from the people that you correct on the ground. In a non-Muslim society, the leader does not come from the Muslims. You said the Muslims have to lobby and go to the governments and you want them to represent us. Correct. So you want some people to represent us. I really try to avoid mentioning names. But let me just mention names now. We have a woman in the States, America. She's from the Somali community. She's from a very famous area in America where a large number of the Somali community live. The largest Somali community in the West is in that place, Minnesota. The people elected her. Her name is Ilhan Omar. Ilhan Omar is holding hands with the LGBT community. Who is she representing? The people who chose her.
Give me figureheads. Give me the example. I can do... I'm not going to mention names either. But there are people who represent organisations who are genuinely working with the governments. Ulema. No, no. Let's stop now. This woman is now... Whether she is holding on to Islam or whether she is a non-Muslim, that has to be a discussion. But a discussion can be open on that issue. Pay attention. This is very serious. Why? What is the reason why we have this problem? So who is going to lobby? When we choose the person who is going to represent us as Muslims? You can't give me a response to that. Shahid. In Islam, look at from the time of the Prophet until... Carry on. Even till now. The people who took the people out of calamities and problems were not individuals who are nothing. Ulema took the people out. The Prophet was the first one. And then there were Ulema after that. Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali. So why can't the Ulema, according to your definition, why can't they be more active?
The Ulema are taking the approach sanctioned and set by Allah and His Messenger.
How long is your approach going to take? It's long. Of course it's long. It's been an ongoing approach for many, many centuries and decades. And guess where it's got us to this point?
The Prophet ﷺ saw the Sahaba suffering in Mecca. Khabab was suffering. He said to the Prophet, "Are you not going to make dua for us? Are you not going to give us victory?" The Prophet said to them, "There were those who came before you. A man. A man will be taken. The earth will be dug for him. He will be placed in the earth. The blade will be taken and placed on his head. He will be made into two. His religion will not move. This man is solid. Till he dies he will be like that." The Prophet swore by Allah. We would believe him without him swearing by Allah. Imagine if Muhammad swore by Allah. He said, "I swear by the Lord, my soul is in His hand. A rider will ride from Sana'a. A rider will ride from Sana'a. He fears nothing except a wolf to eat his patch of cows or camels or sheep." Then the Prophet said to the companions that were there that they will come. "But you guys are hastening. Khabab, Bilal, you guys are hastening. This is Sunnah of Allah. That will forever be." Sheikh al-Albani already said this, "Our path is long." Yes, our path is long. But it's the only path.
That's the path when the Prophet sat down with his companions and he said... When the Prophet took the twig and he made a line on the earth. He could have just recited the ayah. These are Arabs, they can understand what he's saying. Look what he did. He took a twig. A picture draws more than a thousand words. He drew a line on the earth for them to make them really internalize what he's going to say to them. And he said to them, "That's my path, follow it. Don't make these paths. Don't follow them." What's going to happen when you follow these paths? It will take you away from the real path. The path that's to Allah. There's only one road to Allah, by the way. There aren't roads, only one road. The ayah said. But when he talked about the other paths, what did he say? He made it plural. The path to Allah is only one. Yes, our path, insha'Allah, is that one. We hope Allah to keep us upon that path. That path which involves being... holding on to the Quran and the Sunnah with our scholars.
Shahid, definitely there's a point I need to mention here, which is these people who are activists now, who are running around trying to say that we need to remove the problems from the Ummah, who are taking it upon themselves to respond to the doubts that the orientalists are trying to put themselves out there to defend the religion, they are not Ulema. And they are a harm to the community and a problem to the community. Ulema are who? Ulema are the people who've inherited Risalatul Muhammadiyah. The message of Nabi Muhammad. Look what the Prophet said. He said... Before I go into this, there's a narration that Nafi' ibn Harith mentioned that Umar met his Amil in Usfan. Usfan is a place just outside Makkah. His Amil in Usfan. Shahid, pay attention to this. When he met him, Umar said to him, "If you're here..." The Amil is Nafi' ibn Harith. He met Umar outside Makkah. So if he's... and he's going to be in charge of Makkah. Umar then said to him, "Who's running the affairs of the people? Who have you left with the people of Makkah if you're here?" He said, "I've placed Ibn Abza. Abza is the man in charge." Umar said, "This Ibn Abza, who's he?" He said, "He's a slave that was freed from our slaves." Umar said, "He's placed a man who went through slavery over people who've never gone through slavery." In other words, what he meant is, normally, the people who've gone through slavery, generally they're not learned and studied. And people don't even know how to run things. And you have to understand, Shahid, this is Makkah. This is where it all started from. Imagine. Then the man said... He didn't say he's an activist. He knows. He didn't say all of that. He said, "This man has memorized the Quran and knows the meaning." To show that he knows the meaning. "Inheritance is the hardest chapter." He said, "He knows inheritance. And this man knows the Tafsir of the Quran." Umar didn't say, "We need a man who's acquainted with the land." He didn't say that. The Prophet said to us, "Allah will place a person high just because he's got the Quran." Ibn Abza is a man who went through slavery. He's people he's governing. People who are what? Who are Quraysh. The Prophet's people. That's the people he's governing. Shahid, I ask you a question. What was he governing them with? The Quran and the Sunnah. That's what this man had.
The Prophet placed the people of the Quran above everybody else. Times of fear, Allah says. He said, "If they were to bring the matters back to the people who are referred to as..." Who's...? What did he say? Times of fear and security. Issues of safety and security. Don't bring it to the students of knowledge. Now I'm not going to give you names. I'm not going to give you names because I don't know. I don't want to speak. Because I might be right. Let's apply these principles. And whoever it applies on. If the shoe fits. Then there isn't...
Okay, well then isn't that a problem because now you're outsourcing fatawa to the people who don't even know our condition?
If the people, Shahid, don't have knowledge. We haven't got scholars. So we have to give fatwa because we know the reality. If you know the reality better than the scholars as you say, and I have to be honest, I'll be fair. We do know the reality in the West better than the scholars. There's no denying. I don't think any sane person would deny that. We do know the reality better than I know the UK better than... The truth. That doesn't give me the rights to give fatwa in the religion. I've only got one portion, which is the waqi'. I understand. He has the ilm. I have no knowledge. You have people who have some knowledge of the religion and the full reality of the West. These are issues of security and safety. These people are taking positions like, "Who should we work with? The LGBT community or not?" Wait, wait, wait. You're not fit for this role. This is not you. Call the ulama. Present the situation to them. By the way, when I say ulama, a lot of people are just going to think, "Oh, he's referring to the Saudi scholars." Of course they're part of the scholars I'm referring to. But they're not only the scholars. There are scholars around the world. You go back to them and you bring it to them. And they are ahlul ijtihad. They will look into the issue, revise the issue, and give it to you.
Shahid, first of all, let me describe who a scholar is and who isn't. These terms are loosely being used. People who are not even considered students of knowledge. I wouldn't even consider them to be students of knowledge are called ulama. "He's a scholar." How's he a scholar? And this is a problem because when we play with terms like that, it becomes a problem. You see, we're just beginners, students of knowledge. We're just beginners, students of knowledge. So what makes a scholar then? The first one is the first condition of a scholar to him is Risalatul Muhammadiyah. He has the message Nabi Muhammad came with. He knows the hadith of the Prophet A.S. Look what he said. He said in hadith A.S., "Innal ulama warathatul anbiya." The prophets... Sorry, the ulama inherit the prophets. "Wa innal anbiya lam yuwarithu dinaran wala dirhama." They did not inherit from them money, by the way. What they inherited from them what? "Warathul ilma." "Faman akhadhu wa akhadhu bihadhiyan wa filin." The first knowledge they inherit from the Prophet is what? The Quran and the Sunnah. That's what the Prophet gave them. Quranana hikma. Hikma means the Sunnah. Those are the first two they inherit. Anyone who doesn't know anything about the hadiths. Anyone who doesn't know the Quran. He's not an alim. However much he screams on the pulpit, I tell you this. He's not an alim. The one who knows Arabic grammar. The one who knows usulul fiqh. The one who knows balagha. Is not an alim. That doesn't make them an alim. A alim is a person. First condition is that he has the Quran and the Sunnah. That's the ulumul ghayat. He has the maqasid, the objectives. The Quran and the Sunnah. All of these are stepping stones to these two. Pay attention to that.
The second thing that he has is ma'rifatu wujuhul qiraat. This man knows the different qiraat of the Quran. And Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from Abu Darda. Abu Darda, he said, "La innaka la tafqahu kullal fiqhi." You're not a faqih. They're taking out fiqh issues. Qa'am khas mutlaq muqayya. They're taking rulings. Abu Darda is saying, "La innaka la tafqahu kullal fiqhi." "You are not going to be a faqih." As the word fiqh is. "Hatta tara lil quranin wujuha." "Until you see different qiraat in the Quran." Different recitations. This qiraat is explained in this one. Wali dhalik. Ayub explained what Abu Darda meant. He said, "He starts to realise and it holds back."
The third thing he needs, a person who is alim, is what? Ma'rifatu aqwal al-sahaba. He knows the statements of the sahabas. Sa'eed ibn Abi Aroobah, what did he say? "Do not consider him a scholar, the one who does not know the difference of opinions amongst the sahabas. And he doesn't know the different views. That Ibn Abbas said this. Ibn Umar said this. Ibn Mas'ud said this. Abu Hurairah said this. If you don't know the different views amongst the sahabas, don't consider this person alim." Malik ibn Anas said this, "Fatwa is not permissible for... until he knows what the people differ upon." And then they asked him, "Are you talking about the differences of the people of Ahlul Rai?" He said no. And then he said. He said, "He knows the abrogated verses and that which are not abrogated." Tajudina al-Subki, he said, "If a woman does not know the difference of opinions, she is not a jurist." Tajudina al-Subki, look what he said. He said, "If a person does not know the difference and the reason for this difference, he doesn't know it." By the way, the word faqih and alim are synonyms. Mujtahid, alim, faqih are synonyms. "He will not be a scholar." Look what he said. "Until a camel goes through the needle."
Abdul Malik ibn Habib, he said, "I heard Ibn Majashun." Ibn Majashun is a student of Ibn Malik. "I heard him say, Malik and other great scholars used to say, a person is not going to be a person of fiqh, great scholar of fiqh, if he doesn't know the Quran." Abdullah ibn Mubarak was asked, "When is it allowed for a man to give fatwa from himself?" He said, "Unless he is a scholar in the text, Quran and Sunnah, and the ra'i here means a fiqh. He knows how to extract the benefits from it."
The fourth thing is, the person does not follow strange views. Many of them are bringing... filling it up with the Ummah. People are referring to them as scholars. Weakening the hadiths based on their own desires. Ibn Mahdi. Ibn Mahdi is the Sheikh of Imam Shafi'i. He said, "A person is not a scholar. Anyone who takes the strange and leaves off what the ulama have stated in their works." A scholar is a person. When we look at his works, which is the fifth one, what he got right and what he got wrong. What he got right is more. We don't believe our scholars are infallible. We know that they can get it right or wrong. Hafidh ibn Abdulbar, he said, "If he does little mistakes and he gets many right, he is a scholar." Anyone who gets it right some little time. He gets it right. Also. The person who is a scholar is the one who can defend the deen. He has the strength. We are hearing them saying, "I have these doubts for so many years." You are not a scholar if doubts are going to creep into you. A scholar has the strength and the ability to defend the religion. The Prophet told us. He said, Khatim al-Baghdadi mentions it in his Kitab Sharaf Ashab al-Hadith. Ibn Abdulbar mentions it in his Tamheed. Pay attention, Shahid. This is combining between two things. He can defend the religion with al-riwayati wa al-diraya. The narrations, what he has got in his head. I was taken back when I came across a statement of al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Ahmad was asked, "Can I pass him the fatwa if he has memorized 100,000 hadith?" He has memorized 100,000 hadith. Can he give fatwa? He said no. They said, "200,000." They said, "300,000 hadith he has memorized." By the way, hadith memorization from Ahmad ibn Hanbal is with the chain, of course. There is a time of chain. 300,000 hadith. He has memorized it. Can he give fatwa? He said no. They said, "400,000." He said, "Maybe." And then people come today and scream and say, "The Shurut al-Mujtahid that the scholars mentioned is so stiff and too hard." Where is it from the Quran? The person can defend the religion. When he came out and he... he got... The leader of the Muslims grabbed him. And he said he was going to be executed. And he said, "Execute me if you want. I am dying and I have left like 4,000 hadith that I made halal which is haram and haram that which is halal."
The leader said to him... He said to him, "You are going to die for sure. This is not going to change anything. Great scholars are going to live for this." Abdul Rahman ibn Mahdi took it. He said, "Give it to me." Abdullah ibn Mubarak took it. It was called Abu Nu'aym Fadl ibn Duqayn. These people sat down and they threw all this dirt and filth he added to it. Our ones today, what are they doing? The doubt comes. "It's a valid point." "It's a valid point." In Islam, the great scholars who brought our religion to us, not only did they do that, they were the best people to have protected for the Muslims their prosperity, their glory.
The poet, he said, "The seven jurists in Medina that sat." These were the... If it said, "Oceans in knowledge." Their narrations. They are understanding. Say to them, "Ubaidullah, Urwat, Qasim, Sa'id, Abu Bakr, Sulaiman, Kharija." Seven men. Which then trickled into the four Imams that we have. Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i, and Ahmad. And the Madaris that came out from all of that.
The point I'm trying to say to you is, we don't want activism from Jahalah. We don't need ignorant people running our affairs. We don't want it. The people we need for them to run our affairs and help us and get us out of these problems have to be scholars. Ibn Taymiyyah... You're not... You're not equal to his nail and what he was like and the knowledge and the understanding that Ibn Taymiyyah had. Ibn Hajar, he praised a book called... This Kitab is praising Ibn Taymiyyah. Ibn Hajar took that book, read it. And then he put a Takreed on it. He put a praisal on that book. He spoke about Ibn Taymiyyah and how great he was. And this is the seventh reason for a person to be a scholar, which is his students. Ibn Hajar said, praising Ibn Taymiyyah, "وَلَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِلشَّيْخِ تَقِيُّ الدِّينِ" (Wa law lam yakun lish-shaykhi Taqi'ud-Deen - And if Sheikh Taqi'ud-Deen didn't have anything else) "مِنَ الْمَنَاقِبِ" (Mina al-Manaqib - Of the virtues) "إِلَّا تِلْمِيذُهُ الشَّهِيرُ شَيْخُ شَمْسُ الدِّينِ ابْنُ الْقَيِّمِ الْجَوْزِيَّةِ صَاحِبُ التَّصَانِيفِ النَّافِعَةِ السَّائِرَةِ الَّتِي تَنْفَعُ بِهَا الْمُخَالِفُ وَالْمُوَافِقُ" (illa tilmeethuhu ash-Shaheeru Shaykhu Shamsud-Deen Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyatu Sahibu at-Tasanifi an-Nafi'ati as-Sa'irati allati tanfa'u biha al-Mukhalifu wal-Muwafiqu - Except his famous student Sheikh Shamsud-Deen Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, the author of the beneficial and widely circulated works from which both opponents and supporters benefit). The people that benefit from Ibn al-Qayyim's works. If Ibn Taymiyyah didn't have no other virtue to be praised for, except that he produced Ibn al-Qayyim, he said, "لَكَانَ غَايَةُ فِي الدَّلَالَةِ عَلَىٰ عَظِيمِ مَنْزِلَتِهِ" (La kana ghayatun fi ad-dalalati 'ala 'azimi manzilatuh - That's enough to say Ibn Taymiyyah was a scholar).
If Ibn Taymiyyah was living in the UK right now, would he be confined to the masjid, teaching books, going to his house, staying with his family, go back to the masjid? Or would he be actively involved in trying to quit the society? Ibn Taymiyyah was producing scholars. No doubt. I'm saying to you, this is my point. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah's path is what we're saying. Ibn Taymiyyah produced Ibn al-Qayyim, he produced Ibn Abdul-Hadi. He produced... He produced Ibn Kathir, he produced Ibn al-Zahabi, he produced and benefited from him was Ibn al-Hajjaj al-Mizzi, Ibn al-Samit, Ibn al-Muhibba al-Samit al-Mudina al-Barzali. These people are from the Madrasa of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. Who sat in front of him and he benefited from. But why can't you do both? Why can't you teach and produce students? I'm with you. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. But why can't you also get, like they say Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah did, why can't you also get politically active? Why can't you do both?
I said the approach in which we need to take in order to bring the problems from the Ummah is the way I set for you. We need to go back to ourselves. Which is different from Ibn Taymiyyah. This is what Ibn Taymiyyah did. He educated the people. Remember when the Tatar came to the Muslims and was harming the Muslims. Ibn Taymiyyah said, "We're not ready for it. Let's study, let's learn." By the way, Ibn Taymiyyah ran away from Harran, his place of birth. And he ran to Damascus with his father. And his father collected all the books that he can. And they ran away. Ibn Taymiyyah took time to educate the people. يعلمهم ويربيهم (yu'allimuhum wa yurabbihim - Educating them and nurturing them). Educating them, benefiting the people. And then he reached where he reached. And got the people to that position. He wasn't actively involved in the society. That's what you're saying? I'm saying he was. Ibn Taymiyyah was serving the people from their knowledge, from everything. He was doing all of that. He was giving Tarbiyah to the people. He was...
When I did this research, I was reading from the works of Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah and his books. Was he helping the rulers? Was he advising the rulers? I'm saying now the rulers... There's three things that people need to do for the rulers. The Muslim rulers. The Muslim rulers, three things we need to do for them. Dua, that Allah guides them to that which is good. If they're calming the people, may Allah guide them to the best and bring them back to guidance. That's one. The third one is an-nush. Advising them. We go to them and we advise them. If you know they're doing something wrong, go knock on their door. Advise them, whether there are other people sitting there or not. It doesn't matter. If he's there, he's right in front of you, talk to him. And the third one is as-sabr. To be patient upon his situation. Why do I have to go to the leader? Why do I have to knock on his door every time? Why do I have to be around him?
These people... By the way, this whole movement is not just restricted to the UK. It's actually happening in the world. The Arab world, it was happening in the Arab world. A man by the name of Abdul Rahman Abdul Khaliq, who recently died, may Allah forgive him. Pushed that concept. He's actually one of the people who pushed it in the Arab world. So it's not... These arguments are not just for the West, by the way. It's actually present in the Muslim world as well. And he was the one who pushed it and argued for it. And Shaykh al-Albani refuted him. It's recorded. There's a discussion between Shaykh Saleh al-Sheikh and Shaykh al-Albani. Shaykh al-Albani condemned it, spoke against it. Shaykh Nasir, may Allah have mercy on him, kept saying, "Who is now more beneficial for the Ummah?" Did you even hear about Abdul Rahman Abdul Khaliq? Did you even know he died?
Like in the case of Shaykh Nasir — are we benefiting from his works? That’s what it is. People will remember Ahlul-‘Ilm, Ahlul-Khair.
Just last night, I was reading the book Qurrat ‘Ayn al-Muḥtāj, which is a Sharḥ of Muqaddimah Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim ibn Ḥajjāj, written by Shaykh Muḥammad Āzī Ādam al-Ithyūbī. I’m benefiting — he’s left something for me. Benefiting. Me and my son — I got the iPad, I was making my son read it. He’s reading it, and I’m watching him. If he gets it wrong, I correct him. Benefiting. The Shaykh left something for me and my family to benefit from, you see?
He’s played a role in rectifying our situation and the problem that we’re in. To get yourself into this issue of activism, when you're not fit for it, you will destroy more than you will benefit.
So what you're saying — and correct me if I’m wrong — I want to summarise what you've said today so far. You're saying that:
- The best way for the Muslims in the West who can’t leave the country — they have to remain there — the best way for them to get out of their situation is to correct themselves from the ground up, educate themselves, teach themselves knowledge, and of course, get closer to Allah. And in the process, Allah will change their condition for them and make things easier.
- And you admit, it’s not an overnight process, it’s a long process. But you say it's the only process that has to be taken, because:
- It’s the prophetic way,
- You can’t do both — you can’t fix yourself on the ground while trying to influence the government, because if you do, you’ll compromise on your religion.
- And you brought examples of people who have done that.
- And the third point you touched upon now is that the scholars — the ‘Ulamā’ — who should be in charge of these kinds of decisions, none of them are involved in political activism. And the reason is because they recognise this is not the right way. Therefore, the ignorant ones have stepped forward and gotten involved in political activism, and in the process, compromised their religion.
I mean, look at what the Prophet ﷺ said to us:
“Anyone who comes to the doors of the leaders, trials and tribulations will hit them.” The Prophet ﷺ said: وَمَا زَادَ عَبْدٌ مِنَ السُّلْطَانِ قُرْبًا إِلَّا ازْدَادَ مِنَ اللَّهِ بُعْدًا "There is not a person who gets closer to the ruler except that he becomes more distant from Allah."
Imām Aḥmad and Al-Bayhaqī narrated this in Sanad Ṣaḥīḥ.
So what if someone says to you, “This is a secular methodology — you’re separating religion from the state”?
No, I didn’t. What I said is—
You said, “Concentrate on your religion and leave the politics.”
No, I didn’t say leave politics in the sense that you’re trying to put it. I’m saying to you, the politics today — as al-Albānī رحمه الله said:
وَمِنَ السِّيَاسَةِ تَرْكُ السِّيَاسَةِ "From politics is to leave politics."
Because this politics that people have set up today is not something you want to get your shirt tainted with. Wallāhi.
What is politics today is not what someone wants to be part of.
I'm saying to you: if you want to bring honour for the Muslims — honour, power, strength, and the upper position — it can be done. But not in the way you're going about it.
I’m not saying Islam is not about leadership and control over countries and systems — of course we are. We have those chapters in Fiqh, I’m not denying that.
I’m saying the approach for that is not the way you guys are doing it. And just because I said that approach is not right, doesn’t mean I’m against the idea of leadership and how governments are run. I’m not saying that.
I’m saying: today, the way I believe a Muslim leader should be advised is threefold:
- Du‘ā’ — make du‘ā’ for him.
- Naṣīḥah — advise him: “What are you doing? This is wrong, change this,” when I’m with him.
- Ṣabr — be patient with whatever comes from him.
Can you do the same for a non-Muslim ruler?
No.
With a non-Muslim ruler, my situation with him and the way I am is — I don’t care what he does, I need to protect my community.
You can make du‘ā’ for him — “O Allah, guide him to Islam.” Can you do that? Is it not permissible?
Which one?
Of course, everyone can make du‘ā’ for him.
If you’re with him, and you happen to be with him — is it not permissible to advise him?
Like: “We’re a big community in your country. One thing we’re struggling with is X, Y, Z.”
I don’t want to be put in a position where I have to apply the same thing for a Muslim and a non-Muslim.
What I’m saying to you is that with a non-Muslim, we have a different deal — which is: in Islam, there are contracts we need to have with him, and we need to abide by that contract or system that we’ve set with him.
For example: if you come into his country, there’s a system, a contract. If those contracts are not in place, then there is jihād that goes between us and them — there’s a discussion to be had, which I don’t want to go into right now.
I’m saying: if we’re living in this country now, and we choose to be from those people — we’re stubborn, we don’t want to do hijrah, okay? We’re stubborn, and we don’t want to take those fatāwā, and we choose to stay in the West — then do this.
Your community is suffering. Wallāhi, going and lobbying and being MPs won’t help you.
Ilhan Omar is not helping the Somali community — I’ll promise you that. I know it, it’s my people. She’s a problem to them. She’s an embarrassment to us right now. We’re so embarrassed that she’s not representing the Somalis. Wallāhi. And the things that she’s saying...
I don’t know any Somali sane person who still looks up to her. Total embarrassment.
And many more like that are going to come. And matters are going to become worse, okay?
And we have the same in the UK. The Mayor of London — what’s his name? Sadiq Khan. He’s not of any value for us.
And these du‘āt — when we questioned some of them — we said, “Hey, he lobbied, this guy is in power, what has he done for the community? What benefit is he bringing?”
Wallāhi, one of them said to me — I don’t want to say his name — he said to me: “Just the fact that the name of the Mayor of London is a Muslim name is enough for us.”
Isn’t that a good thing?
It's better than not having a Muslim name. His name, just—yeah, is that not a good thing? It makes Islam more tolerant amongst non-Muslims. They get used to saying his name. They get used to seeing him on TV. Wallahi, that is—it doesn't deserve an answer. His name is enough for us. Even to the extent—we became so humiliated that we found out Boris Johnson, his mum's Turkish or his dad's Turkish or something like that, and we said, "Look, he's got..." That's the reality for the Muslims today.
Okay, I want to give you a scenario. You're getting a flight, you live in the UAE right now. You're going back to the UK to visit your family. You're on the flight, you happen to be sitting next to Boris Johnson. You're not going to talk to him about Islam and maybe tell him?
So that's what these people are doing. About Islam? Not just about Islam, but even about some of his laws and regulations that are making it difficult for the Muslims.
I don't believe that. Okay, one second, you hear Boris Johnson is going to implement a law that's going to ban all the massage in the UK, you don't mention it to him? You don't say, "Boris, it's going to be a problem for us"?
No, I'll send a letter to him.
Why can't you see your friend next to you?
I'll talk to him, yeah, of course. Even if I'm at home in London, I'll send a letter to him.
Okay, that's what people are doing. That is political activism, what you just described.
No, Shahid, this is okay.
Mashallah, okay. I think we're on a different page.
What's happening here is that these people are saying, "Leave the massages, the durs is not working. This method of yours, Abdurrahman, is not working. Please stop. Get engaged in politics. Read the updates of what's happening in politics. Keep up with what's happening, the laws that are being passed."
I'm saying that's not going to benefit in any way, shape, or form.
There is a party who say that, but if there was a middle ground and a party who said, "We believe in your approach, carry on, and I'm going to do my approach," so we're tackling it from both angles—would you be upset at them?
And I'm going to do the Tadris and the Ta'alim of the people. If he succeeds in it, it's up to him. There's no issue with someone doing that—being politically active, trying to influence—if he agrees that you should do your thing.
A great Imam, he said something. He said, "Even if we told everybody to leave it, there's always going to be people who are going to listen to our advice, who are going to still be in it." We'll still ban it, we say, "Muslims, politics is going to calm you."
I'll tell you something. Politics does two things to a person who goes into it.
He loses his religion. It's a reality, there's no debate about that. He'll go and come back to the community who trusted him, who believed in him and said, "Go, represent us." He comes back and he brings them strange things.
Second thing that it does is—so the religion goes—and the second one is that it destroys that person's aim and objective, the goal that he was trying to achieve. So it harms him as a person.
He starts to shave. He starts to look different. He even says—there's people who went to big figures. They sat in front of Obama, George W. Bush. They changed "Allah" to "God".
I'm not blaming them per se. I'll be very honest with you, I know politics the way it works. His script was checked before he even read it. He wrote it. He cannot just read it out like that. He goes there, he has to say, "God said." He can't say, "Allah said." He says, "Amen." He has to say—the ayah, he can't read it in Arabic. Everybody's going to be like, "What did he just read?"
Shaheed, to be honest with you—democracy does not serve Muslims. Because democracy is built upon the majority. And Islam, majority are upon falsehood. The majority are misguided. The majority don't know. Little remember Allah and obey Him.
So my point is—why are you running in an area where people are going to question you after that?
And a lot of these people, I don't think—not for one minute do I believe—I'll be honest with you. History repeats itself. History repeats itself.
No way do I believe that these people are doing it for their communities. These people—mark my word and remember it one day—these people are running for power and positions. They're not serving the community.
That's an issue that's inside their heart.
I don't think we can say that.
I know history. Historically, I read works in the Islamic world. I read all of that. These people are running and lobbying and going for themselves. And once they get into power, they don't represent their communities or these people.
Whatever can keep them in power and whatever can keep them in strength.
Ibn Badis, may Allah have mercy on him, warned against Jamiatul Ulema of Jazair. They banned this concept. Al-Bashir Ibrahim, Ibn Badis, scholars of Ansar al-Sunnah, Abdul Waqeel and Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqh, Sheikh Al-Albani in Syria, Ahmed Shakir— All of these scholars— They were not representatives and mayors and MPs and what not. They stuck to them, and this is what the Ummah are reaping today— The benefits of their works.
Okay, I have a couple of closing questions before I want to move on to the issue of protesting. The first question I have is that— If we adopt your approach and we don't get involved politically, We're never going to get a Muslim person in power. And if we don't get a Muslim in power, There's going to be laws and regulations That are going to continue to be passed That are going to make it extremely difficult for the Muslims in the West To practice their religion.
Shahid, I think at this point— We kind of stressed on it before, And to make it even more clearer for the people, Is that the Prophets of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala And the righteous people who aided them, who supported them— Let's take for example Nabila Yehud. Allah Ta'ala said about him:
"Inni ushidu Allah washhadu anni bari'un mimma tushrikoon mindooni fakidooni jami'an thumma la tunziroon. Inni tawakkaltu alallahi rabbihi warabbakum, Ma min daabatin illa huwa akhidun binasiyatiha, Inna rabbi ala sirata mustaqeem."
Nabila Yehud—what did he say to the people? He said: Go and plan and plot, all of you guys. Come together and plan. Do not wait, do not delay, do not hold back. Plan everything against me. "Inni tawakkaltu alallahi" I've relied on Allah Ta'ala. "Rabbihi warabbakum" My lord and your lord. "Ma min daabatin illa huwa akhidun binasiyatiha" There is nothing on this earth except Allah is holding it. Allah has got control over it. So Nabila Yehud, that's what he said to them.
Also Allah Ta'ala He mentioned: "Watlu alayhim min naba’i Nooh" Nabila Nooh— "Idh qala li qawmihi ya qawmi in kana kabura alaykum maqami wa tadhkiri bi ayati Allah fa alallahi tawakkaltu fa ajmi'u amrakum wa shuraka'akum thumma la yakun amrukum alaykum ghumma thumma qudu ilayya wa la tunzirun"
Nabila Nooh said to his people: If me calling you to Islam, Me calling you to Allah has become something very hard For you guys to digest and to accept— Then he said: Now go and plan against me. "Fa alallahi tawakkaltu" I rely on Allah Ta'ala. "Fa ajmi'u amrakum" Bring your matters together, unite against me. Come together, call your allies, your coalition. Come against me. "Thumma la yakun amrukum alaykum ghumma thumma qudu ilayya wa la tunzirun" Come against me, destroy me, do what you want to me. Don't delay, he said. But I have Allah.
Our Prophet ﷺ— Allah Ta'ala said about him: "Qul id'u shuraka'akum thumma kiduni fala tunzirun. Inna waliyyi Allahu allathee nazzala alkitab, wa huwa yatawalla al-saliheen."
Do the same. Come together, unite, support one another, aid one another— Against me, to destroy me. But remember one thing: "Inna waliyyi Allah" Allah is my ally. Allah is on my side. Allah is the one that's going to aid me.
So Allah is the one. Huwa nasiru da'wa. Allah is going to give victory to it. Wa mu'ayyiduha wa hafidhuha Allah Ta'ala is the one that's going to take care of it. Allah is the one that's going to serve it. And Allah is going to protect it.
To think you're the one that's needed— If you're not found, this religion is going to crumble And everything is going to be destroyed— Nitawadha, humble yourself.
This religion is going to be defended. And you were told to take this path Like the Prophets took. They gave da'wah, they preached, they called to their Lord— Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If you do that, leave the rest to Allah Ta'ala.
And I'll tell you something, Something we've taken from the West, which is— We think the means and the results are in our hands. No, it's not. The results are in Allah's hands.
We just have to come with the means. We just have to bring our part to the table, Or come with our part, And the rest—we rely on Allah Ta'ala. And Allah Ta'ala loves this religion And His Deen better than we do.
So from the means— And you admit that obviously it is upon us to take the means Even if we're not in control of the end result— What is the solution then?
Shahid, we have to— There are a couple of points I want to mention. The first one is: The first solution for the Muslims If they want to get everything right Is that— Going back to the da'wah.
And the way that we go back to the da'wah is— In the correct way, Which is: Learning, acquiring that knowledge, And teaching it.
Purifying the people from three things: Purifying the people from shirk, Purifying the people from bid'ah, And purifying the people from ma'asiyah and sins.
If a government bans alcohol And the people still choose to drink it— We know drugs are illegal in the UK, Let's just take that— And drugs are being sold in a large quantity in the UK. People are making millions from it. Some people are rich—millionaires—from drugs.
So what government can impose Is not really necessarily what's going to always work. The people could stop all of the drugs If they get nurtured correctly.
So learning and attaining that knowledge, And then teaching and benefiting the people, Is the way forward.
So just to stick on that point, Because I think that's really important, And just to repeat it for the viewers— You're saying that if we do our job With correcting the people on the ground, And teaching them the religion of Islam the way it should be— It doesn't matter what law the government passed Because it would never affect the people Because they would know that this is wrong.
That's what you're saying? Correct, correct, correct. Okay, valid point.
The next point that I think is: Leave the du'āt And the students of knowledge In the fields that they are in. Don't drag them into politics. Don't drag the students of knowledge and the du'āt From a very strong part that they are holding for the community, And bring them into politics.
The reason is because— The masjids become empty. And when the masjids become empty, And the circles of knowledge go— You're going to have a corrupt community.
And looking at it today— We see that. The du'āt have been told, "Come out, come out." If he gives a kitāb on fiqh and ṭahārah and ṣalāh, And he's belittled— "He don't even know the waqf of the Muslims!" You—I mean— When we have Muslims who can't even do rukū‘ properly And sujūd, and can't pray, We belittle that.
The Prophet ﷺ sent individuals— Mu‘ādh ibn Jabalin, and he said: "Mu'ādh, listen. You're going to go to the people of scripture. Let the first thing that you call them to be: Lā ilāha illa Allāh, Muhammadur Rasūlullāh. When they obey that from you, Move on to the second. And that is what? Ṣalāh.
Once they accept that from you and they do that, Move on to the third, which is zakāh. He didn't say go there, lobby, Get the Muslims together, get them to be active. He didn't say that.
He called a dā‘ī, leave him in his field— To preach to people and call them.
When the Prophet ﷺ sent another companion, He said: Make matters easy on the people. Don't make it hard. Give glad tidings. Don't be a person who causes havoc. He gave him approaches of da'wah And how to call.
The next point is: These matters that we think that the Muslims are suffering from— It has to happen. The solutions should be looked for, And it should be taken back to— The people of knowledge.
The scholars. And the students of knowledge should be connected. The students of knowledge should have scholars over them— Where they go back to, They refer back to. And getting it from them— It's not an insult to you If someone says you're not a scholar. Because you're not. And it's fine, you're not having reached that.
And it's an honour for you To be even a student of knowledge, Even if it's a beginner student of knowledge. It's an honour. It's not an embarrassment.
And make your steps forward. If you be sincere and you're genuine, And you carry on— Inshā'Allāh, Allah will make you a mujtahid one day, If you carry on. But— Don't hasten what you don't have.
If you work and you claim that for yourself, you're not going to ever reach it, and you're always going to think you're a mujtahid, and you'll never attain knowledge.
So the majority of the people who are now forefront are not ‘ulama — myself included — we're not scholars. The scholars are those people who are mentioned, those conditions for. Those people are the ones we should give the matter to, and they should run it.
There's never been a struggle in Islamic history where the Muslims made it through except that it was done by the ‘ulama. It was the scholars that did it — and a good relationship between the scholars and the students.
But not students — or even those who are not students. For example, Ilhan Omar — where did she learn? I don't even think she's ever studied the deen. So those are the type of people who are going to run the affairs of the entire Muslim community?
If matters are placed in the wrong people's hands, then wait for the hour to strike. And that's exactly what we're seeing.
Also, my advice would be: study the history that took place. Go back and study, and learn what the Muslims have gone through the last hundred years.
By the way, this — Islam — the Khilafah went down, this is when all of this started.
But study — take time out and study. Some of it I mentioned already: the Jamaluddin Al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdul and Muhammad Rashid Rida — taken from him — creeping into the Muslims like that.
And then Abdul Hamad Abdul Khalid — being the first so-called Saudi student of knowledge who studied, you know, pushing this into the Salafi. Because he studied in Saudi Arabia, studied with the prominent Salafi scholars like Al-Albani and what not, he then came to the West. So he went back to Kuwait and he pushed this ideology in Kuwait after he opened Jami’ Al-Turath. He's originally Egyptian, but they gave him jinsiya Kuwaitiya. And he formalized this approach for them.
But before this it was not known for the Salafis, and the Salafis didn’t have this issue. It was Ikhwani and the children they gave birth to, which is Hizb ut-Tahrir.
And the Salafis were not like that. Salafis were tasfiyah wa tarbiyah by Shaykh Al-Albani, Shaykh Ibn Baaz, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen — and they were nurtured by these great imams.
Okay, so study the history that took place. Study history. Read these works that have been written. The discussion that the ‘ulama have had, the events that have taken place — did these people make it through?
What happened to them? What happened to Muhammad Rashid Rida? Look at what happened. Look at Jamaluddin Al-Afghani — what he did. Muhammad Abduh and what he said, and how his life was, and how historic.
Look at the ‘ulama of Jazairah and the position they took. The ‘ulama of Ansar al-Sunnah and the position they took. Read their fatwas. Look at their mawaqif that they took.
I’m saying: if we're all looking for glorious success for the Muslims, and that's what we're trying to attain — the way that I've mentioned is what the dalil supports. The Qur’an and the Sunnah support that method.
And the people who argued for this are the people till today whose names are mentioned. We mention them. We speak about them. We mention them in our circles.
But there are also political activists who are mentioned in the other circles.
Shaykh Albani affects governments. His fatwa shook governments and systems. His books, his works. Don’t you think to yourself that from the masjid and from the pulpit and from the khutab that you do — it can’t affect systems and government? It does.
It's a long path, but as you said, it’s the prophetic path.
And spiritually — if someone wants to focus on the spiritual aspect — the reason is that the dalils show: if you take this path, Allah will be the One who grants you victory.
And if for anybody — it shouldn't be the case — but if there's anybody who isn't content with that spiritual aspect, then even logically: if you cultivate and teach the people, it doesn't matter what rules are coming from above. They're going to be able to recognise right from wrong.
And that's a strong argument.
One thing I just want to clarify — even for my own sake. Through this discussion with you, it seemed like your stance at the start of the conversation was talking more about: “it has to be this way and nothing else.” And then when I brought up the analogy of you sitting next to Boris Johnson, you said you'd advise him — write him a letter.
Does that mean that you can do an element of both, as long as you have this thing where you are teaching and cultivating the people? As long as you have that as a cornerstone and the main aspect of your da’wah — can you do a little bit where it's involved with lobbying and political activism?
I want to clarify, just for my own sake, in this conversation.
You see, engaging in the politics today — I said that’s something a Muslim shouldn’t do. You should not get yourself involved, because politics is a system. That’s what you would have done if you wrote Boris Johnson a letter — that’s my point.
Being part of the system, and becoming an elected member, and going into the system and everything — I don’t think anyone should hope anything from you once you go into the system. Because the system carves you. It sets you priorities, it sets you goals — your dressing, and the way you talk — all of it, you adopt it from that environment, that surrounding that you’re in.
In no way would I advise any da’i to do that. And I think that goes against the Nusūs al-Wahyayn.
But if any Muslim sees that a Muslim is being oppressed, and he has the ability to stop that oppression — by writing a letter, by speaking to the local MP, by even entering upon the local MP and saying, “What you’re doing is wrong. These people, you know, they chose you,” and he advises him and he leaves — this is... whether they call that activism, whatever they call it — that’s right.
Advice, and correcting problems — that’s not what we’re arguing against. But it’s always from outside the system. And it’s also with the teaching going on in the masājid.
Not just teaching — even myself, my own self — rectifying my own actions, my ‘ibādah. It’s just... the Muslim needs to understand: this system, it’s going to change you. You’re not going to change it. To be honest, that’s the truth.
That’s what you’re going to learn after many years of your life.
What you can change though — no one can stop you from it — is the community and society. People’s hearts, and their love for the religion. That’s what you have.
Imagine these people haven’t got anyone from the ground — that’s when the ‘ulama became powerful. Because they had more of the followers of the people than the leaders did. And the leaders were forced to go to the ‘ulama and say, “Please, can you tell the people, please.”
If you look at what historically happened, you would be amazed. Why? Because... they said it was open. And he got angry, and he said, “I’m not going to stay in a place where alcohol is open.” And he reached — and the people of the village all packed up and said, “We’re going with you. If you go, we’re going with you.”
The leader had to say, “I didn’t know — where is it?” And shut it down.
He didn’t have power in a seat. And he didn’t — he just was mukhlis.
Allah says in the Qur’an:
وَإِن تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ
“If you show patience and taqwa” — forbearance, tolerance, resilience in your religion, and your patience — the three types of patience: ṭāʿah, patience upon obedience of Allah; patience from sins; patience upon the calamities that befall you — and then you show taqwa (piety, fear of Allah), وَالْعَمَلُ بِالتَّنْزِيلِ — acting upon the Qur’an and the Sunnah, وَالرِّضَى بِالْقَلِيلِ — being pleased with the bare minimum, the little Allah has given you, being pleased with it, وَاسْتِعْدَادُ يَوْمِ الرَّحِيلِ — and preparing for the Day of Judgment...
If you come with that, Allah says: لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ — it will not harm you — كَيْدُهُمْ — their plans and their plottings that they are planning against you. إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ — Allah is the one that encompasses them all.
I don’t find anywhere in the Qur’an where Allah says “lobby,” “do this,” “that” — I have not seen that.
The Qur’anic hadiths I read — it’s the case.
And shahid — look at it yourself. Even the ones who have gone to that power position — they are individuals we know, who have reached a chance. An opportunity was given, a window of opportunity was given to them. And it’s online, you can check them out. They are sitting now in front of — as they say — the most powerful man on the face of this earth. They call him POTUS — the President of the United States — right in front of him.
And guess what? His whole entire lecture is censored. What he said, what he could say.
If you closed your eyes, you wouldn’t even think this letter came from a Muslim. Bismillah — he can’t say. Khutbatul Hajah — Innal hamdulillah — he can’t say it. He can’t say “Allah.” He can’t say...
That’s the reality.
So is that where we are going to spend all of our life to get to? And once we reach that position.
Our whole entire lecture is censored. We can't say what we wanted. We struggled.
Don't go to a place where you are humiliated, and you are belittled, and you are mocked. The truth of the matter is: our honor is going to come once we all obey Allah. Our honor will come through when we take the prophetic method.
So, you mentioned that there are some means we can take that are outside of the system — that we as Muslims can take. From that, a lot of people ask the question: Is protesting from the means? Is protesting in a non-Muslim country — is it from the means that are permissible for us to undertake to try and impact some kind of change?
Okay. We can talk about it, whether it be in the Arabic language, or whether it be in the English language, or even — many people have written books on it. Whether it be Shuyūkh and Mashāyikh who have written it — a lot of them, personally, in my personal opinion, they didn't deal with the issue in a very scholastic, scholarly method. A lot of them.
The reason for that being: they didn’t mention the types of Mudhāharah there are, and then give each one its suitable ruling. They gave a complete ruling for different types — and it’s always a type that doesn’t really fall under that reasoning.
So, the types of Mudhāharah are the following:
The first one is Mudhāharah which is with the intention and the aim of changing the system — and that happens in three forms:
- The first one: which is trying to change the system or trying to uproar the system — and it happens in three different ways:
- It's either in a Muslim country where that Muslim country doesn't allow protesting.
- The second one is: it’s trying to change a system where it's under Muslim power — under Muslims — a Muslim leader, but it doesn't prevent people from doing Mudhāharah. The Muslim leader allows protesting — he allows it.
- And the third one is under a non-Muslim country — so it's not a Muslim country.
The second type is Mudhāharah — or protesting — that is done with the aim and the objective of changing a situation from the situations that are there. You're not trying to put the system down. You're not trying to drop the government or anything — or upthrow the government.
The aim here is just — you just want a situation to be changed from the situations out there, or you want to take a position in something.
The third form, which is the last, is that the aim for this protest is just to bring to the government — to their attention — a particular issue, like global warming or something like that. Bringing this situation to the world.
Those are the three forms.
So the scholars, they gave a ruling on Mudhāharah. They said it’s not allowed, it’s not permissible. They got it from the Qur’an and the Sunnah, but they had to explain their reason for why it’s ḥarām — and there are five points which they took.
The first point is that: It’s a newly invented matter.
The second reason is because: It’s imitating the non-Muslims.
The third reason they gave is that they said: This is a means of rejecting something, and the means of rejecting something has to be taken from the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
The fourth one is: It’s going against the Muslim leader.
And the fifth reason the Mudhāharah that they said is not allowed is because: There is in it things that are in opposition to the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and there are harms and problems that come from the Mudhāharah.
Let me go through each reasoning that the scholars gave — not all of them are valid.
The first one, which is: it’s a newly invented matter. To say that something is newly invented — it means to say something is newly invented and it’s an innovation — it means that this person is attributing this to the religion.
So there are a group of people who basically do believe that Mudhāharah is an ʿibādah, an act of worship. These people — this applies to them: it’s an innovation. Where’s the evidence for it? And they won’t be able to bring any evidence for it because it’s a newly invented matter, it’s an innovation.
And we then read a ḥadīth.
But there’s a party of people who say: No, for us it’s not an act of worship — it’s actually a norm. And a norm — we can’t refer to it as a bidʿah because it’s outside the realm of ʿibādah.
It can only be considered an act of ʿibādah or a muʿāmalah to be considered it — to be innovation — the person has to have done it for what? So what we understand is that the person is trying to get closer to Allāh by this action, or they are trying to worship Allāh through it.
So if a norm or a custom — and a muʿāmalah — is done to get closer to Allāh by it, and you’re doing it to worship Allāh, then it becomes an innovation if it’s not legislated.
So a man says: “I’m not going to marry a woman, and I’m going to get closer to Allāh by that” — the Prophet ﷺ said that’s bidʿah.
He could leave the woman if he wants to, he doesn’t have to marry if he doesn’t want to — but to say “I’m going to get closer to Allāh by not getting married to any woman” — it’s an innovation. Even though originally it’s not — it’s a muʿāmalah — or it’s a muʿāmalah which the person could just do if they wanted to. But now that they’ve chosen to get closer to Allāh by it, it becomes an innovation.
So a group of people will say: “I am doing the Mudhāharāt and my aim and objective is not to get closer to Allāh by it. I’m not worshipping Allāh with this action — and it’s a means. It’s just a means for me.”
So we’ll come to that one.
The second reason that some scholars bring forward — by saying that it’s imitating the non-Muslims — again, it’s also a very weak argument.
The reason is because: What is the ḍābit for tashabbuh? We kind of mentioned that before. What’s the ḍābit for tashabbuh? What is tashabbuh of the kuffār? Tashabbuhu bil kuffār.
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah has a kitāb — one of the strongest books that’s written in this field of tashabbuh. There are many books written on it, but one of the greatest books is the kitāb:
"Iqtiḍāʾ aṣ-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm, Mukhālafat Aṣḥāb al-Jaḥīm" by Ibn Taymiyyah.
Ibn Taymiyyah clearly and categorically — and also ash-Shāṭibī and other great scholars — mention that the real, concrete point for tashabbuh is that:
This is an action lā yafʿaluhu illā al-kuffār — only the non-Muslims do this.
Meaning: it’s khāṣṣ for the kuffār, uniquely known for them.
And if it’s something that the people all do out of norms, this is not a tashabbuh even if the non-Muslims do it. It has to be something uniquely known for them.
And rather, we see this concept of Mudhāharāt — not actually present at the early times of Islām.
For example: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) — when the people went against ʿUthmān and they uprose against ʿUthmān (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) — and they took him down as Khalīfah Rāshid — ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān — that was demonstration, and then it turned into violence.
Also we have the issue of ʿAbdur-Raḥmān ibn al-Ashʿath — when he went against al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ath-Thaqafī — that was Mudhāharah and it was happening at that time.
So to say it’s a thing done by the non-Muslims — it’s very far-fetched.
And also, this concept of rejecting oppression and pushing away oppression — it’s something which human beings are generally used to doing. Whatever means they take is different — but people don’t like to be oppressed, and they don’t like to be wronged.
So again, the concept of it being tashabbuh bil kuffār is also not a strong argument.
Now we are left with a point which is that: It’s going against an oppressive Muslim leader.
And that’s again not applying to the lands of the non-Muslims.
Because if it’s oppressive, the Muslim leader is in one of two situations:
- He’s either a righteous, noble, just leader — of course, people wouldn’t generally want to go uprise against that one — except dim-witted, ignorant people.
- The second one is that he’s an oppressive leader — and this, we have clear-cut evidences that state we can’t go against an oppressive Muslim leader — which the Prophet ﷺ mentioned:
Patience, endurance.
And the three things that we do for that oppressive Muslim leader:
- We make duʿāʾ for Allāh to guide him — that’s clear evidence for that.
- We go and we give him naṣīḥah, we advise him.
- And the third one is ṣabr — patience — on what he’s doing to the Muslims.
But that doesn’t apply to non-Muslim countries.
So we now come to the non-Muslim country.
The fourth one is that it’s a means of rejecting.
Their argument is: "Ḥabībī, akhī — I’m rejecting falsehood."
Now you might ask yourself: isn’t that innovation again — the first one that we mentioned?
What’s the difference between the two?
The difference between it is: Wasīlah (means) can lead to good, and it can also lead to bad — whereas bidʿah only leads to bad.
Because it's not something—also the wasīlah (means), the means a person can take—there are specific evidences that come for it. Whereas bid‘ah (innovation), of course, is without evidences.
Also, means can enter into ʿibādāt (acts of worship), muʿāmalāt (people's interactions), ʿādāt (norms and customs). Bid‘ah only enters ʿibādāt—acts of worship.
So they say, “It’s wasīlah for me then,” which is the fourth reason—it’s a wasīlah.
So now what we have to do is, we have to divide the wasīlah—means—into two. There’s a wasīlah known as wasīlah māḥḍah—it’s a pure means. We have to do this in order to understand the whole discussion and the whole dialogue.
The wasīlah māḥḍah—it’s pure wasīlah, it’s pure means. The wasīlah which is māḥḍah is: The person intends this action, he intends this means in order to reach something. But this means cannot be detached from the objective. That is a pure means—it’s a means that’s connected to the objective.
Like walking to the masjid, for example. If someone walks, he doesn’t get rewarded for it by itself. But the minute he walks to the masjid, the reward is connected to that. Yeah, it’s connected to the objective. If he walks to a brothel, the punishment is on him. So the walking—it’s a pure means, meaning it’s purely connected to the aim and objective.
There’s another one which is called wasā’il nisbiyyah—relative means. Means which by itself can stand, like wuḍū’ (ablution), for example. Wuḍū’—whether you’re doing it for ṣalāh or not, just by doing wuḍū’ itself, it’s a reward by itself. It’s a means that can stand by itself. That’s important that we understand it.
Another point that I want us to understand is that there is a qāʿidah (legal principle) for us, which is called: "The means takes the ruling of the objective."
So if the objective is wājib (obligatory), the means becomes wājib—as long as that means is not prohibited. Pay attention to that.
If, for example, going to the masjid for the men is wājib, right? So, you know, the only way you can go to the masjid is by driving. Driving becomes obligatory. The means takes the ruling of the objective—as long as that means is not ḥarām (prohibited). If you take a means which is ḥarām, then it’s not permissible. The means has to be permitted—allowed.
There is a qāʿidah shayṭāniyyah (satanic principle) that some people use, which is: "Al-ghāyah tubarrir al-wasīlah" "The end justifies the means" Which has nothing to do with Islam.
It’s a qāʿidah shayṭāniyyah—which means: The goal justifies the means.
And when you look at the mudhāharāt (demonstrations) today that we see—that’s the qāʿidah that it is built upon: The goals justify the means. So the means here can be corrupt.
So this qāʿidah shayṭāniyyah which is "al-ghāyah tubarrir al-wasīlah" has nothing to do with Islam. Just because you're trying to achieve a goal doesn’t mean the means justifies it.
An example is: I steal 10 dirhams from you, but I give 9 in ṣadaqah (charity), and I just take 1. So how many sins do I get? 1, right? But I gave 9 in ṣadaqah—wahākadhā (and so on). This is "al-ghāyah tubarrir al-wasīlah"—just because you're trying to achieve a goal, doesn’t mean the means justifies it.
And this is what demonstration falls under.
Now I need to speak about something very important, which is: Is means in daʿwah tawqīfiyyah or ijtihādiyyah?
And I think this is very important, and this is what I’m trying to get to— In order to reject falsehood, which is a means of daʿwah— Is it tawqīfiyyah (restricted to revelation)? Or is it ijtihādiyyah (based on reasoning)?
What does it mean? Does it have to be taken from the Qur’an or the Sunnah? Or can it be from independent reasoning?
There are also three terms that people generally try to use with the concept of wasīlah—means:
- The use of the word wasā’iṭ
- The issue of dharā’iʿ
- The issue of maṣlaḥah
Before I answer that question, I have to explain those three.
Dharā’iʿ, for example, are microphones. They say, for example, if you say that the means has to be sanctioned by the Shariah— Allah ʿAzza wa Jall—they say microphones, and they say, for example, radios, and, you know, mobile phones and things that we use for khayr (good)—for daʿwah.
We say: That is not wasīlah—that is wasā’iṭ. It just projects what is there. It doesn’t interfere with the message itself.
And there is also something called dharā’iʿ, which is a term that is also used—similar to wasā’il. Dharā’iʿ are things that will always lead to evil.
And there is a third term, which is: maṣlaḥah mursalah.
Whether maṣlaḥah mursalah exists or not—I am not going to be speaking about that here. I have already explained my position on maṣāliḥ mursalah.
The maṣāliḥ (benefits/interests) are three types:
- Maṣāliḥ muʿtabarah – Recognized by the Shariah
- Maṣāliḥ mulghāh – Rejected by the Shariah
- Maṣāliḥ mursalah – Open/unrestricted benefits
In the Shariah, there is only maṣlaḥah muʿtabarah. As for maṣlaḥah mulghāh—the Shariah dismissed it. As for maṣlaḥah mursalah—we don’t believe in that.
And anyone who claims there is maṣlaḥah mursalah, Anyone who claims it—will either say: This maṣlaḥah was muʿtabarah—the Shariah already stated it and you didn’t know about it, Or it’s mulghāh—the Shariah dismissed it.
What is the best translation for it in English? Its benefits that came about after.
Ok. So even if we do say that مصلحة مرسلة (unrestricted public interest) exists—just so we get the discussion flowing—مصلحة مرسلة means it's a means that will lead to good. That's why it's called مصلحة مرسلة (a benefit sent forth). So it's a means that will lead to good.
When we look at the means that is taken for protesting, it doesn't lead to good. It leads to evil. It's actually closer to being— than مصلحة مرسلة— it's a what? It's a ذريعة (a pretext or a means that leads to harm).
Meaning ذريعة (pretext) is like, for example, a man touching a woman, which will lead to what? زنا (fornication). مظاهرات (protests) lead to evil, which is going to bring us to this point— which is the last and final point—
The Harms That Are in Protesting
Protesting, first of all, goes against the دعوة (methodology or call) of the prophets, which work towards what we mentioned before: إصلاح الرعية (reformation of the people), changing the people from the bottom upwards.
Protesting is from the top to the bottom, which we will get—fighting against. It goes against the دعوة (method) of the prophets. And the prophets started with the people— they go to the leaders second.
Second thing that is in protest is: إضعاف أصل الولاء والبراء — (weakening the foundation of loyalty and disavowal in Islam). It corrupts the concept of الولاء والبراء (loyalty for the sake of Allah and disavowal for His sake).
The third one is: People lose their lives, and blood is shed in a lot of the protests that happen.
Four: People lose their honors, and people rob and steal others’ belongings.
Black Lives Matter, for example: Muslim people suffered more because it started in Minneapolis. People who owned shops were losing their products and everything.
إختلال الأمن — (disruption of public safety). It destroys safety.
It also disrupts the people's day-to-day: Roads get blocked off, people can't go to work, people are stressed— “What route am I going to take?”
Also, it opens the door for the criminals: فتح المجال للمفسدين من المجرمين والمقربين — (opening the way for the corrupt, criminals, and those close to power).
إختلاط الرجال بالنساء — (intermixing of men and women). Men and women are going to remix.
It’s also: صد عن ذكر الله وعن الصلاة — (a barrier from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer). It prevents the people from remembering Allah تبارك وتعالى (Glorified and Exalted is He) and from الصلاة (the prayer), and the people miss the صلاة (prayer) because of this.
Also, this is an opportunity— I know brothers who said, “Yeah, I met a girl there.” “I’ll go there because I want to get her number.”
تضيع الأوقات والأموال فيما لا خير فيه — (wasting of time and money in things that have no benefit). People waste their time and their money in things that have no benefit, sometimes.
Also, the way to go about things is either نصيحة — (advice) — knock on the door, advise a person, or make du‘a (supplication) for Allah to guide them or whatever, or be patient.
Another problem that we see is: رفع الشعارات الجاهلية — (raising the slogans of pre-Islamic ignorance). People are pulling up symbols that are not Islamic— sometimes concepts that are شركيات وكفريات — (polytheistic and disbelief-based). When you look at the billboards...
Also finally, it’s a way of actually affirming the concept of democracy and secular liberal states.
Democracy can’t exist if there’s no demonstration. The whole concept of democracy is what? The people— the power is in the hands of the people.
It’s giving the people the word “democracy.” It means the people— the power is in the hands of the people. The people choose.
So it goes against the deen (religion), and Allah is the one who chooses what can be or can't be.
Finally, مظاهرات (demonstrations/protests) is about: What do the majority think? That’s when the government starts looking. If a minority is screaming, they don’t care. And the majority are always going to choose what is corrupt and not what is good.
So the fifth reason is what? The real strongest point— which is the final one:
لا تخلو من مخالفات — (They are not free from violations)
The first four are not strong— especially in a non-Muslim country.
The strongest reason for مظاهرات (protests) is— I’m talking about a non-Muslim country.
For the Muslim country, the issue is خروج (rebellion). But the non-Muslim country— I’m talking about the non-Muslim country— the strongest way to speak against democracy— sorry—protest and demonstration is to say:
بأن لا تخلو من مخالفات وأن يترتب عليها مفاسد (They are not free from violations, and they result in greater harms.)
You've mentioned a lot of information And I want to break it down
So at first you mentioned There are actually three types of protests
There is one to overthrow the government And that breaks down into three
There's one in the Muslim country with a Muslim leader Who doesn't allow protests
And then there's one in the Muslim country Who does allow protests
And then you've got the non-Muslim country with a non-Muslim leader
The second type of protest is when you're not trying to overthrow a ruler But you're trying to change one of his laws for example
And the third type is you're not trying to change anything But you're just trying to raise awareness of a particular issue
I want to go back and really apply Some of these five reasons why protests are haram And see where they fit into this
The first one You have a Muslim country with a Muslim leader Who is not allowing you to protest Obviously the reason why this is not permissible is because of khuruj (خروج - rebellion or uprising) Agreed? It's a Muslim country and it's not allowing you to do it
What if it's a Muslim leader in a Muslim country And he is allowing protests Does it still take the wound of khuruj or not? Yeah it does It goes under khuruj even if the Muslim leader allows it
The reason is because Sheikh Murad Al-Amin pointed this out It's very important He says that the Muslim leader generally does it Because of pressure from outside The non-Muslim country is saying You're not a Democratical state You're not governed by democracy So to please them He says to the people you can uprise But he's really finding it as a problem
And so the Muslims They were already commanded way before anybody When we say We don't go against the leader We're not doing it because of him Allah's messenger told us this So yes it's not allowed for us to go
Now we come to the non-Muslim countries And this is where we can talk about three different things
Overthrowing a non-Muslim ruler A ruler? Using a protest to overthrow A non-Muslim government in a non-Muslim country
Out of the five That you mentioned, the reasons for protesting not being permissible Which one applies here?
The last one Which is –
Okay this applies to all three Overthrowing a non-Muslim ruler Whether you're trying to change a legislation Or whether you're trying to raise awareness You're saying protesting is always going to fail Because of this last one
Okay here's a question then You've just connected things to protesting Like free mixing, like missing the salawat (الصلوات - the prescribed daily prayers) You've connected these things to protesting
I'm saying what if there's a protest This is not a ruling for protesting in of itself You have a protest that takes place Between Fajr and Dhuhr (فجر - dawn prayer, ظهر - midday prayer) No salawat is being missed It is segregated, just brothers come to protest No one else Is this permissible or not?
If my reasoning for saying that there's an opposition in it Was only that reason There's many reasons
There's no robbing the stores There's no breaking down It's a peaceful protest What's wrong with that?
It prevents the people from the remembrance of Allah Because people chant, people chant
Each one, let me go through it You want to challenge each one or you want to go through to the end And then I'll start bringing my challenges
Okay, let me mention the biggest reasons The first one is taqreer al-kufriya (تقرير الكفرية - affirming disbelief) You're affirming — like one of the strongest branches of democracy
Democracy stands on protest This is a democratical system If people don’t demonstrate, and people don’t vote, and people... Democracy crumbles
This is what democracy is about: voting, demonstration, protesting All these things are the branches — full — that democracy stands on So by not doing these things By not voting, by not... People will destroy democracy Democracy will go out of the window
You're not going to destroy democracy In a non-Muslim land where you're a very minute percentage The Muslims are a very small percentage
By you not protesting, you haven't destroyed democracy All you've done is bring more harm unto yourself Because the government has said: "If you want us to change something, this is the way you do it."
And guess what we've done? We've sat at home We haven't changed anything And I agree that we should do that
What you mentioned for the first two hours I'm not going to take a path that I know is corrupt I just told you right now — what's happening here?
This means that the path I’m taking right now — it’s got (problems) connected to it I just said a protest: There’s no free mixing I want to get to the issue of protesting itself, in and of itself — that’s my point
You see, in the shari’ah, some things in and within themselves have got a ruling Because demonstration itself — it’s all over the place
I’ll give you an example: travelling Travelling — what's the reason we can have rukhsah? (رخصة - concession) Why can’t we fast in the month of Ramadan when we’re travellers?
Because the fasting itself— Sorry, because it’s the travelling itself You can’t say mashaqah, you can’t say means — any hardship (مشقة - hardship)
Because hardship is... a guy can say: "Look, I travelled and I never felt like I travelled" Like I was sleeping, I was picked up — you know, by my bed
He has an option to carry on fasting because he hasn’t felt the hardship A person's a traveller, travelling What’s the reason why travelling — you can break your fast? What’s the reason? What is it?
It’s the travelling itself You’re speaking in a very solid perspective
A person is a traveller And they are travelling You said that person — he can break his fast He doesn’t have to fast He can combine between the prayers, right? This rukhsah — why was it given to him? Because he’s travelling
And with travelling there is hardship So my point is that the issue of hardship The reason it cannot be hardship — The reason why the hardship cannot be the reasoning — Is because someone who’s travelling — that reason might be lifted from them
He might say: "I travelled, I didn’t feel anything" It’s a general principle And most people who travel do feel hardship But what if he doesn’t feel it? Then he has a choice to carry on fasting
No, but it’s not choice That option — why is it given to him? He’s not even going through any hardship
One brother can say: "I was sleeping, I was picked up" "I’m a heavy sleeper, my family just threw me into the car while sleeping" "Then I went on the private jet that my family owned"
I see your point The option is given to him not because of hardship Another guy goes: "I work in the tannour, I work in the furnace" (تنّور - traditional oven) "I make bread in the day of Ramadan, I’m burning"
We say: yeah, no problem, you still have to fast The reason is because this issue of mashaqah — it’s something that cannot be... We can’t narrow it down
Mudaharat is like that (مظاهرات - protests)
So the reasoning for it comes from outside Hardship is something intangible It’s subjective "I’m feeling hardship, you’re not"
But how is protesting subjective? The situations change from one situation to another situation It can be striking, it can be non-striking It can be—
What can’t be stopped from protest is that it’s not something in and within itself It’s always external reasons that the prohibition comes from
The prohibition for it is the mafasid that are with it (مفاسد - harms or corruptions) And our religion is what?
Dar’ul mafasid muqaddamun ‘ala jalbil masalih (درء المفاسد مقدم على جلب المصالح - Repelling the harm takes precedence over bringing benefit)
You're telling me you want to bring good for the country, the people? Repel the harm And we've got all of these harms
Now you have an argument which is strong now Which is — for anybody who believes protest is allowed: If now these 13 harms I mentioned — they go away—
No, they’re still there But a greater harm is outstanding now Like, for example, the government said—
But before we get there You’re saying that these harms can never go away
Not all of them Some of them can be removed Because of the democracy issue — you can remove one or two or three out of the places
I’m saying to you: in totality I only mentioned 13 I’m sure if we sit down and we think more about it There can be hundreds of reasons why mudaharat is not allowed — hundreds
But what the question is: Some of them are present, some of them are not present Sometimes it’s here, sometimes it’s there
The point I’m trying to say to you — you can’t deny
I can This is the real— I’ve sifted through the arguments And I’m saying this is the strongest one Which is—
I’ve yet to hear about a protest.
That people went
That things didn't go wrong
Who's controlling?
Who are the people going to listen to?
There's no organization
It just seems like a weak argument
Because you're saying protests in and of themselves I can't say that's wrong
It's because of everything connected to it
I can just feel like can you have a protest with none of these things connected to it, in which case you'd have to say it's permissible
Yeah but I'm saying a person can give you an ideal situation of a protest, but I say that's in the mind of the person
Yeah
But that means that you can't place a ruling on protesting
You place a ruling on free mixing
You place a ruling on missing your Salah
You can place rulings on these things
But don't place a ruling on this
No that's not fair because we can't have an idealistic situation
Okay give me a situation
I'm not saying it's happened
Do people waste their time?
Not necessarily because you're doing for a maslaha
You're trying to change homosexuality being taught in schools for example, that's a good thing
It's not a waste of time
Okay people, do they get from these protests
Do these mujrimin and criminals come
And always try to
Even Black Lives Matter, if you look at the protest that was going on
A lot of people were crying and screaming
I've been following these things
A lot of people were screaming please don't let some people hijack our mission
We've got an aim
We've got an objective
Shahid you're in the West, how can you segregate people in protest?
Where did you get this from?
The government will be like what are you doing?
You can't have a peaceful protest
There's always going to be people who come along
Sometimes it can be
It can happen that no bloodshed happens
But the other mafiasit
The other mafiasit are always there
You're telling me in London you're going to have a protest and a demonstration where men and women are not free mixing
I don't know how that's going to happen
I don't know
What about leaving off what the sharia actually did sanction for us
You can do that as well
You can do that in this hour
And you can do that in another hour
But the sharia didn't choose that
What about the safety going slightly
People fearing now
Getting scared
Again it goes back to a peaceful protest instead of a violent protest
I remember subhanallah watching what happened in Egypt
When the protest took place
Women were crying and getting raped
They got raped, gang raped by men
But there's a peaceful protest like Gandhi
When he protested against the British
Did you question everybody who was there
Who felt some people might have got bullied
No did you
And I'm saying to you
But I know it doesn't detach itself from it
I'm seeing 99.9% cases where women feel like they got touched by somebody from behind
Or somebody pushed her over
Let them stay at home
Let the men protest
I'm saying there is a way that we can say a protest is halal
It's not like alcohol
It's not like we can say this
Why would you tell the sisters to stay at home if you need their numbers
The whole point of the demonstration is the numbers
So if you tell the sisters to stay at home and they're the majority by the way
Do you see my point
Demonstration
The best argument for it is not that it's bid'ah
It's not strong enough
The strongest argument to say it's muharram is بأنها لا تخلو من مخالفة
That there is one way or another a harm that's going to be present in that protest
You mean harm that is connected to the protest in and of itself
I mentioned مخالفة دعوة الأنبياء
It goes against especially da'wah al-nabi
Our prophet Muhammad
His da'wah stood upon what
على إصلاح الرعية التي هي طريق طبيعي
Starting from the people and making your way up
You can do that as well
I'm saying you can do that but also we can protest
You have to show me it's impermissible to protest
No you can't do that
Protest does go against the way that the prophet said it was
For example the protest what is it doing
It's speaking to the leader
Fix this or this problem won't be fixed
That's what you're trying to say
You're speaking to a leader
And you're requesting that leader to rectify the situation
And you're saying it will trickle down
I'm saying to you that the people
The people generally speaking
They should believe that the rectification comes from them
Not the leader
He could be sitting in that seat
And the people could reach
But this is just an action they're taking
The idea of the prophet and the companions at the time was not to protest
That was their custom
That was their norm
In the 21st century we live in non-Muslim lands where protesting does raise awareness
I'll quote you the civil rights movement for example
In America an entire nation
An entire legislation was changed
Because it started from protesting
We might not agree with the feminism movement
But they ultimately did make progress through protesting
These are ways that people change
You can't sit here and tell me
That just because the prophet
Didn't take this means
The ibadah is not connected to protesting in and of itself
The ibadah is connected to making better laws
For the Muslims in the UK
This is just a means
Just like me driving to the masjid
That's not an ibadah within itself
It's just a means to get to the masjid
Again I told you before
It's strengthening the pillars of democracy
This is allowing something
We wish for it to go
You're strengthening it, you're empowering it
You're endorsing it by doing that
I don't want you to
Always try to push the example away
Because the point is that
One example may apply on a situation
And not on another situation or another street
But there is always a problem in demonstration
That's all my point is
The poet he said
Every situation
There is always
Going to be
A mafsida present in demonstration
One or the other
All that which you are mentioning to me
That there won't be this problem
I'll make sure the men and women don't remix
It's all hypothetical, it's all in your mind
But that's how fiqh is
But we need to work with the waka
That we see and what's happened in the past
We've not yet seen a process
Where there's no remixing
It doesn't mean we can't see one in the future
Fiqh is based on theoretical rulings
I'm saying to you all of these
I didn't mention one
Opening the doors for corrupt people
Criminals
People
They take this
They use this opportunity
They like that numbers in order to commit a crime
Because they can hide in the people
So they loot, they do things
And this
Is every
Single protest I've looked at
I've always seen
That which I could say haram haram haram
Let's not go too far back
Let's look at the last
Protest that took place that we will know about
In a non-Muslim country
Western country, the protest for the Black Lives Matter
It started in Minnesota
People were doing it
A whole entire police station got burnt down
Shops were looted
People's shops were
Muslim people's shops were looted
You can't stop it now, it's out of hand
Go on YouTube and watch it, people are begging
Please do not hijack
What we're trying to represent here
Within that
Some people put a spin to it
And they started using that protest
For some other people that they remembered
And things like that
My point is that protest, once it happens
You can't stop it
It was through protest
That Uthman was killed
You know what I mean?
That's how it started
People protested around his house
Sieged
The sword was shattered and he was killed
I agree that protests in the past
Because once it starts
Police have to come
Why do police come if there's safety?
Why do they have to bring their shield and protect?
Why is there fire?
Why are they throwing things at the police?
People lose their composure
So
Protests say it doesn't have Islamic Sharia
This is all I'm trying to draw home to you
That this last final reason
Of there being Sharia harms
It's high
Safety
You think at the beginning, okay I've got this under control
We've got people
You can't promise because people are more than you
And you don't have soldiers to
Pin the people down and take them to
The corner and drag them out of the machine
You don't have that, it's all assumption
But just because the likeliness is high
Does that mean that we can say this is haram?
Yeah we base things on
Watching TV for example
The asad of watching TV
Is it permissible?
You can watch a nature documentary on TV, is that haram?
A nature documentary on TV
For example, is that haram?
Is it haram?
No I'm saying wasting your time is haram
Okay but let's just say you're pondering over the creation of Allah
MashaAllah
But there's nothing wrong
I say you with COVID outside and you want to stay inside
I'm just saying to learn
An nadir la hukmah lahu
Rare situations don't have a ruling
Giving me
An obscure
Random minute situation
And then trying to make me say yes
To something very big
We've got demonstrations
Killing, massacring
The civil rights movement
Look at what happened, how many people died
How many people were killed, were murdered
With that being said, all I'm trying to say here
Is I want people who are listening to understand
I'm saying
That protest
Is haram
Because of these
Mafasid
Which are inevitably going to come
Unless someone presents a complete hypothetical scenario
Which has never happened in the past
Talking about Muslim brothers coming with a small group — and no sisters there — and it's between the time of Dhuhr and Asr, so no salawat are missed, etc., etc., etc.
And I don't think anyone should try to argue and say protesting does not have any mafasid — wa la yatarattabu ʿalaiha mafasid — no, that's just far-fetched. And I think it's not being fair.
I think a valid argument — yeah, I'm going to comment to that now. So this is the next thing that people say then: now if you have a protest and we agree that there is mafasid attached to the protest — which means that it shouldn’t be done — question: if what you're protesting for is a mafsadah ʿazīmah (a greater harm that's coming), say, for example, the UK government wants to shut down all the masājid, and now you have a chance to change that legislation through protesting — are you allowed to do it then?
Now, beautiful. So let's look at this issue.
Protest is ḥarām. It’s a mafsadah — we don't deny that. Because the group of people who say that it's not a mafsadah, it's fine, what's wrong with it — it’s an issue. We want them, first of all, to come to the conclusion that it's ḥarām, muḥarram, it's got mafasid — there are tons of mafasid that we can mention.
Now, we have a greater mafsadah, greater than the current one. Greater than some of that which we mentioned. Which is — we have a greater harm than that at this point.
And it’s a very strong argument he brought forward. He said: now, in this situation — especially Western governments — they hear your voice through demonstrations. That’s the way the government hears what you have to say. And there’s no other way they will listen unless they feel under the pressure — the whole entire community is against them on this issue.
So in a situation like that, Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymeen gave the fatwa that he doesn’t see any problem with the Muslims demonstrating — but the harm that’s there has to be less than the greater harm that’s going to come if they don’t protest.
Which is what is called irtikāb aqall al-mafsadatayn — protesting for the lesser of the two harms.
Now the lesser harm is what we’ve mentioned, compared to the masājid being closed, or qaḍāyā ʿaẓīmah for the Muslims. In a situation like that, Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymeen, who is a great scholar of our time, said it's permissible.
And I can see that as a valid difference — where both parties can...
I still hold the opinion that it’s not allowed — even in that circumstance. I believe personally it’s best to avoid it and to leave it and not to go — even if the UK government wants to close down the masjid, for example.
The ends don’t justify the means.
Yeah, and also it’s really hard to actually say that it’s going to actually work — because the reason I’m going to do this is that I’m sure this harm that I’m going to tread on is definitely going to be a result.
I don’t think — there’s no certainty for sure that they’re going to listen, and there’s no ghalabah al-ẓann.
Also, the number of Muslims are very small, and the people who are against the Muslims are very large. And the government is definitely not, in any way, shape, or form, willing to even consider what the Muslims say.
So I don’t think it’s a working method.
If somebody else chooses to take that approach and he feels like it’s going to work — I think he’s got a great, bona fide, undisputed imām of our time who based it on a very strong perspective to say that it’s the lesser of two harms.
But I don’t think it’s — my humble opinion — I don’t think looking at the way the Shaykh sees it and the way that the reality turns out to be, it doesn’t change anything.
I’ll give you a prime example: Black Lives Matter in America right now. The biggest protest they did — that protest went from border to border, it went to countries. I don’t think in any way, shape, or form, that’s going to change police brutality towards black people.
I mean, I don’t want to weaken the effort that was put in, and I don’t want to undermine the people’s hard work. I just think some things — demonstration just seems like a weak way of voicing your opinion. It’s like, “please take the palm off me.” It doesn’t...
And when you say that — in my humble opinion — for example, other ʿulamāʾ are on your side, definitely.
I’m not there, I’m not able to go to the evidence myself and disagree with the great imām of our time like that. In that instance, when someone is trying to identify what is the lesser of two evils, it goes back to the people.
Even the situation of the masājid — is the threat real? Is it actually a real threat, or is it just one news outlet released something? Is it actually a real threat? What’s the reality of it actually even happening?
Or is this guy just saying it just to provoke — he just wants a voice, he wants to get a voice. Nowadays, anything you say bad about Muslims, it gives you voice from other communities. So is he actually really going to do it?
All of the ahl al-ʿilm are the ones who determine it.
And your solution for the people who say “the scholars who are not in the West don’t understand our reality” — is for the students of knowledge in the West who do understand the reality to take it back to the ʿulamāʾ.
What’s weird about some people is that they say that, but they say that’s not important. And at the same time, they tell you Ibrahim permitted demonstration — they pick and choose when it suits them.
Okay, I want to end with a couple of closing questions.
Okay, to end the podcast. First question is — and I think we’ve covered this in a lot of detail, so it’s more of a summarised answer — what would you advise the duʿāt in the West to focus their efforts on?
I would say focus on calling the people to Tawḥīd, strengthening their bond between them and Allah Subḥānahu wa Taʿālā.
وَبَعْدُ فَالتَّوْحِيدُ عِلْمٌ يَنْبُلُ عَلَىٰ الْعُلُومِ كُلِّهَا وَيَفْضُلُ قَدْ أَوْجَبَ الرَّحْمَنُ مِنْهُ قَادِرًا لَيْسَ يَصِحُ الدِّينُ حَتَّى يُدْرَىٰ
Tawḥīd is the most important science or the most important knowledge that a person has to have:
فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنبِكَ
This āyah is a Madani āyah, by the way. It came down in Madīnah — meaning, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was instructed to say, to know Lā ilāha illa Allāh after 13 years of calling to it.
So as a Muslim, you can never say, "I know enough." You always need to study Tawheed and learn it.
أَوَالْوَاجِبِ مِنْ عَلَىٰ الْعَبِيدِ مَعَرِفَةُ الرَّحْمَنِ بِالتَّوْحِيدِ — Knowing Allah with His Oneness.
And this is what all the Prophets called to. All Prophets had this in common, from the time of Nuh ﷺ to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The one thing they all had in common was:
يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ Worship Allah alone. You have no one else. There is no one else you should be worshipping besides Allah ﷻ.
Allah says: وَاذْكُرْ أَخَا عَادٍ إِذْ أَنذَرَ قَوْمَهُ بِالْأَحْقَافِ وَقَدْ خَلَتِ النُّذُرُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا اللَّهَ
And Allah says: وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسُولًا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ
Allah says—directly or indirectly—and it's the first command. If you open the Qur'an, from Surah Al-Fatiha to Al-Baqarah, the first amr (command) Allah gives, the first prohibition is: فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَندَادًا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ Do not associate partners with Allah while you know.
ثُلُثُ القُرْآنِ—one third of the Qur'an—is Surah Al-Ikhlas, which is all about singling out Allah ﷻ in worship. أَعْظَمُ آيَةٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ—the greatest verse in the Qur’an—is Ayat al-Kursi: اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ
So the concept is Tawheed.
And it’s the same thing that, sadly, we recently saw—that people whom we thought would preach to the people this concept and strengthen it in the hearts of the people—they fell short on the issue of Tawheed.
So in no way, shape, or form are we now going to say—and I hope no one says—that we know enough about Tawheed. Because Wallahi, I’m shocked. Just taking a cup of water and pouring it somewhere—this is something we know from our country, our culture—that this is mentioned in Kitab al-Tawheed.
Yet still, these small things… I’m shocked that Muslims today are saying, “I never knew this was an act of worship.” I mean, these issues are there in the books, and people are now saying, “Why do I need to study it?”
This is why you need to know Tawheed. Because you keep thinking these are not acts of worship. A lot of youngsters—even on the streets—say, “Oh, I didn’t know that was an act of shirk.” “I didn’t know saying that was shirk.” Swearing by other than Allah, for example—there are so many things that people say.
If they just studied Tawheed… "RIP," "Rest in Peace" to a non-Muslim—is a concept that’s spoken about in Kitab al-Tawheed.
So Muslims should take time out and study Tawheed. The duaat should make that their mission: calling the people to Tawheed, and strengthening that concept in the hearts of the people.
And I think, if that is done—and then the Sunnah: calling people to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, and making sure they hold on to the Sunnah—then success is there, Wallahi.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “I have left with you two things. As long as you hold on to these two things, you will never be misguided.” What are they? Kitab Allahi wa Sunnati — the Book of Allah ﷻ and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
I also encourage the people to go back to the ʿUlamāʼ. These issues—serious issues that we’re facing in the West—take them to the scholars. Wallahi, go back to the people of knowledge.
Allah trusted the ʿUlamāʼ with His religion. شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ Allah testifies that none is worthy of worship but Him, and so do the angels and those endowed with knowledge…
Imagine—Allah used the ʿUlamāʼ as a witness for Tawheed. Allah says, “I am the only one worthy of worship,” and who does He call as witness? The angels and the ʿUlamāʼ.
Allah used them as a witness in the most important thing—which is Tawheed.
Allah trusted them with the religion. He said to the people: فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ Ask the people of knowledge if you do not know.
So how can we not trust them with our worldly affairs? Go back to the scholars. Consult them. Wallahi, they are Naṣīḥ—sincere advisors.
The scholars are the most sincere of people. Wallahi.
و لذلك جرير بن عبد الله البجلي, the great Sahabi, the noble companion—when al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah passed away and he died—he stood up: فَحَمِدَ اللَّهَ وَأَثْنَىٰ عَلَيْهِ He said الحمد لله, and then he praised Allah.
أمَّا بَعدُ, he said: بَايَعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَلَى النُّصْحِ لِكُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ “I gave bayʿah to the Prophet ﷺ, and the bayʿah that I gave was based upon being a sincere advisor to every Muslim.”
He said, “Your Amir who just died, al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah, he was the leader and governor of the Muslims, and he used to love forgiveness—كَانَ يُحِبُّ العَفْوَ. So ask forgiveness for him.”
He then concluded his sermon and came down.
Why did he do it there, particularly? Because one leader goes, and another is going to come. And sometimes what happens is—safety goes, and people start to panic. So he’s just reminding them.
So Jarīr is a Sahabi—and the ʿUlamāʼ are like that: Naṣīḥ—sincere advisors to the people. They want good for the people.
Cutting the people off from the scholars is bringing an extra problem on top of what the Muslims are already suffering from—at a time when they are most in need of the ʿUlamāʼ and people of knowledge.
Allah ﷻ tells us in the Qur’an: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الْأَرْضَ نَنقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا
And Allah is saying—we destroy from the Earth, we take from the Earth.
The Mufassirīn, what did they mention regarding this verse? “Taking from the Earth” means taking the people of knowledge.
The people of knowledge are for the people like stars are for the sky.
AAllah mentions three benefits [of the stars].
Allah says: رُجُومًا لِّلشَّيَاطِينِ – [They are] missiles for the devils. So the stars shoot the shayāṭīn.
The ʿulamāʾ are like that—they are a thorn in the necks of the shayāṭīn.
The second benefit that the stars provide for the sky is: وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ We have indeed adorned the lowest heaven with lamps (stars).
So the stars are a beautification of the sky.
Similarly, the ʿulamāʾ are a beauty on this earth. If you go to their circles, look at how they teach, the way they sit, and the way they educate the ummah—it's beautiful.
Imagine trying to take the scholars out of that, and place them in a setting where the Shaykh is sandwiched between a woman on one side and another woman on the other. He's running after a woman with a paper, being handed things, pressured with, “You've got five minutes to say what you want to say.” Humiliated like that.
Whereas in the halaqah, he speaks—and no one interrupts him, he is respected.
And the third benefit of the stars—what is also mentioned—is that they are a means of guidance.
People in the past would navigate using the stars. They would use them to know the direction of the Qiblah, or the direction of landmarks.
And so the ʿulamāʾ are like that.
The scholars are all three:
- A weapon against the devils.
- A beauty on this earth.
- A source of guidance.
That's beautiful. I've never heard that before. I think it’s a very nice place to end.
Ustadh Uthman Hassan, JazākAllahu khayran for joining me once again on The Hot Seat.
سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ
