The series "The Caliphate and Imamate in Islamic Thought"
By the writer and thinker Thaer Salama – Abu Malik
Episode Sixty-Nine: The attitude of the people when the authority violates
As for the attitude of the people when the authority violates what preceded, its basis is:
The Sharia has obligated obedience to the ruler when he rules according to Islam, but if the ruler openly shows blatant disbelief, that is, if he deviates from the system of ideas that the society contracted with him to implement, then the society must change the ruler by force, and individuals, if they deviate from this system, are also fought as rebels, and among the evidence is the following:
﴿O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you﴾ An-Nisa 59
Al-Bukhari narrated from Junada bin Abi Umayya who said: We entered upon Ubadah bin al-Samit while he was ill. We said: May God correct you, tell us a hadith that God will benefit you with, that you heard from the Prophet ﷺ. He said: “The Messenger of God ﷺ called us, and we pledged allegiance to him, and among what he took upon us was that we pledge allegiance to him to hear and obey in our activity and dislike, in our difficulty and ease, and preference over us, and not to dispute the matter with its people. He said: Unless you see blatant disbelief for which you have proof from God.” Imam Ahmad narrated in Musnad al-Mukthirin from the Companions from Ibn Masoud, may God be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺ said: “What will you do, Abdullah, if you have leaders who neglect the Sunnah and delay the prayer from its time?” He said: What do you command me, O Messenger of God? He said: Are you asking me, Ibn Umm Abd, what you will do? There is no obedience to a creature in disobedience to God Almighty.” In Musnad Ahmad, the rest of Musnad al-Mukthirin: Amr ibn Zunayb al-Anbari said that Anas ibn Malik told him that Muadh said: O Messenger of God, what if we have leaders who do not follow your Sunnah and do not follow your command, what do you command in their matter? The Messenger of God ﷺ said: “There is no obedience for those who do not obey God Almighty.” In a hadith of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq - may God be pleased with him: “If people see the oppressor and do not stop him, God is about to inflict punishment on them all.” Al-Tirmidhi narrated from Adi bin Amirah that he heard the Messenger of God ﷺ say: “God does not punish the common people for the actions of the elite, until they see the evil between them and they are able to denounce it, but they do not denounce it. If they do that, the elite and the common people will be punished.” (Narrated by Ahmad), and from Al-Numan bin Bashir, may God be pleased with them both, from the Prophet ﷺ who said: “The example of those who stand within the limits of God and those who fall into them is like the example of people who drew lots for a ship, some of them were on top and some of them were below, and those who were below, when they drew water, passed by those above them, and they said: If we made a hole in our share, and did not harm those above us, if they left them and what they wanted, they would all perish, and if they took their hands, they would be saved and they would all be saved.” Narrated by Al-Bukhari, Al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad and Al-Tabarani.
As for fighting the people of transgression, the people of transgression are a group of people who combine three things: rebellion against the authority of the state by refusing to fulfill rights and obey laws or working to overthrow the head of state, secondly: the existence of a force that the rebels enjoy that enables them to control, and third: their rebellion against the state1. Such as armed revolution or civil war, or internal fighting, God Almighty said: ﴿And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah. And if it returns, then make settlement between them in justice and act justly. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly﴾ 9 Al-Hujurat.
1- Jihad and fighting in the legitimate policy of Dr. Muhammad Khair Haykal, part one, p. 63, on criminal legislation in the five schools of thought, 1d 148-150, and crime and punishment in Islamic jurisprudence 160.