Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110H) (رحمه الله) is from the Tābiʿīn (students of the Companions), and among the great imāms of the Salaf. Ibn Saʿd relates in his Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā:[1]
A group of Muslims came to al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī seeking a verdict to rebel against al-Ḥajjāj [a tyrannical and despotic ruler]. So they said: “O Abū Saʿīd! What do you say about fighting this oppressor who has unlawfully spilt blood and unlawfully taken wealth and did this and that?”
So al-Ḥasan said: “I hold that he should not be fought. If this is a punishment from Allāh, then you will not be able to remove it with your swords. If this is a trial from Allāh, then be patient until Allāh’s judgement comes, and He is the best of judges.” So they left al-Hasan, disagreed with him and rebelled against al-Hajjāj, and al-Ḥajjāj killed them all.
Al-Ḥasan used to say: “If the people had patience when they are being tested by their unjust ruler, it will not be long before Allāh will give them a way out. However, they always rush for their swords, so they are left with their swords. By Allāh! Not even for a single day did they bring about any good.”
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (رحمه الله) also said:[2]
Verily, al-Ḥajjāj is the punishment of Allāh. So do not repel the punishment of Allāh with your own hands. But you must submit and show humility, for Allāh the Most High stated, “And indeed We seized them with punishment, but they humbled not themselves to their Lord, nor did they invoke (Allāh) with submission to Him.” (23:76).
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (رحمه الله) also said:[3]
Know, may Allāh pardon you, that the tyranny of the kings is a retribution among the retributions of Allāh the Most High. Allāh’s retributions are not to be faced with the sword, but they are protected against [through piety] and are repelled with supplication (duʿā), repentance (tawbah), remorse (inābah) and abstention from sins. Verily, when the punishments of Allāh are met with the sword, they are more severe.
And Mālik bin Dīnār narrated to me that al-Hajjāj [Ibn Yūsuf] used to say: “Know that every time you commit a sin Allāh will bring about a punishment from the direction of your ruler (sultān)”.
And I have I have also been told that a person said to al-Hajjāj, “Do you do such and such with the ummah of Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)?” So he replied, “For the reason that I am the punishment of Allāh upon the people of Irāq, when they innovated into their religion whatever they innovated, and when they abandoned the commands of the their Prophet (عليه السلام)whatever they abandoned.”
The tyranny of the ruler—whether intended or not[4]—is among the means through which Allāh puts His servants to trial, for their sins and disobedience, and for innovating into His religion that which is not from it.
For that reason, the way to ward off this oppression is to abandon its root cause, which necessitates remorse and repentance from sins and a return to the Sunnah in belief, word and deed.
As for the tyranny of the ruler, it is local, restricted and time-bound and has its root causes as has been explained above. However, when people incite against the ruler and cause civil strife, fighting and bloodshed, the harm and corruption now extends and starts to envelope the society as a whole, since the ruler, by his nature, out of fear, will tighten his grip, and try to quosh the rebellion. This brings additional hardships to the society as a whole.
For this reason, inciting the people against the ruler, and calling to arms and rebellion opposes the Sunnah and brings destruction to the worldly affairs, in addition to religious affairs.
Footnotes
1. Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā (7/163-165).2. Minhāj al-Sunnah of Shaykh al-Islām (4/528).
3. Adāb Ḥasan al-Baṣri, of Ibn al-Jawzī, pp.119-120.
4. The ruler may intend oppression or he may not intend oppression, but bring hardship and difficulty upon his subjects through ijtihāds he makes based upon incomplete knowledge or erroneous understanding and the likes.