54 - Again in World's Peace and Islam Sayyid Qutb wrote:

"Muslims are revolutionists. They revolt against cruelty and injustice."

This ideas of his does not conform with what the Islamic scholars have reported. Muslims do not revolt. They do not arouse sedition and mischief. It is a sin to revolt against even a cruel government. It is not jihad but fitna (mischief) to oppose the laws and commands. Sayyid Qutb, Mawdudi and those who have been deceived by them have fallen into calamity by giving wrong meaning to the thirty-ninth ayat of the surat al-Hajj. This ayat states, "Jihad against the cruel who attack Muslims has been permitted." When the unbelievers of Mecca had oppressed, injured and killed Muslims, permission to fight against them had been asked many times. It had not been permitted. This ayat was revealed upon the migration to Medina, permitting the newly founded Islamic State to perform jihad against the cruel in Mecca. This ayat does not permit Muslims to oppose their cruel government; it permits the Islamic State to make jihad against the armies of cruel dictators who prevent their peoples from hearing about Islam and becoming Muslims. The hadiths quoted on the forty-first and seventy-first pages of the translation of As-siyar al-kabir declare, "Paradise is haram to the person who revolts against the ruler," and "Perform jihad under the command of every ruler, just or cruel!" Jihad, as it is written in books means 'war against the unbelievers of other countries'. The hadith given in the books Radd al-mukhtar, Kamil and al-Baihaki's Shua'b al-iman, declares, "When you cannot correct a wrong thing, be patient! Allahu ta'ala will correct it." This hadith commands not to oppose or revolt against the laws but to advise through legitimate ways and to be patient. The hadith quoted by al-Manawi, at-Thirmidhi and at-Tabarani declares, "The most valuable jihad is to say the word pointing to the right way in the presence of a cruel sultan." Scholars should advise the state officials as much as they can. But one should be very careful lest sedition should arise while performing al-amru bi 'l-maruf; this means that Muslims neither revolt nor surrender to cruelty and injustice. They seek for their rights through legitimate ways. It is wajib for every Muslim to obey the government's legitimate (mashru') commands. No person's commands are to be carried out if they are haram, yet one should not revolt against them and cause fitna (oppression over Muslims). One should not oppose the cruel or dispute with them. For example, while it is one of the greatest sins not to perform salat, if one's chief or commander is a cruel unbeliever and says, "Don't perform salat," one should answer, "With pleasure. I won't," and think of saying, "I won't when near you for it is haram to cause fitna." Right after leaving that cruel person, he should perform salat.

'Abd al-Haqq ad-Dahlawi [d. 1052 A.H. (1642)], one of the great 'ulama' of Islam in India, wrote in he part "Kitab al-fitan" of his Persian commentary Ashi'at al-lama'at to the invaluable hadith book Mishkat al-masabih: "Hudhaifa (radi Allahu 'anh), one of as-Sahaba said, 'I asked Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) about the fitnas that will happen in the future.

Because, I feared of being harmed by their wickedness.' Keeping away from harmful things is more important than attaining to useful things. 'Fitna', as used here, means 'confusion, fight among people'. Though spread of committing haram is also fitna, there is no need to ask about this, since harams are evident. 'I said, "Oh Rasul-Allah! We were bad people before becoming Muslim. Allahu ta'ala, with your honorable body, endowed upon us the favor of Islam and excellences. Will a bad time come after these days of bliss?" "Yes, it will!" he said. I asked, "Will good days come again after that badness?" Again he declared, "Yes, they will. But that time will be blurred." That is, the good and the bad will be confused in those days. The hearts will not be as pure and clear as they were in the initial days. Itiqad's being sahih, a'mal's being salih and the leaders' justice will not be the same as those in the first century [of Islam]. Vices and bidat' will spread everywhere. The bad will go among the good, and bidat' will take place among the Sunnat. I asked what 'blurred' meant. He declared, "They are those who do not adapt my sunnat and follow my path. They both perform 'ibada and commit sin."

They do goodness and wickedness. They commit bidat'. I asked, "Will there come a bad time again after that good period?" He declared, "Yes. There will be those who will call [people] to the doors of Hell. Those who will listen to them will be thrown into Hell." I inquired, "Oh Rasul-Allah! How will these people look like?" "They, too, are human like us. They speak as we do," he said. That is, they will speak Arabic. Quoting ayats and hadiths, they will preach and give advices, but there will be no goodness or goodwill in their hearts. I said, "What do you order us to do if we reach their time?" He declared, "Adhere to the Muslims' jamaat (community) and government." I asked, "What shall we do if there is not a Muslim jamaat and government?" He declared, "Get yourself into a corner. Never go among them. Live alone till you die!" ' He declared in a hadith ash-Sharif, "After me, there will be such governments that will leave my path. Their hearts are the home of the Satan. Obey them, too! Do not revolt against them! Do not revolt even if you are beaten and your property is taken!" That is, do not rise against the cruel government that attacks at your property and lives; do not cause fitna; be patient and busy with your 'ibadat; if you cannot protect yourselves against fitna in the town, take refuge in the forest; if you go into the forest and have to eat grass and leaves in order not to be among the holders of fitna, stay in the forest so you should not join them! He declared, 'Listen well and obey.' This last order means that we should be very careful not to rise against the government and not to cause fitna." As it is understood from these hadiths and from the explanations of the 'ulama' of Islam, men of religious post do not get involved in the formation of the State and in law-making; do not busy with politics; do not become tools in the hands of politicians; do not advocate this or that form of regime. The 'ulama' of Ahl as-Sunnat have obeyed this prohibition strictly and stated that religious men's getting involved in politics would be the same as holding burning fire.

It is idiocy to oppose the power, to revolt against the government, since it is to throw oneself into danger, which is haram. It is not permissible for a Muslim visiting non-Muslim countries to harm unbelievers' possessions, lives or chastity. One can receive benefit from unbelievers by pleasing them. It is more important to observe the rights of zimmis, unbelievers living in dar al-Islam, and of the harbis, unbelievers coming as guests, tourists and merchants to the Muslim country, than it is to observe Muslims' rights. It is worse to attack or even to backbite and slander them than it is to attack Muslims. Muslims are never idle. They become powerful by studying religious and scientific knowledge hard. Thus, they become victorious and dominant. For a Muslim, jihad does not mean to rise in rebellion against the government but to spread the religious knowledge.

Ibn 'Abidin wrote, "When a Muslim ruler or other oppressors, forcing and threatening with death, imprisonment or torture, orders to commit, some certain sins become mubah or even fard. Disobeying his command becomes a sin." It is written on the 91st page of Bariqa, "The Hadith says, 'Obey your commanders!' Even if your commander is the most inferior of you, it is wajib to obey his orders conformable to Islam. Nobody's command which is a sin should be obeyed; yet it will be obeyed if disobedience causes fitna, for, as written is Ashbah, it is permissible to commit minor harm in order to escape grave harm. It is wajib to do the mubah commanded by the ruler." 'Abd al-Ghani an-Nabulusi wrote on the 143rd page of Al-Hadiqa, "It is not wajib to obey the commands the rulers gives out of his reason and wish. If he is unjust, tortures and oppresses, however, it becomes a necessity to obey also his orders and prohibitions unconformable to Allahu ta'ala's rules. Especially, if those who disobey are ordered by him to be killed, it is not permissible for anybody to throw himself into danger. Detailed information on this subject is given in my commentary to Hadiyyatu ibni 'l-'Imad and in the book Al-matalib al-wafiyya."

Ibn 'Abidin wrote in the subject on 'Baghi': "When Muslims perform 'ibadat comfortably and live in peace in a country, it is not permissible for them to rebel against the government. If the government oppresses and if opposing this oppression causes fitna, it is not permissible, again. Helping such a ruler is a support given to cruelty. One should not help those who disobey him, either, for, one should not help in an action that is not permitted. [The greatest cruelty is to prevent Muslims from performing ibadat and teaching religious knowledge to their children, to cause them to commit haram and to spoil their iman.] Those who rebel, to get hold of the power, against the government that does not oppress people are called 'baghis', and then Muslims should help the State against them. Because, the Hadith declares, 'May Allahu ta'ala damn him who wakes fitna!' If those who rebel say 'kafir' for the government and for Muslims and attacks at their property and lives, they are called 'kharijis', who do not become kafir if this belief of theirs is caused by the tawil (explaining away) of an inexplicit dalil. Some heretical people of the present time say 'kafir' for and attack at Muslims who do not believe as they do. Since these behaviors of theirs are out of tawil of inexplicit dalils, they cannot be regarded as kafir, yet if they say it without depending on a tawil, they become kafir. Whether he be just or unjust, obeying the ruler's commands conformable to Islam is wajib. If the Caliph is a murtad or insane or unable to practice Islam he is to be dismissed. If his dismissal would cause fitna and his harm is minor, he is to be tolerated. If a Muslim takes the position of the Caliph by subjugation and force and gets hold of the power, he is to be obeyed. A governor appointed by a non-Muslim government is obeyed if he practices Islamic rules. If he cannot put Islamic rules into practice or if the governor is a kafir, too, Muslim choose one from among them as Mufti or head. The Mufti practices Islamic rules. If this is not possible, either, slavery life to be accepted, that is, fitna should not be caused." As it is understood from this passage, the fatwa signed by Shaikh al-Islam Hasan Hayrullah Effendi for the dismissal of Sultan 'Abdulaziz Khan and the fatwa signed -when the fatwa officer Haji Nuri Effendi refused to sign- by a bigot threatened with death under arms for the dismissal of 'AbdulHamid Khan It were not mashru' (legal). It is written in the twelfth volume of Turkiye Tarihi (History of Turkey) that these fatwas were not sahih and were based on mere pretexts. Therefore, the two Sultans were the mashru' Caliphs till they passed away. And because of this situation, the Ottomans lost the wars of "93" (with Russia in 1877-1878) and "Balkan" and the First World War; for, these three wars were initiated and directed not by Muslim governments but by secret revolutionists who had no connection with Islam.