The following is an answer by Ustadh Abu Khaled al-Hejazi. Question: Accounting the rulers does it have to be open, if so how does one reconcile it with the below hadith: "The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (salallaahu'alayheewasallam) said, "Whoever desires to advise the one with authority then he should not do so openly, rather he should take him by the hand and take him into seclusion (and then advise him). And if he accepts (the advice) from him then (he has achieved his objective) and if not, then he has fulfilled that which was a duty upon him." (Reported by Ahmad (3/403) and Ibn Abee 'Aasim (2/521) with a Saheeh isnaad.) Answer: The hadith you quoted concerning accounting the rulers, is incomplete and further the isnad (chain) is not intact, rather it is broken (it is mursal). Ahmad ibn Hanbal has reported it from: Abu Mugaira, from Safwan, that Shuraih ibn Ubaid al Hadrami and others said: Iyad bin Ganam became angry with Hisham bin
"Thoughts are the greatest wealth of any nation."