Q&A with Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdis

Asslam alaikom wa rahmatu Allah wa barakatuh,

Thank you for answering my first letter,

1- I would like to make a suggestion that you will accept if it is Allah’s will. My suggestion is to write some articles or books to differentiate between the status of the first Saudi state, during the time of Imam Mohammad Ibn ’Abd Al-Wahhab, and the current Saudi state in terms of enforcing Shari’ah (Islamic law) and the position towards governments that do not enforce it.

2- I also wish that you can mention your opinion on the ancestors of ’Abd Al-’Aziz bin Sa’ud who supported the calling and movement of Imam Mohammad Ibn ’Abd Al-Wahhab, Allah have mercy upon him.

3- Also, I hope you can answer the following question:

Do shaikh Ibn Baz and shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen, Allah have mercy upon them, agree with shaikh Mohammad bin Ibrahim bin ’Abd Al-Lateef Aal Al-Shaikh in his opposition of the Saudi regime because it does not enforece Shari’ah? And do they, shaikh Ibn Baz and shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen, Allah have mercy upon them, portray themselves as scholars while they do not truly deserve this status?

Thank you for your patience,

Wa asslam alaikom wa rahmatu Allah wa barakatuh,

Answer:

By the name of Allah and praise be to Him and peace be upon His messenger.

Dear brother,

Asslam alaikom wa rahmatu Allah,

I have received your letter in which you say: “I would like to make a suggestion that you will accept if it is Allah’s will. My suggestion is to write some articles or books to differentiate between the status of the first Saudi state, during the time of Imam Mohammad Ibn ’Abd Al-Wahhab, and the current Saudi state in terms of enforcing Shari’ah (Islamic law) and the position towards governments that do not enforce it.”

May Allah reward you for this suggestion, and I hope I can do it, even partially, considering the density and volume of tasks I am planning to finish.

Either way, we have mentioned this issue in our book “Al-Kwashif Al-Jalyieh” (“The revealing lights”), in which we have clearly stated that we do not consider anyone from Aal Sa’ud (the descendants of Sa’ud) or any other group as Kafer (infidel) unless he commits an act that nullify Tawheed (monotheism) or an act of Kufr (infidelity).

We even quoted ’Abd Al-’Aziz bin Sa’ud along those lines during the time of shaikh Mohammad Ibn ’Abd Al-Wahhab at the beginning of that book.

Dear brother, our animosity towards Aal Sa’ud and classifying them as infidels is not like what many people of Jahilyieh (related to pre-Islam phase where decisions were based on tribal or selfish considerations with no or little regard to ethics) do when they base their animosity on consideration of Jahilyieh, nationalism or worldly benefits or affiliations.

Neither is it like what Rafedha (largest Shi’a sect mainly residing in Iran and Iraq along with some other Gulf countries, and also in Lebanon and Pakistan) and people like them do when they do not differentiate between the early members of Aal Sa’ud who supported the calling and movement of shaikh Mohammad Ibn ’Abd Al-Wahhab and their followers and the later members of Aal Sa’ud who enforced man-made laws, pledged their loyalty to its lords and supported infidels over Muslims. We are not like them and we better be not like them.

Instead, we tackle this issue in a detailed manner and mention explicitly the actions that lead to Kufr so that any member of Aal Sa’ud, in these times, upon whom this does not apply is left outside this ruling.

We are quite certain that amongst Aal Sa’ud, we can find a Muslim with true Tawheed So, whether we are talking about current or earlier members of Aal Sa’ud or anyone else, we do not generalize like what extremists or ignorant people do.

Our discussion in “Al-Kwashif Al-Jalyieh” is clear in targeting those of Aal Sa’ud who enforced laws other than what Allah has ordained on any level whether it is local, regional or international, pledged their loyalty to the infidels or helped them against people of Tawheed, waged wars against the true Tawheed and its people or committed a clear and obvious act of Kufr.

Others who have the core and the basis of Islam are considered to be our brothers with the same rights and obligations as ours whether they are from Aal Sa’ud or not.

This is because us, as Muslim, base our intentions, understanding, decisions and rulings on Shari’ah not Jahilyieh.

Verily, the strongest bonds of Iman (faith) is basing love, hatred, loyalties and animosities on Allah’s rulings.

We affiliate ourselves with anyone and love him if he is a Mu’men (believer) even if he is distant from us in terms of lineage or home country. And we disown anyone, hate him and take him as enemy if he is Kafer even he is the closest to us in terms of lineage or home country.

You also say: “Also, I hope you can answer the following question:

Do shaikh Ibn Baz and shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen, Allah have mercy upon them, agree with shaikh Mohammad bin Ibrahim bin ’Abd Al-Lateef Aal Al-Shaikh in his opposition of the Saudi regime because it does not enforece Shari’ah? And do they, shaikh Ibn Baz and shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen, Allah have mercy upon them, portray themselves as scholars while they do not truly deserve this status?”

My answer is: indeed they agree in principle; neither shaikh Ibn Baz nor shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen condone using laws other than what Allah has ordained and there is no doubt they oppose not enforcing Shari’ah. But when it comes to the Saudi regime in particular, their opposition regarding this matter is not obvious to me. On the contrary, we see them defending that regime with all of their powers. I am not making this up about them, as one day, I will stand with them in front of our Lord (and I will be held accountable for this), but it is their words and Fatwas (religious verdict on different matters) convey this idea. For example, consider the following statement of shaikh Ibn Baz: “And this Saudi state is a blessed one and its rulers are keen to establish truth and justice, support the oppressed, deter oppressors, establish and spread peace and security and preserve people’s money and honor.” Quoting from a recorded tape of the shaikh on 29/7/1417 H entitled “The rights of rulers over the nation.”

I think the true reality of that state is obvious to any sane logical person, and we have mentioned what refutes the above statement in our book “Al-Kwashif” to which we refer anyone who does not know the true reality of that state or have decided to close his eyes and overlook it.

You can also review what the shaikh has written, along with the Committee of Leading Scholars, about the four Mujahid brothers who were executed, Allah have mercy upon them, under the claim that they were fighting against Allah and His messenger while, in reality, it (the execution) was killing a Muslim for killing a Kafer, even though they do not admit it. Those brothers did not fight against Allah and His messenger. Instead, they were fighting against the Americans and their supporters who are in fact fighting Allah and His messenger. In that statement, you can see their support for this state and their attack against the Jihad and Mujahideen.

Another example along these lines is a statement by the Committee of Leading Scholars, including shaikh Ibn Baz, warning people from the writings of Juhaiman, which were all read to shaikh Ibn Baz (for his approval and consent) by some students (who were also Juhaiman’s followers). Any fair person can review these writings to verify whether the following statement is correct or not. Note that this is in no way an endorsement of me for all their (Juhaiman and his followers, Allah have mercy upon them) writings. I do disagree with them in not considering this government and its supporters as infidels and their disagreement with those who actually consider them infidels. Obviously, this is not what the leading scholars are warning against. Instead, their warning is against Juhaiman’s invalidation of the pledge of allegiance to their leader and ruler and considering this as outrageous arguments and false interpretations. This is well-known to anyone who read their writings and experienced that phase.

They said: “And since the committee views this unjust group as it is, it considers its writings, which include outrageous arguments, false interpretations and misguided trends, as seeds for evil, misguidedness, chaos and upsetting of the peace and security of the society and manipulating the interests of this country and its subjects. It uses false claims to fool the naïve so that they cannot see the great danger lying underneath. And the committee, as it explains this and takes exception to it, warns all Muslims from the outrageous arguments, false interpretations and misguided trends of these writings. Also, the committee would like to take this occasion (of extinguishing their evil by the government of his majesty, king Khaled bin ’Abd Al-’Aziz, Allah protect him, guide him and help him in all aspects of good) to thank Allah SWT for making it possible to extinguish this evil, and ask Him to protect this country and the rest of Muslim countries from any harm, unite them under the truth, help their rulers and give them power and immunity through Islam and give Islam power and immunity through them.

We also ask Him to give them good helping staff who will aid the rulers when trying to do good, guide them to it and remind them of it. We ask Him to make the truth prevalent and falsehood diminished even if this is against the will of the criminals including the unjust, the hateful, the insidious and the green-eyed. The committee appreciates the great efforts made by the government in the eradication of this sedition using force, wisdom and insight, and would like to thank everyone who participated in this through actions, works and/or writings. On top of those are their majesty the king and his crown prince, his loyal subjects and the armed forces with all its parts and rankings of its members, and ask Allah SWT for their dead forgiveness, mercy and great rewards and for their living great rewards, guidance and being steadfast on the true path. We are satisfied and ******* with Allah SWT as He is the best of helpers and may Allah send His blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.”

Thus, I do not see how these exaggerations in support, pledging loyalty and praising of the government have any similarity to the position of shaikh Mohammad bin Ibrahim bin ’Abd Al-Lateef Aal Al-Shaikh in his opposition to the Saudi regime and his explicit disagreement with it which can be found throughout his Fatwas. Many examples can be found in our book “Al-Kwashif.” Keep in mind that the acts of infidelity by ’Abd Al-’Aziz during the time of shaikh Mohammad bin Ibrahim is incomparable to the current acts of infidelity by his descendents.

As for shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen, the following quote of his is mentioned for the sake of fairness since fair people mention both arguments for and against their opinion.

He says: “And this country, the Saudi kingdom, is one of the best Muslim countries in implementing Shari’ah. This is observed. We do not claim it is 100%. Indeed, it has many flaws and some unfairness, but if we compare the percentage of unfairness, we would find it to be small. And it is not fair to only see the cons of a certain manner and overlook the pros. A person should be just as Allah SWT says: {O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin} and He says: {O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah as just witnesses; and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety; and fear Allah.}” [The “open door” meeting, question number 956].

The shaikh here disagrees with the state and this is a rare incident that we cannot disregard. Yet, there is a huge difference between the opposition of shaikh Mohammad bin Ibrahim of the state because it was trying to pass and enforce man-made laws under other names and his consistent resistance to such practices until his death and this scenario where the issue is marginalized and portrayed as simple flaws and unfairness as if this was part of the hardship mentioned by the Prophet PBUH about Muslim ruler who would come after him and how he ordered the Ansar to endure it. That is why the shaikh orders people in his books and Fatwas to endure any hardship caused by following current rulers and never try to overthrow them. He also rejects any attempt to overthrow them or label them as infidels and finds it appalling.

As for your question at the end of your letter: “And do they, shaikh Ibn Baz and shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen, Allah have mercy upon them, portray themselves as scholars while they do not truly deserve this status?”

I would not make such a claim and anyone who would look into their knowledge (disregarding their opinion on rulers and its variation based on the variation of the relationship between their state and those rulers and their position on the pledge of allegiance to the rulers of their country and their opposition) would know that they are scholars of Shari’ah and that their bases are proper Salafi bases. Many people have benefited from them in subjects other that the ones mentioned above and they were teachers to most of the current scholars including myself. This does not mean that we should agree with them on their mistakes in the above-mentioned subjects nor does it mean that we should let these mistakes slide. Instead, we reject each mistake in a manner relative to its severity. We are not bothered by anyone who finds this appalling and uses it as an excuse to personally attack us and discourage people from our writings, or use it to please the Taghoots (everything/everyone that/who is worshipped other than Allah SWT including the tyrants who wage wars against Islam and their man-made laws) and their followers as we are satisfied and ******* with the justice of Allah SWT who knows what is in everybody’s heart and soon enough we will all stand before Him to resolve all conflicts.

May Allah send His blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.

Your brother,
Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi