Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn: As Students, We Used to Take the Affair of Rulership and Governance Lightly
rulership governance
Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) said:[1]
Chapter Six: On Rulership (Imāmah) and its Related Matters
Explanation
We used to take this chapter lightly during our days as students, just as we would take the chapter on jihād lightly. We would ask ourselves: “Where is jihad (now)? What is the need for us to study jihād, and when it becomes an individual obligation or a collective obligation, and what the requirements are for an army and for the ruler (imam)?
The reason (for this way of thinking) was that there was no jihād (occurring at the time). However, when jihād eventually occurred in recent times, we realised that we were negligent and that we should have fully understood the rulings concerning jihād.
And (likewise), in the issue of rulership (imāmah), we used to say: “We have no need to discuss rulership, praise be to Allāh, we have our leader, Ibn Suʿūd and every country has its own leader, and matters are stable (with that leadership).”
However, it has become clear to us now that we must know the rulings (aḥkām) on this subject. We must know who the ruler (imam) is, who is qualified for rulership, what rights the ruler has over his subjects, and what rights the subjects have over the ruler.
This is because there is much idle talk and ignorant people have speculated about it. They wander aimlessly, like someone stumbling in the dark, regarding the duties of the ruler and the duties of the subjects. Most of them tend to place burdens upon the ruler that he is not responsible for, while absolving the people of the duties they are obligated to perform. This is the state of most of them.
This stems from the fact that some people, may Allāh protect us, are obsessed with publicising the faults of those in authority while concealing their virtues. Hence, they have injustice with them in (their approach in) judging and evil conduct.
Therefore, we must know who the ruler is, how the rulership (imāmah) is established (for a person), what rights the ruler has over the subjects, what rights the subjects have over the ruler, and what was the approach of the Salaf in dealing with oppressive or deviant rulers, so that we can follow their path and become a Salafī nation.
And also we should not absolve ourselves of deficiency, indeed, we are deficient. If you compare our deeds and beliefs with those the Companions were upon, you will find that the difference between us and them is as much as the difference between our era and theirs, and that the difference is great.
Notes
01 Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) explained the reason for taking these subjects lightly, it is because the circumstances did not necessitate fully comprehending these subjects and applying them to actual events and occurrences. There was no jihād operative and given that there was stability and security behind a ruler, the subject of rulership and governance and its details and intricacies were not given due attention by students. The shaykh mentioned that there is much speculation and injustice in relation to these matters, which are foundations, and that it is a must to know the rulings in this subject, such as who is the ruler (imam), how does he become the ruler, what are his rights and how is a nation established behind him and so on.
02 Given the fact that there can be neglect in these topics among students, let alone the common-folk, then what adds to the urgency in this matter is that oppositions and violations—whether sins, or in relation to creed and methodology—can be either simple, and easily recognisable by many people, or complex (sophisticated, structured).
To illustrate:
03 An example regarding sin: A thief stealing in broad daylight, or a burglary, or robbery are clear examples which can be described as such. However, there can be more complex forms, such as diluting milk with water, and other forms of subtle cheating in weights and measures, which may not be obvious to people and go unnoticed.
An example regarding creed: A person may say outright, as a Jahmite says: “There is no Lord above the heaven”, which is a simple and explicit denial, or he may say: “Allāh is above the heaven (meaning, in status and rank), and is not contained by directions” which is a more complex way of denying Allāh’s ʿuluww while seemingly affirming it. Unless a person knows the reality of the sayings of the Jahmites and what they intend, he will not recognise the reality of the speech.
An example regarding methodology: There can be a simple, easily recognisable rebellion or coup, wherein a rebel takes soldiers to government buildings, or a fortress or a palace and fights for power. This would be recognised by everyone for what it is. However, there can be more complex situations wherein what amounts to rebellion and contending for power can be masked due to the circumstances involving geopolitics, particular power structures and forms of governance, civil disputes, disturbances and the likes. Only the truly grounded people of knowledge will see through such affairs and apply the correct legislative rulings to the ground realities.
04 These types of scenarios illustrated in the three examples above are decreed to test people, in their varying levels of knowledge and understanding, to see if they will obey Him and fear Him and adhere to the Prophetic guidance whether in a matter of righteousness and sin, or creed and methodology and advocate and support the truth, or if they will take advantage of the dubious or complex circumstances, or confounding factors, or the sophisticated nature of the subject to devise and follow shubuhāt (doubts, misconceptions), in justification of their misdeeds.
05 These affairs are also decreed to enable the circumstances in which the people of truth engage in clarifying the truth based on the Book, the Sunnah and the way of the Salaf, advocating it and defending it against whims and desires, and enjoining the good and prohibiting the evil.
06 These considerations allow us to appreciate what Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) said regarding these mighty subject matters of rulership, governance and jihād in particular, and they remain relevant because Allāh decrees events and occurrences in order to test His servants.
It is here that we can appreciate the statement of Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī:[3]
All of the people of innovation have an inclination to rebel against the ruler, you will not find a clean (unblemished) person in this subject except the pure Ahl al-Sunnah.
07 These are the same subjects that arose during the 1990s, the subjects of the aḥzāb, rulership, obedience, rebellion, civil strife and disturbance, the rulings of jihad, and so on, in the context of geopolitical events. The senior scholars and the mashāyikh of Ahl al-Sunnah, may Allāh reward them, clarified these issues in detail, and they became distinguished, through clarity in manhaj and soundness of positions, from those who were sympathetic with the rumūz (figureheads) and the aḥzāb (factions), and had unhealthy dealings and entanglements with them.
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Footnotes
1. Sharḥ al-Safarāniyyah (pp. 659-660).2. Sharḥ ʿAqīdah al-Salaf (1/180).
3. Sharḥ ʿAqīdah al-Salaf (1/180).