بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
News:
On Thursday 24 September, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan, issued a statement calling upon the forces stationed at the borders—whom he described as murabitun (defenders of frontiers)—to prepare to “sacrifice their lives” and confront the Houthi group allied with Iran. The statement was replete with Quranic verses and Hadiths urging steadfastness at the frontier and Jihad, framing the war Saudi forces are waging—effectively as a proxy for the United States Jihad and border defense.
The statement added, “You must—O brethren stationed at the frontier—be constantly prepared to perform your duty, to listen to and obey the rulers and your field commanders, and to execute orders with precision, just as Allah—Mighty and Majestic—commanded the Companions of His Prophet (saw) to do.” Not content with this degree of misinformation and deception he went on to say, “You are following in the footsteps of the Prophet’s Companions (ra), defending Muslim holy sites, and raising the banner of Tawhid (monotheism).”
He even deemed the assertion of the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed Yemeni government's authority over the country's entire territory to be “among the most essential of duties, so that our Yemeni brethren may live in security and safety.”
Comment:
To pave the way for the forces of the "Mecca Alliance" to enter Yemen—aiming to eliminate Britain’s agents, establish American influence, and install a Yemeni "Karzai"—this authoritative political statement has been issued. Dripping with deception and religious sophistry, the Mufti exploits his position to mislead the public in obedience to the Al Saud rulers—a course leading to manifest loss. For it is narrated by Abu Hurairah (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
«إن في جهنم واديًا تستعيذ منه كل يوم سبعين مرة، أعدَّه الله للقرَّاء المرائين في أعمالهم، وإن أبغض الخلق إلى الله عالم السلطان»
“In Hell, there is a valley from which [Hell itself] seeks refuge seventy times a day; Allah has prepared it for the Quran reciters who are ostentatious in their deeds. Indeed, the most hated of creation to Allah is the scholar who serves the ruler.”
The concept of Jihad and Ribat (defence of frontiers) is not obscure to any Muslim—let alone to ulema. It entails fighting the enemies of Allah (swt)—the kafir (disbelieving) colonialists—to uphold the Kalimah (Word) of Allah as the highest; it is not undertaken to preserve the thrones of tyrannical rulers or to entrench regimes founded on allegiance to the disbelieving colonizer. Allah (swt) says,
[قاتِلُواْ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَلاَ بِالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَلاَ يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَلاَ يَدِينُونَ دِينَ الْحَقِّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ حَتَّى يُعْطُواْ الْجِزْيَةَ عَن يَدٍ وَهُمْ صَاغِرُونَ]
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from among those who were given the Scripture - [fight them] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.” [TMQ Surah At-Tawbah: 29].
The Saud rulers merely harnesses the Muslim armies, wealth, and lands to execute America’s projects and serve its interests in the region. Fighting America and the Jewish entity constitutes true Jihad; the expulsion of the American colonizer and its bases from the Land of the Two Sacred Masajid, and the removal of the Jewish entity from Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, the site of the Messenger of Allah’s (saw) Masra (Night Journey) is what the Mufti ought to call for and what he should spur the armies to achieve. Furthermore, calling for Muslim unity—and abandoning the practice of fighting one another in proxy wars on behalf of colonial powers—is what the tongues of scholars, Muftis, and preachers should constantly articulate.
Conversely, calling for a Muslim to fight a fellow Muslim—and labeling it Jihad or Ribat - is an act of deception. Furthermore, urging obedience to criminal, agent rulers who war against Islam and the Ummah—and characterizing those who have usurped power and oppress the Ummah with an iron fist as legitimate "guardians of affairs" (Wulat al-Amr) is a reprehensible abomination (*Munkar*) in the truest sense.
Fighting between Muslims is forbidden (Haram). The Prophet (saw) said,
«إذا التقى المسلمان بسيفهما فالقاتل والمقتول في النار، قيل يا رسول الله هذا القاتل فما شأن المقتول؟ قال: لأنه كان حريصًا على قتل صاحبه»
“When two Muslims meet with their swords, both the killer and the killed are in the Fire." It was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, that applies to the killer, but what of the killed?" He replied, “Because he was keen to kill his companion.”
Likewise, showing allegiance to unjust rulers who have usurped power is forbidden and a manifest sin; the Prophet (saw) said,
«إِنَّهُ يُسْتَعْمَلُ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَرَاءُ فَتَعْرِفُونَ وَتُنْكِرُونَ، فَمَنْ كَرِهَ فَقَدْ بَرِئَ، وَمَنْ أَنْكَرَ فَقَدْ سَلِمَ، وَلَكِنْ مَنْ رَضِيَ وَتَابَعَ»
“There will be rulers appointed over you; you will recognize some of their actions and disapprove of others. Whoever dislikes [the wrong] is absolved of blame, and whoever disapproves [and speaks out] is safe; the sin lies with those who consent and follow.”
Ribat takes place in the context of fighting the enemies of Allah; it is a form of Jihad. Allah (swt) says,
[وَأَعِدُّواْ لَهُم مَّا اسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِّبَاطِ الْخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِ عَدْوَّ اللّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ وَآخَرِينَ مِن دُونِهِمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَهُمُ اللّهُ يَعْلَمُهُمْ]
“And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows.” [TMQ Surah Al-Anfal: 60].
It was incumbent upon the Mufti to direct his call to the Hijaz army, the Houthis, and the other warring factions—urging them to cease fighting one another, unite upon the basis of Islam, reject the colonialists and expel them from Muslim lands, and declare Jihad against them—foremost among whom are America and the Jewish entity. He should have called for the removal of all puppet rulers and leaders conspiring against the Muslims, and for pledging allegiance to a Khaleefah Rashid (Rightly-Guided Caliph for all Muslims—one who would rule according to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (saw), unite the Ummah, and liberate Muslim lands from the disbelieving colonialists.