Islamic Revival

Question Many people quote this narration, which is found in  Ṣaḥīḥ  Muslim, upon the authority of Ḥudhayfah that he said the Prophet peace be upon him said: ‘ You will listen to the Amir and carry out his orders; even if your back is flogged and your wealth is snatched, you should listen and obey .’ Is this correct?  Many use it as evidence to justify passive acceptance before the present rulers. Answer The narration is not  Ṣaḥīḥ  (authentic beyond reasonable doubt).  The channel is broken and it is  mursal .  Utilising inauthentic traditions to justify acquiescence to the status quo of unjust, corrupt tyrannical rulers is not acceptable.  It is not from the tradition of Islam, nor is it acceptable to repeat this as a justification or a prop to political authorities who are not founded upon the  Deen  of Islam, nor do they rule by it.  In fact, many  openly ally  with the enemies of Islam. In general, as we have  previously detailed , by its very nature, the  mursal ḥadith  is consid

 “I heard the Shaykh [i.e. al-Subki’s teacher] and Imam (Allah have mercy on him) say, I heard our Shaykh al-Baji say, our Shaykh ‘Izz al-Din went to the Sultan in al-Qal’a one time on Eid day and saw the army in full array before the court (majlis) of the ruler who does not make an entrance before his people except in splendour as was the custom in Egypt and the officials would begin kissing the floor before the Sultan. The Shaykh [‘Izz al-Din Ibn ‘Abd al-Salam*] turned to the Sultan and called out to him saying, ‘O Ayyub! What is your argument before Allah when he asks you, ‘Did I not give you the land of Egypt and yet you permitted alcohol?’’ [The Sultan] asked, ‘Is this the case?’ [‘Izz al-Din Ibn ‘Abd al-Salam] replied, ‘Indeed, wine is sold in such and such tavern’ – mentioning other evil acts (munkarat) too – ‘while you bask in the luxury of this kingdom!’ He was shouting at the top of his voice in front of the army. [The Sultan] said, ‘My master, I am not the one who did this.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَذَرُوا مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الرِّبَا إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُوا فَأْذَنُوا بِحَرْبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ O you who believe, beware of Allah: give up any outstanding dues from usury, if you are true believers If you do not, then be warned of war from Allah and His Messenger [Qur’ān 2: 278/279] In his  Tafsir , al-Suyuṭi summarises several important narratives regarding the interpretation of these verses. [1]   Of particular note is the narrative that is mentioned purportedly to be from Ibn ‘Abbās: واخرج ابن جرير وابن منذر وابن ابي حاتم عن ابن عباس في قوله: فاذنوا بحرب قال من كان مقيماً على الربا لا ينزع عنه فحق على امام المسلمين ان يستتيبه فان نزع والا ضرب عنقه As narrated by Ibn Jarir, Ibn Mundthir and Ibn Abi Ḥātim from Ibn ‘Abbās regarding His statement (in the verse): ‘ be warned of war ,’ he said: If someone insists on usury and does not desist, it is the lawful duty for the Imām of the Muslims to ask him to repen