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.

Introduction The traditions of the ‘black banners’ or march of the ‘black banners’  al-Riyāt al-Sawd , for some are truly evocative.  In a world characterised by oppression, injustice and even outright evil, the reported wording of these traditions speaks of apocalyptic end times, giving hope to a promise of deliverance.  An army setting march from the east, with mention of the region of Khurāsān ,  that seeks justice and depending upon the wording, being a potent force for either the coming of the Mehdi, or having him among its ranks. These traditions are purportedly narrated upon the authority of three-companions, Thawbān, Abu Hurayrah and Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with them all.  Within the corpus of  aḥādith , they sit outside of the  Ṣaḥīḥ  collections of Bukhāri and Muslim.  Despite having a chapter dedicated to the topic of the Mehdi, they do not appear either in the  Sunan  of Abu Dāwud.  Among the well-known collections of  aḥādith , they are to be found in the