Please note that the following is only a summarized translation of the 20 minute advice of Shaykh Muhammad Al-Madkhalee. The shaykh -hafidhahullaah- said more than is written here, but due to restrictions in time I’ve only translated the audio into a summary. I apologize for the hastiness in this translation as it was done whilst at work.
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All praise is due to Allaah -Lord of All the Worlds- and may the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon the Prophet Muhammad and upon his family, companions, and those who follow them until the Last Day.
To proceed:
I ask Allaah by His beautiful names and lofty attributes to provide us and the Muslims with understanding and clear insight of His religion, and likewise I ask Allaah to protect our Muslim brothers in every place, and to make for them a successful path, and make us and them from His righteous slaves and to make us firm upon the Truth until we meet Him.
This is a short statement directed to the Muslim brothers in Tunisia specifically about these occurrences that has recently occurred at the end of this month with the change of the government and their previous president (Ben Ali) being ousted. What has come after that due to this, then I say – and I ask Allaah for ourselves and them Tawfeeq- firstly, it’s upon the Muslim to Fear Allaah concerning himself, and then generally with those whom Allaah has given them authority over, such as his family and children and whoever he has authority over from his relatives. And whoever generally is in a place of authority, he should fear Allaah – Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala- with regards to those under his authority, because he is not over them except by what Allaah has ordered and what His Messenger – salallaahu alaihi wa salam- has ordered. He should know that he is responsible for everything that he says and does. And we are, with this (occurrence), to make Du’aa for our brothers in this country (Tunisia) that is dear to our hearts. We make Du’aa for them with Tawfeeq, and we ask Allaah – Jalla wa ‘Alaa- to grant them Tawfeeq in all the good and protect them and us from all the evils. So I say that the obligation upon them after the Fear of Allaah is to look at their situation and the situation of their Muslim brothers in their country. They should give importance to this: analyzing the situation of their Muslim brothers. They should advise one another, and encourage each other upon good, and advice each other with patience upon the trials.
The first thing which is obligatory upon them to advise each other with is the worship of Allaah -Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala, wahdahu laa shareeka lah-, and to Fear Allaah and carry out His orders and avoid what He prohibited, because in this is a great good.
“And if the people of the towns had believed and had the Taqwa (piety), certainly, We should have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth… ” (A’raaf :96)
So it is obligatory upon us to advise our brothers about what happens between them. We advise them with the obedience of Allaah and obedience of His Messenger -Salallaahu alaihi wa salam- and we remind them of the blessings of Allaah upon if they doubt because of the harm that came upon them. So it is upon them to be thankful for these blessings. And there is nothing greater than to establish its rights and be thankful for it and acting upon what Allaah ordained for them. As we said before, the greatest thing to give importance to is the sincere worship of Allaah – subhaanahu wa ta’aala-. So they do not make Du’aa except to Allaah, and they do not seek refuge except with Allaah, and they do not swear except by him etc.
So it is not permissible for the servant of Allaah to change or deviate anything in his worship of Allaah. Allaah says:
Say (O Muhammad ): “Verily, my Salat (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists). “He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.” (Al-An’aam:162-163)
This is the obligation upon every Muslim. If the slave is upon this, then Allaah will protect him and open the doors of good for him. As we said before: “And if the people of the towns had believed and had the Taqwa (piety), certainly, We should have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth… ” (A’raaf :96)
So it is upon them to thank Allaah for His blessings upon them. This is what we hope for and the issue is not about removing this ruler and bringing another ruler in his place. The issue is about removing the evil and replacing it with good, and this is what the intellectual should think about and run towards. He shouldn’t give importance to removing so-and-so and replacing him with so-and-so. No, the importance should be to remove the foundation of evil and corruption and bring a righteous one and correct the situation. This is the obligation upon the Muslim, that his concern should be like this. He should pray to Allaah that He changes the situation to good, and from good to better. So it should not be given importance to replace this leader with another, it should be important to bring a righteous person who will set it upright and apply the obligations of Allaah and the orders of His Messenger -salallaahu alaihi wa salam-
As we said, he should apply the Sharee’ah (legislation) of Allaah and encourage the orders of Allaah and the orders of His Messenger -salallaahu alaihi wa salam- and they should strive with this. So this is what the leaders should do, and apply the sharee’ah of Allaah. So now their leader is gone, so they should pray to Allaah to replace it with good. This is the obligation upon them. It is the obligation upon the layman of our brothers in Tunisia, to ask Allaah truthfully and turn to Him in the middle of the night praying that Allaah changes him with a righteous leader who will Fear Allaah with regards to them and will apply the orders of Allaah upon them, this is the obligation. They must pray to Allaah to remove the trials from them and to make their affairs good and grant them righteousness and Mercy. A person who will correct the corruption and have Mercy upon the weak, poor, orphans, and like them because he is responsible for all of them. So the obligation upon our brothers is to pray that Allaah grants them a righteous leader who will establish upon them what we have mentioned.
We specify our Salafee brothers in Tunisia, because they are the ones who asked about these affairs and asked about the correct position that a Muslim should take with this issue. So I say that the obligation upon the Muslim is what has been previously mentioned and it’s upon them to keep away from the commotion and trials and distance himself himself from partaking in what the people are doing which angers Allaah -subhaanahu wa ta’aala- from the matters of trials and enmity with others and removals and all these things. These issues are making the country lose, all of these things create a loss for the country! So the obligation upon the Muslim is to Fear Allaah with regards to himself and not take part in the vandalism and the problematic matters and not aid it, because Allaah said:
The believers, men and women, are Auliya’ (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another, they enjoin (on the people) Al-Ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden); they perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give the Zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah will have His Mercy on them. Surely Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise. (At-Tawbah: 71)
Cooperating upon this (the vandalism etc) is cooperation upon evil and it is not permissible for the Muslim generally and the Salafee specifically to go into this way. It’s upon him to distance himself from these chaotic matters and distance himself from partaking in these occurrences. It’s upon him to stay close to his home in the times of Fitan (trials) and pray to Allaah for peace for himself and his Muslim brothers and strive in Du’aa for Allaah to remove the trials. So we advise the layman brothers in Tunisia, and we specify the Salafee brothers after the layman, to Fear Allaah in this matter and not enter into the falsehood because it will return to them the harm just as harm has returned to others. Also it is upon them to necessitate going to the houses of Allaah and praise, thank, and worship Him and remind the general people of this. Because now the country is answering their requests and insha Allaah they will complete it for them.
They should also know that what came over them from oppression, then it came from their sins. They should give da’wah to Allaah and remind the people with what Allaah obligated upon them and remind the people that heedlessness and distancing from the obligations is what will cause the oppression. For Allaah is the One who allowed this to fall upon them, Allaah says:
And thus We do make the oppressors Auliya’ (supporters and helpers) one to another (in committing crimes etc.), because of that which they used to earn. (Al-An’aam: 129)
So Allaah tests His servants, and these people did not take leadership over the people, like the one we’ve mentioned and in all the Muslim world, except due to our sins. No one should praise himself, you can see shirk (polytheism) in every place and ignorance about Allaah in every place, and if the Hadeeth about this has some weakness, then look at the Ayah (verse) mentioned previously.
And thus We do make the oppressors Auliya’ (supporters and helpers) one to another (in committing crimes etc.), because of that which they used to earn. (Al-An’aam: 129)
It’s upon our brothers, the students of knowledge, and the people of knowledge, it’s upon them to remind their brothers in the Masaajid after the prayers. Remind them about the good, and that Allaah will protect them and it’s the obligation upon the people with intellect to increase in good and reduce the evil. They shouldn’t be quiet about this, it’s not permissible for them to stay silent about this chaos, those who Allaah has given knowledge should remind the people after the prayers that these issues (of chaos) are not permissible.
What came to us in the news yesterday or at Fajr time (Friday and Saturday) about the existence of some militia groups who are looting and causing problems with some of the government buildings, shops, houses, etc then these people are without doubt mufsidoon (mischief makers). It’s not permissible for those who believe in Allaah and His Messenger to do these things. The Prophet salallaahu alaihi wa salam said that the Muslim is the one who the Muslims are safe from from his hands and tongue. If one is a true Muslim, then he would not do those things. The Muslim is the one who keeps the people’s blood and money safe. All of these matters are impermissible, and it’s not allowed for the Muslims to do this. Attacking the government buildings, stealing, fighting the army etc and causing harm upon the people etc, all of this is from corruption which is not permissible. It’s upon us to remind the people of this, and in reality they are the losers because these things are harming the country. If you corrupt it, then the harm will return to them.
The obligation upon the people is to avoid these evils and not praise these people, because this is corruption. He should stay close to his house and not get involved in their chaos. If they come to him, then he should defend himself and his family and wealth. Those people are oppressors and corrupt, and it’s not allowed for them to cause harm to their Muslim brothers. If they (the ones who are avoiding this chaos) are tested, then they should defend themselves. They should defend themselves with what they are able without killing. If they kill him while he defends his wealth, then he is a martyr (shaheed).
The shaykh mentions some more points about defending oneself and fighting those who come to you to steal from you and you defend yourself and summarized the points he previously mentioned and made Du’aa for the Muslims generally and specifically in Tunisia. (17:00 to 19:48)
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