Translation of a speech by Abu Abdulmalek (head of the Sharia Council of the Islamic Front) about the claimed Caliphate. and here is the original speech in Arabic: http://t.co/rsNuam7yhr

 

In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful and the All-Compassionate

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and mercy be upon our prophet Muhammad, all his companions and all who follow their path until the Judgment Day.

Then,

Among the multiple pains of Muslims, and among their hard times and fitna from inside and outside enemies, and among the series of the absurd positions of the Kharijites of the time in which they manipulate the laws of Islam, the path of Jihad and the interests of the Ummah, and after the gang of Al-Baghdadi has done everything of the Kharijites’ deeds: heresies, radicalism, spreading corruption, and declaring Muslims as apostates, then their leader showed up to announce a claimed Caliphate which is very far from the path of prophets, the way of Al-Rashidun, and the understanding of the scholars and the specialists. We are going to clarify some points about the laws that rule declaring an Imam (Caliph).

Claiming a Caliphate without achieving its conditions is a recurrent phenomenon throughout history. Fake Caliphs are numerous. Historians said: “And among those who claimed the Caliphate from the Kharijites was Katari Ibn Al-Fuja’a; he remained 13 years fighting and some people call him as the Caliph, while Al-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf Al-Thakafi sends to fight him an army after the other, and Ibn Al-Fuja’a repelled all of them.”

Another example: the companions of Abu Al-Amaiter (who claimed the Caliphate) in the second century (Hijri), they were walking through the markets of Damascus and say to the people: Go and pledge the allegiance to Al-Mahdi of Allah.

And this is Ismael Ibn Tughtakin; he became arrogant and claimed the Caliphate, and was addressed as Al-Imam Al-Hadi binorillah  and Al-Muez lideenillah and the price of believers.

And Because of the numerous fake claiming of the Caliphate, some people believe in the Caliphs until they discover after a period of time the lies and falsehood. For example, there was Al-Aftah, who had some followers that claimed his legitimacy as a Caliph, including Zurarah Al-Kufi, who came to the city, met with Al-Aftah and asked him about an issue in the Islamic laws; then Zurarah found that this Caliph is ignorant and knows nothing; so he changed his mind. And when Zurarah returned to Al-Kufa his companions came and asked him about their Caliph while he was holding the Quran, then he pointed to the Quran and said: “This is my Imam and I have no other Imam”; then all the previous followers of the fake Imam stopped following him.

And this is Abdulbari Ibn Abu Ali; he was a pious man, spending his nights worshiping; but his mentally sick. He had hypochondria about impurities, and over imagining of garbage; this changed his mood and treatment nearly did nothing to him, he became angry and hateful with all what follows of the bad imaginations. Then he climbed the platform of a mosque with a crossbow after Jumaa prayer and claimed the Caliphate.

In the modern time, a lot of people claimed the Caliphate especially from the Shiites, the radical persons, and the fools; and they asked people to give pledge of allegiance to the prince of Believers, the Caliph and the Great Savior. Moreover, the Britons put the crown of the Caliphate on the head of one of the murderers in India, and a lot of people followed him; La Hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. And among those who claimed the Caliphate is Sahib Jayhaman in the known fitna of Mecca. And among the latest to claim it before the Kharijites’ Baghdadi was Abu Issa Al-Rifae, price of Al-Khilafa Group in London who died recently.

So,

A Caliphate is not narcissistic dreams in which lovers live happy life; a Caliphate is a kind of worship that defends the Ummah’s necessities and needs the way Allah wants; a Caliphate establishes justice inside the State’s borders.

Allah says: “[We said], "O David, indeed We have made you a successor upon the earth, so judge between the people in truth and do not follow [your own] desire, as it will lead you astray from the way of Allah ." Indeed, those who go astray from the way of Allah will have a severe punishment for having forgotten the Day of Account.” (38:26)

We will deal in detail with three conditions relating to the laws that rule the announcing of an Imam.

First, the Shura (Consultation):

It is the most important condition on which appointing an Imam is built. Declaring the Imam must be with the Shura. Allah says: “and whose affair is [determined by] consultation among themselves.” Whosoever shows up and claims the Bay’ah without the consultation with the Muslims then this Bay’ah is rejected and he exposes himself to death. Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) warned the Muslims not to measure with the Bay’ah of Abu Bakr Al-Siddik (may Allah be pleased with him) and give the Bay’ah to a man without consultation with the Muslims; it is measurement with difference, and stealing of Muslims’ rights; and whosoever does that then he exposed himself and the people who pledged the allegiance to him to death.

 Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Alla’s Willing, tonight I will give a speech to the people, and warn them against those who want to steal their rights; no one should take the Bay’ah of Abu Bakr as example; Allah the exalted protected the people of its bad consequences; besides, there isn’t anyone like Abu Bakr among yourselves. Whosoever gives the Bay’ah to a man without the consultation with Muslims then this man and who followed him exposes themselves to being killed.”

Imam Ahmad was asked about the meaning of the prophet’s hadith (whosoever died without having an Imam to follow, then he died a death of Jahiliyyah), the Imam answered: do you know what an Imam is? He is the one that all people agree upon: the people say ‘this is the Imam’; this is the meaning of the hadith.

 Second: the meaning of Ahl Al-Hal wa Al-Aqd (people of power and decision)

 We say that the meaning of this term refers to the people who comprises the power, the wisdom and followed by the public. Achieving these conditions does not happen if the Shura Council of only one group gave the Bay’ah to a certain person; for if this happen then announcing a Caliph from a small group would be accepted, but none of the Muslim scholars agree upon this.

 Ibn Taymiah said about the Bay’ah of Abu Bakr Al-Siddik:

“If only Omar and a group of people gave the Bay’ah to Abu Bakr, and the rest of companions did not give the Bay’ah, then Abu Bakr wouldn’t have been chosen as a Caliph. He only became an Imam because all the companions (who had the power and wisdom) gave the Bay’ah to him. The purpose is to obtain the power and ability to rule, which guarantee the interests of the Ummah; and that happened when people agreed upon him.”

(from “Minhaj Al-Sunnah Al-Nabawiyya” [1/530])

 In addition, Rasheed Rida said:

“If the Ummah did not follow the Imam after the Bay’ah then it is rejected. Then, the meaning of ‘Ahl Al-Hal wa Al-Aqd’ refers to the power and the action; and the people of ‘Ahl Al-Hal’ are those followed by the public. Whosoever thinks that the people associated with knowledge suffice for announcing an Imam and that the Ummah should follow them then he does not know the real meaning of ‘Ahl Al-Hal wa Al-Aqd’, and the meaning of Al-Jama’a and consensus.”

Then how could the Kharijites of ISIS announce the Caliphate just because their Shura Council thought that the announcement is correct! Besides, Ahl Al-Hal wa Al-Aqd at the time of the prophet’s companions were well-known people among the public. And this is not the case in the Shura members of ISIS. In addition, they were hiding the personality of their claimed Caliph until recently; and his appearance is not enough: he remains unknown to the Ummah; and if this is the case about their claimed Caliph, then how would it be of the leaders of this murderer gang, the gang that shed the blood of Muslims and rejected to go to Islamic courts? Then, Muslim people do not know the claimed Caliph, nor Ahl Al-Hal wa Al-Aqd who have chosen him, nor his judges and ministers, and there isn’t a way for communicating with them, and their way of ruling is vague, and the known people of the public are not allowed to give their opinions about their issues; not to mention the fact that a lot of people do not admit their claimed Caliphate in the first place; and a lot of those who gave the Bay’ah are changeable in their minds: once with this side and the other day with another side.

Then how could a Kharijite person who declares other Muslims as apostates and shed their blood and spread corruption on the earth be a Caliph? Whosoever has the previous characteristics is very far from being a Caliph, even if he fulfilled the other conditions of a Caliph!

Allah the exalted says: “And of the people is he whose speech pleases you in worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness as to what is in his heart, yet he is the fiercest of opponents. And when he goes away, he strives throughout the land to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and animals. And Allah does not like corruption. And when it is said to him, "Fear Allah," pride in the sin takes hold of him. Sufficient for him is Hellfire, and how wretched is the resting place (2:204-206).”

The prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Whosoever attacks my Umma (indiscriminately) killing the righteous and the wicked of them, sparing not (even) those staunch in faith and fulfilling not his promise made with those who have been given a pledge of security-he has nothing to do with me and I have nothing to do with him.”

Third, the concept of the winner

Among the lies of these Kharijites is their saying that their rule is the ruling of the winner (triumph), which people should be patient about, and that this applies to them at all conditions. But we say that claiming the emirate become illegitimate by two reasons:

The first is the instability, and the second is not maintaining the Islamic Sharia rules and goals.

 If the person claiming a Caliphate did not reach a state of stability and the public did not follow him, then the excuse of ‘ruling of the winner’ is not accepted.

Ibn Taymiyah said: “A man does not become an Imam until people of power, whose obedience makes the difference, agree upon him.”

Al-Ruhaybani also said: “ not standing in his way after reaching the stability”

And Ibn Abidin said about the winner: “After he reach the stability and followed by people then standing in his way is not accepted”

 And Al-Sawi said: “The winner does not obtain the right to rule as an Imam until all people accept him.”

 And Al-Juwayni said: “The purpose of the Bay’ah is to obtain a number of powerful followers, who lead to a powerful claiming of the reign, so that if a disagreement happens then it is thought that the Bay’ah of these powerful people would prevent any clashes between the Imam’s followers.”

And Rasheed Rida also said: “If the people who gave the Bay’ah to the Imam were not followed by the whole Ummah then their Bay’ah is rejected.”

Look at the example of the son of Omar, he did not give the Bay’ah until Ibn Al-Zubeir was killed, and sons of Umayyah wined and left no opponents to stand against, only then Ibn Omar gave the Bay’ah.

It is worthy to mention dear listener, that the case of winning which Islamic scholars referred to has its indications and signs, including obtaining the land and the power to rule its taxes and livelihood, and if the person obtained the land like the obtaining of an afraid person or a wayfarer, then this is not the meant case of power (capability); and the indications also include the people’s submission to the orders of the Imam by will and by fear, otherwise it is not a case of power; and another indication is the ability of the Imam to move freely and safety on the land he is ruling.

Then how triumph and consolidation are claimed by ISIS when the fighting is still fierce on the battlefields? Besides, there are now hundreds of thousands of displaced people inside and outside the country, and there is a failure in providing them the basics of the basics. Furthermore, the triumph claimed by the Kharijites in some areas of Sunni Muslims is because they declared Muslims as apostates and because they shed the innocent blood and frightened the people. Then how could that be an indication of triumph?

All this is a base for describing ISIS as a group that reject the Sharia, just as Ali Ibn Abu Taleb did in his fighting with Kharijites.

And if citing the case of “triumphing” at that times as a proof of the Kharijites’ right to rule, then fighting them wouldn’t have happened in many cases in the previous eras (at times all scholars called for fighting Kharijites); and it is worthy to mention that the Kharijites in the previous eras were powerful in wars and usually won the battles in the lands where they existed. Then, the concept of ‘triumphing’ that Islamic scholars clarified (the winner who fights his opponents to rule when the opponents are Muslims and no one declare them as apostates, and the winner carry out the roles of an Imam and preserve the Sharia ) is very different from that of ISIS.

 Besides, scholars would never legitimate the reign of a winner (in our case ISIS as they claim to be the winners) who declares his opponents as apostates and regard their rights as lawful gains, and withdraw from the battlefronts with the enemies of Muslims: handing positions to them and coordinating with them and benefiting from their support of warplanes and artillery to fight Sunni Muslims and kill them.

In addition, all people know that the powerful situation of the Kharijites of ISIS now will perish very soon for the following reasons: the war is still there; weapons are spread among people; some people wear the clothes of Jihad to gain personal benefits and personal revenge; the existence of mercenaries who aim to deepen the differences and disagreement; and add to that the hatred by a lot of people against the Kharijites of ISIS as a result of their murders and shedding the innocent blood of even the Mujahideen and their leaders and even the public. All the previous examples lead to weakening the ‘claimed power’ at a first incident; then how it is said that the situation became stable for these Kharijites who did not join a battlefield of Jihad without destroying it, and did not enter a village until they corrupted it, and whosoever gives them the Bay’ah (out of fear) denies it very soon at the first gain or loss they encounter. 

Then was the situation stable for this gang of ISIS, who remained in the Levant for only few months until All Muslims agreed upon their corruption? They fled out of fear from Aleppo, Idlib, Hama and the Coast, and almost the Mujahideen were about the exterminate them were it not for the battles against the Assad forces in Aleppo, Hama, Homs and the Coast, and were it not for the mutual coordination between them and the Assad regime. And how could they claim the triumph and Assad airports and forces are adjacent to them (like Attabaka and Kuweiris airports, Brigade 93, and Division 17). Besides, is it stable for ISIS in Iraq, where weapons spread among people and groups, and the alarm of dividing the country is tolling so that the fortunes would go to the minorities which means depriving Muslims from them, not to mention the sectarian rallying and international cooperation against the Sunni Muslims by the excuse of fighting terrorism?

 The second reason for negating the claimed triumph is not maintaining the features of Sharia by will or by ability; Sharia orders the Muslim to listen and obey if ruler proved his triumph and stability, this is in order to preserve the features of Sharia and goals of Islam; our prophet (peace be upon him) said: ““Even if the one appointed over you is a mutilated Ethiopian slave whose nose and ears have been cut off, listen to him and obey, so long as he leads you according to the Book of Allah.”

 And Islamic scholars said that the reason of not opposing him is to save the Muslim blood and not to stand in the way of achieving the Muslims’ interests. Al-Ruhaybani said: “because opposing the person who become an Imam by overcoming his opponents could lead to dividing the Muslims, shedding their blood and wasting their money.”

Ibn Taymiyah said: “The prophet (peace be upon him) ordered that the known Imams who have power that enables them to rule people should be obeyed.”

We see in the announcement of the Caliphate by the Kharijites of ISIS a malicious cunning against the Sunni Muslims in the area, which leads to battles among their ranks that scatter their power and provide the enemies of Islam all the sorts of excuses to start wars against the Muslim people and to divide their lands and steal their fortunes; and thus ISIS wastes the Ummah’s elements of advancement and delays the latter for a very long period of time; moreover, ISIS provokes the Ummah when they use its unripe fortunes before they are ready to be exposed in order to destroy them completely. 

Finally, we say to all Muslims hope for the goodness and has good expectations from Allah; the lies and fitan of the Kharijites are the test of Allah to examine people with, and they are signs of the Ummah’s coming union and victory (Allah’s Willing), just as the illusion of the fake dawn precedes the real dawn.

Allah promised in the Quran and the prophet promised in the Sunnah that the true religion will overpower everything else, the righteous people will win, and Allah always fulfill what He promises. Allah the exalted says: “It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate others with Allah dislike it (9:33).

 We should be servants of Allah the way He likes; we should not be deceived by the lies of the Kharijites; we should remain on the path of right that Allah ordered us to follow.

The great difficulties that our Ummah faces nowadays require that we should be responsible and serve the goals of the Ummah, and seek to achieve the higher objectives of Muslims by following Allah’s orders (Quran) and the prophet’s tradition (Sunnah).

“And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know.”

And our final prayer is “All praise is due to Allah”, and peace be upon our prophet and all his family and companions.