Did you know? (Inspirational Islamic Stories)

obedience to civil laws as long as Muslims are not commanded to commit a sin

Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

يَكُونُ بَعْدِي أَئِمَّةٌ لَا يَهْتَدُونَ بِهُدَايَ وَلَا يَسْتَنُّونَ بِسُنَّتِي وَسَيَقُومُ فِيهِمْ رِجَالٌ قُلُوبُهُمْ قُلُوبُ الشَّيَاطِينِ فِي جُثْمَانِ إِنْسٍ

Rulers after me will come who do not follow my guidance and my tradition (sunnah). Some of their men will have the hearts of devils in a human body.

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, what should I do if I live to see that time?” The Prophet said:

تَسْمَعُ وَتُطِيعُ لِلْأَمِيرِ وَإِنْ ضُرِبَ ظَهْرُكَ وَأُخِذَ مَالُكَ فَاسْمَعْ وَأَطِعْ

You should listen and obey them even if the ruler strikes your back and takes your wealth, even still listen and obey.

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1847, Grade: Sahih

The righteous predecessors (al-salaf) decried the violent rebels who lived in their time because their rebellion always led to further suffering, injustice, and division among the Muslims.

Obedience to civil laws, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim state, is obligatory as long as we are not commanded to commit sins.

If the rulers command us to commit sins or they stubbornly persist in oppression, then we must strive to reform them without resorting to violence or destabilizing civil order.

Allah said:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ

O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.
Surat al-Nisa 4:59

Hasan Al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

If the people had patience when they are being tested by their unjust ruler, it will not be long before Allah will give them a way out. However, they always rush to their swords, so they are left with their swords. By Allah, not even for a single day did they bring about any good.
Source: al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrá 8789

Muslims should sincerely advise the ruler using calm and measured speech.

-Allah sent Moses and Aaron, upon them be peace, to speak to Pharaoh gently, even though he was a great tyrant who claimed to be God and enslaved and massacred thousands.

Allah said:

فَقُولَا لَهُ قَوْلًا لَّيِّنًا لَّعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوْ يَخْشَىٰ

Speak to him with mildly that perhaps he may be reminded or fear Allah.

Surat TaHa 20:44

Moses and Aaron AS spoke to Pharaoh with the intention to guide him to the truth, not to condemn him to Hell. If this is how Allah asked his prophets to speak to one of the worst tyrants the world has seen, then we should act the same in our situation.

We must also have a good intention to benefit the ruler on a personal level, as part of the good will (naṣīḥa) they should receive from us. We should advise them of their misdeeds in private and only condemn their unjust deeds in public when it is necessary.

Speaking the truth to him in this case is a form of non-violent jihād without weapons.

Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

إِنَّ مِنْ أَعْظَمِ الْجِهَادِ كَلِمَةَ عَدْلٍ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ

Verily, among the greatest jihād is a word of justice in front of a tyrannical ruler.
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2174

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.488 Narrated byZaid bin Wahab

I passed by a place called Ar-Rabadha and by chance I met Abu Dhar and asked him, "What has brought you to this place?"

He said,

"I was in Sham and differed with Muawiya on the meaning of (the following verses of the Qur'an):

'They who hoard up gold and silver and spend them not in the way of Allah.' (9.34).

Muawiya said, 'This verse is revealed regarding the people of the scriptures.'

I said, 'It was revealed regarding us and also the people of the scriptures.'
So we had a quarrel and Mu'awiya sent a complaint against me to 'Uthman. 'Uthman wrote to me to come to Medina, and I came to Medina.

Many people came to me as if they had not seen me before. So I told this to 'Uthman who said to me,

'You may depart and live nearby if you wish.'
That was the reason for my being here for even if an Ethiopian had been nominated as my ruler, I would have obeyed him."

WHAT JIHAD IS NOT?

- Jihad is not a violent concept.

- jihad is not a declaration of war against other religions. It is worth noting that the Koran specifically refers to Jews and Christians as "people of the book" who should be protected and respected. All three faiths worship the same God.

Allah is just the Arabic word for God, and is used by Christian Arabs as well as Muslims.

- Military action in the name of Islam has not been common in the history of Islam. Scholars says most calls for violent jihad are not sanctioned by Islam.

-Warfare in the name of God is not unique to Islam. Other faiths throughout the world have waged wars with religious justifications

The word jihad is often interpreted as "holy war" in Western languages. (1) Such an interpretation stems from the efforts to show Islam as a religion which spreads by the force of weapon.

The Prophet (pbuh) stated the following
"The greatest jihad is the one against your soul." He also said, "Your greatest enemy is your soul, which is inside you." (Ajluni, Kashfu'l-Khafa, Beirut, I, 143, Hadith No: 413)

In Makka, God's Messenger never resorted to or allowed retaliation, saying that Islam was meant to unite-not to divide-people.

Islam, which literally means peace, salvation, and submission, came to establish peace in our inner world by causing us to be at peace with God and nature, the world and the universe.

Thus peace and order are fundamental in Islam, which always seeks to spread in a peaceful atmosphere and rejects force as much as possible.

Islam never approves of injustice and condemns bloodshed:

"Whoever slays a soul not to retaliate for a soul slain or corruption on the Earth, it shall be as if he or she had slain all of humanity; and whoever saves a person's life, it shall be as if he or she had saved all of humanity. (Quran 5:32)

Coming to eradicate injustice and corruption, and to unite heaven and Earth in peace and harmony, Islam seeks to call people with wisdom and fair exhortation.

Force is resorted to only when those who desire to maintain the corrupt order they built on injustice, oppression, self-interest, exploitation, and usurpation of others' rights begin to resist it.

Thus, Islam allows force if unbelievers, polytheists, or those who make mischief and corruption on the Earth try to defeat Islam and block its spread.

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