[DarrenBent]

Indeed Allah Most High commands you to hand over whatever you hold in trust, to their owners – and that whenever you judge between people, judge with fairness, undoubtedly Allah Most High gives you an excellent advice, indeed Allah Most High is all Hearing, all Seeing.
O People who believe! Obey Allah Most High and the Noble Messenger peace be upon him and those amongst you who are in authority, so if there is a dispute amongst you concerning any matter, refer it to Allah Most High and the Noble Messenger peace be upon him (for judgment) if you believe in Allah Most High and the Last Day; this is better and has the best outcome. (Surah Al –Nisa 4:58-59)

Following the recent uprising in Libya and the continued rebellion in Syria I saw many Muslims openly supporting the actions of the people and repeatedly calling for the fall of the Gaddafi and Assad regimes. Upon this I felt a need to write a short article outlining the law with regards to how one is considered to have become leader Islam and following that the order upon the subjects with respect to their obedience towards that leader.

I ask Allah Most High whilst seeking intercession to Him with His beloved peace be upon him that He accepts this humble effort and that He benefits by way of it me and others. Ameen.

The Master Jurist Muhammad Ameen bin Umar (commonly known as ibn Aabideen) may Allah Most High be pleased with him writes in his masterwork Hashia ibn Aabideen, A leader becomes leader in one of two ways:

The first of them is with a pledge of allegiance from the upright and righteous leaders, and as mentioned in al Musaayarah fi Ilm al Kalaam by The Sheikh Kamal uddin ibn al Hummam may Allah Most High be pleased with him, the scholars. The second of them is that his order becomes effective upon his subjects from fear of his subjugation and tyranny.

He may Allah Most High be pleased with him continues, If the people pledge allegiance to this second type and his order does not become established upon them due to his inability upon suppressing them, he will not become leader and should be expelled.

If however he is given the pledge and he does have the power of repression, he will become effective as leader and he will not be removed as rebellion will result in no benefit.
The Sheikh ibn al Hummam and The Allama Zayn uddin ibn Nujaym in their great works Fath ul Qadeer lil Aajiz il Faqeer and Bahr ur Raaiq Sharh kanz ul Daqaaiq write similar to this except the first from them two limited the leader with condition that the subjects are in peace and the paths peaceful and the second of them two kept absolute the leader without the conditions of trustworthiness and moral upstanding.
A third method in becoming leader is mentioned in Sharh al Maqaasid by the Imam Sa’ad al Din al Taftazani and that is by appointment as successor by the previous leader as practiced by Hazrat Abu Bakr al Siddique in prescribing Hazrat Umar al Farooq as the second caliph, may Allah Most High be pleased with them both.
There is agreement upon the matter that Gaddafi was and Assad is a tyrant however insurrection cannot be warranted as lawful since the second definition is spoken true upon them both. Rebellion is, as is further being proved to be without benefit, particularly in sight of the increasing bloodshed and destruction.

The evidence in Sharia regarding the obligatory nature of obedience towards Allah Most High, His Prophet peace be upon him and the Muslim leader is supported by much evidence, likewise the non permissibility of rebellion is also clear. Below I will mention a few sources as evidence upon this.

Allah Most High says: Indeed Allah Most High commands you to hand over whatever you hold in trust, to their owners – and that whenever you judge between people, judge with fairness, undoubtedly Allah Most High gives you an excellent advice, indeed Allah Most High is all Hearing, all Seeing.
O People who believe! Obey Allah Most High and the Noble Messenger peace be upon him and those amongst you who are in authority, so if there is a dispute amongst you concerning any matter, refer it to Allah Most High and the Noble Messenger peace be upon him (for judgment) if you believe in Allah Most High and the Last Day; this is better and has the best outcome. (Surah Al –Nisa 4:58-59)

The Sheikh Zamakhshari writes in his commentary Al Kashaaf an Haqaaiq al Tanzeel wa Uyoon al Aqaweel fi Wujooh al Taweel, when Allah Most High ordered the leaders to observe protection to those due it and to rule with justice, He Most High also ordered the people to obey the leader and to descend upon their judgments.

The Sheikh Justice Karam Shah may Allah Most High be pleased with him writes in his commentary Diya ul Quran, In this verse apart from the order to obey Allah Most High and His Prophet peace be upon him one has been ordered to obey the Muslim leaders. The reason for this is clear, our Master peace be upon him was not to stay in this apparent life for very long and therefore after The Prophet peace be upon hims passing, the responsibility of matters related to the Islamic state and kingdoms was to be handed to the caliphs and kings. It is for this reason that obedience towards them has also been emphasized.

There is however one clear difference between obedience towards The Prophet peace be upon him and obedience towards the leaders. The Prophet peace be upon him is infallible, free of all sin and mistake, especially with regards to the matters of the religion. It is for this reason that the level of obedience to which one has been ordered of the prophet peace be upon him is also mentioned in the Quran.

He Most High says:
And accept whatever the Noble Messenger gives you, and refrain from whatever he forbids you and fear Allah Most High, Indeed Allah Most Highs punishment is severe. (Surah Al Hashr 59:7)

And no Muslim man or woman has any right in the affair, when Allah Most High and His Noble Messenger peace be upon him have decreed a command regarding it; and whoever does not obey the command of Allah Most High and His Noble Messenger peace be upon him has indeed clearly gone very astray (Surah al Ahzab 33:36)

Haroon, may Allah Most High forgive him says, the linguistic analysis of the first verse indicates compulsion in obedience of The Prophet peace be upon him. The verbs “khuzu” and “intahu” are imperative verbs and the imperative in the absolute case indicates obligation as we read in the science of usool ul fiqh (jurisprudential principals). The second verse based upon the first negates option in any matter upon which a ruling has been prescribed by Shariah. Together the verses are evidence against those that claim not to be inclined towards obedience and intend to assume practice when they are mentally prepared to do so.

As for the leader or king, it is not necessary that they are infallible and they can also make mistake hence, obedience towards them is restricted with the condition that the order is in accordance with the command of Allah Most High and The Prophet peace be upon him.

The Prophet of Allah Most High peace be upon him said “there is no obedience towards the created in disobedience of the creator". It is for this reason that after giving an order to obey the leaders, Allah Most High says restricting the order, if you have a dispute amongst you then return it towards Allah Most High and His Prophet peace be upon him. If it is in accordance to, then obey the leader and if not, then it is not necessary to comply.
Hazrat Junadah bin Umayyah narrates may Allah Most High be pleased with him, we entered upon Hazrat Ubadah bin Saamit may Allah Most High be pleased with him in this state that he was sick. We requested, Allah Most High give you good health, relate to us a hadith which you heard from The Prophet of Allah Most High peace be upon him and that which gives us benefit. He may Allah Most High be pleased with him said, The Prophet of Allah peace be upon him called us and took from us a pledge of allegiance. The matters upon which he took from us a pledge were these, in our pleasure and displeasure, in difficulty and ease, upon being given preference over us, in obedience and in whatever man is in a position of leadership we not to wage war against him, except if you see a clear disbelief upon which there is explicit evidence.

Imam Yahya bin Sharaf Nawawi may Allah Most High be pleased with him writes in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, disbelief here means disobedience of Allah Most High and to rise against him or to wage war based upon immorality alone is forbidden. There are many prophetic narrations in support of this and the Ahlus Sunnah has concensus that by reason of immorality a leader is not removed. The reason for this is that by waging war against him disorder and corruption will increase and much blood will spill. In this case the turmoil that will spread will be far greater than that of not removing him.

In a hadith written in Sahih Muslim, Hazrat abu Hurayrah may Allah Most High be pleased with him narrates that The Prophet of Allah Most High peace be upon him said, whoever obeys me indeed has obeyed Allah Most High, and whoever disobeys me has indeed disobeyed Allah Most High, and whoever obeys the leader has indeed obeyed me, and whoever disobeys the leader has indeed disobeyed me.

The Sheikh Ghulam Rasool Saeedi may Allah Most High preserve him writes in his Sharh Sahih Muslim, this hadith proves that until the caliphs and leaders do not change a fundamental belief within Islam it is not permitted to come out against them. Oppression and immorality alone do not validate rebellion.

The Jurist abu Layth al Zahid Nasr bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim al Samarqandi may Allah Most High be pleased with him in his book Bustan ul Aarifeen relates a hadith of The Prophet of Allah Most High Peace be upon him, it is narrated from Hazrat ibn Abbas may Allah Most High be pleased with him from The Prophet of Allah Most High peace be upon him, whoever sees from his leader a matter should have patience, for there is not anyone who separates from the community the distance of a hand span who then dies, except he has died a death of ignorance.
Qadi Iyad al-Maliki is reported to have said by Imam Nawawi may Allah most High be pleased with them both in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, upon an immoral man becoming leader some scholars have said, if there is no fear of war, disorder and unrest then it is necessary to expel him as leader. The majority of the scholars from the Ahlus Sunnah wal jama'ah however have said that a leader cannot be disposed by reason of his immorality and oppression. It is not permitted to break allegiance with him and neither is it to rebel and wage war against him. He should be advised and reminded to fear Allah Most High and of his responsibilities as leader.

The Hafiz Shihab al Deen Ahmad bin Ali ibn Hajr al-Asqalani al-Shaafi writes in his commentary Fath ul Bari Sharh Sahih al Bukhari, to rebel against the leader or to wage war against him is not permitted until that time you do not see an explicit verse of the Quran or a hadith of which interpretation is not possible.
In an effort to keep this article concise I have not made discussion upon three important matters. The first is a discussion of the legal order upon those established to be rebels against the state, the second a discussion on the importance of keeping secure the Islamic Border and the third the non permissibility of seeking assistance from non Muslims against a Muslim leader.



In conclusion I say:

Obedience to Allah Most High and His Prophet peace be upon him is absolute and one is compelled to act accordingly without option in any regard.

Trustworthiness and morality are not conditions in Islam for one to become effective as leader.

Obedience towards a king or leader is restricted with the condition that their order is in accordance with what Allah Most High and His Prophet peace be upon him have commanded and forbidden. If it is in agreement then one must follow their order and if it is in conflict then one is required to reject their judgment and have patience.

If an untrustworthy or immoral man becomes leader and does not have dominance or the power of subjugation over the people, he should be expelled as leader if there is no fear of turmoil. If however he does command that ability, rebellion is forbidden as no benefit will result from such action.

Finally whilst I accept the argument that written law is not always fully indicative upon ground reality one cannot ignore it, for every individual is bound with practice and knowledge of that is gained through textual law.



And Peace and Blessings upon our Master Muhammad and upon His Family and Companions.