The Problem of Baiy´ah and the Implications of refraining from Baiy´ah

The Problem of Baiy´ah and the Implications of refraining from Baiy´ah

Let us, therefore, direct our attention to the concern of those who would prefer to give that Baiy´ah to the Ameer only when we have one leader directing the affairs of all Muslims. Such people express a legitimate concern and deserve an appropriate response. Our response is that they should recall the prophecy of the Prophet (SAW) regarding the divisions within the Ummah and that only one group amongst 73 firaq would be rightly guided. Those divisions have now appeared in the body of the Ummah, and it seems that the situation is going to grow worse. It would therefore be inappropriate and, indeed, foolhardy to demand or to expect that all Muslims can today be united under one Ameer.

Our advice to such Muslims is that they should not wait for a day which may not arrive in their life-time, in order to conform with this essential part of the Sunnah, i.e., to join an organized group which is an authentic Jama´ah, and which is led by an authentic Ameer whose authority is constituted through Baiy´ah and who directs the affairs of the Jama´ah in conformity with the Qur´an and Sunnah.

Other Muslims hold the view that they have conformed with the requirement of Baiy´ah by giving their pledge to a Sufi Shaikh. This would be true only in that instance (which is very rare today) where the Sufi Shaikh is engaged not only in the moral and spiritual training and development of his disciples but also in leading the Jama´ah in the revolutionary struggle for the restoration of Khilafah and triumph of the Deen of Islam over its rivals. Such a Sufi Shaikh was Muhiyuddin Abdul Qadir Al-Jeelani (RAA). Even today we see the Murabitun, for example, under the capable leadership of Shaikh Abdelqadir as-Sufi, waging that Islamic revolutionary struggle in a manner which commands respect. This Sufi order is far in advance of the rest of the Muslim world in their study and articulation of the problem of riba. The recent work by Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, entitled "The Return of the Gold Dinar" should be read by all those who are serious about dealing with riba. They are also making serious efforts for the restoration of Khilafah. Their efforts are concentrated in Turkey and they are making progress. The recent work by Shaikh Abdelqadir as-Sufi entitled "The Return of the Khalifate" is indicative of the progress which they are making!

What is the price which the Muslims will have to pay if they fail to respond to the obligation of sticking to the Jama´ah and to the Ameer? What price will the Muslims pay, in this age, if they fail to give the Baiy´ah to the Ameer of the Jama´ah and then comply with that pledge through “listening and obeying?”

In the first place, such Muslims will be violating Allah´s command in the Qur´an as follows:

O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Prophet and those in authority from among you 

(Al-Nisa 4:59).

The pledge (Baiy´ah) is the instrument which places a Muslim formally into the third part of the Qur´anic command, i.e., “and (obey) those in authority form among you.” It would not suffice to declare that there is no one in such authority over the Muslims today. If there is no such authority over the Muslims, then they are under the obligation to promptly establish that authority and then submit to it. This is precisely the reason why the Tanzeem-e-Islami was established with an Ameer who demands that the members give the Baiy´ah to him. I myself placed my hands in his hands and gave the Baiy´ah to him Rawalpindi (Pakistan) in October, 1996.

Secondly, there is incontestable evidence that we are living in the age of fitan prophesied by the Prophet (SAW) as the age of great evil before the end of the world. The evil of the age of fitan is such that it will eventually reduce the overwhelming majority of mankind to godlessness. It should be quite apparent that the age of fitan has already commenced. In the Hadith Al-Qudsi narrated by Hadrat Abu Saeed Khudri (RAA) and included in the Sahih of Imam Bukhari (RA), we are told that 999 out of every 1000 persons (of this age) will eventually enter into the Hell. What should we do in this age to save ourselves from Jahannam, to preserve faith, and to earn Jannah? Did the Prophet (SAW) address this subject? If he did, what advice did he give? The answer is to be found in another hadith of Sahih Bukhari in which the Prophet (SAW) responded to questions posed by one of his Companions, Hadrat Hudhaifah (RAA):

Hudhaifah Ibn Al-(RAA) said: People used to ask Allah´s Messenger (SAW) about good but I used to ask him about evils lest I be overtaken by them. 
So I said: O Allah´s Messenger, we were living in ignorance and in an (extremely) bad atmosphere, then Allah brought to us this good (i.e., Islam); will there be any evil after this good? 
He said: Yes. 
I said: will there be any good after that evil? 
He replied: Yes, but it will be tainted (i.e., not pure). 
I asked: What will be its taint? 
He replied: (There will be) some people who will guide others (but) not according to my guidance. You will approve of some of their deeds and disapprove of some others. 
I asked: Will there be any evil after that good? 
He replied: Yes, (there will be) some people who summon others at the gates of Jahannam into which they will cast those who respond to them. 
I asked Allah´s Messenger (SAW) to describe them to us and 
he said: They will be from our own people and will speak like us. 
I asked what command he had to give me if that happened in my time and 
he replied: You must adhere to the Jama´ah (i.e., the community of Muslims which is organized as a Jama´ah) and the Imam (i.e., the Ameer or leader of the Jama´ah whose authority is established through the act of Baiy´ah). 
I said: if there is neither a Jama´ah nor an Imam? 
He said: Then turn away from all those firaq (i.e., misguided Muslim groups which have failed to constitute themselves as a Jama´ah with an Ameer/Imam whose authority is established through an act of Baiy´ah) even if you have to eat the roots of a tree until death overtakes you while you are in that state. 

(Bukhari and Muslim)

This hadith makes it quite clear that salvation in this age of fitan is dependent upon Muslims adhering themselves to the authentic Jama´ah and authentic Imam.

Thirdly, there are several Ahadith of the Prophet (SAW) which all declare that he who dies in a state of exclusion from the Jama´ah, or dies without Baiy´ah, or without an Imam, etc., actually dies in a state of Jahiliyyah. The overwhelming majority of the Muslims today stand aloof from the Jama´ah. They have no Ameer/Imam whom they are obliged to obey as a religious duty. And they have not given the Baiy´ah to any Ameer/Imam. The following Ahadith warns them of a death of Jahiliyyah which awaits them if death comes upon them in that state:

Umar (RAA) said that the Prophet (SAW) said: Be with the Jama´ah and avoid firqah (misguided Muslims who have failed to constitute themselves as an authentic Jama´ah) for surely Satan is with the (one who remains) alone and he stays far from two (believers who jointly constitute a Jama´ah). Whoever wishes to experience the fragrance of Paradise must cling to the Jama´ah. 

(Tirmidhi)

Ibn Umar (RAA) reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: The hand of Allah is on the Jama´ah. Whoever separates (i.e., remains outside of the Jama´ah) will be separated for (dispatched to) the Hell. 

(Tirmidhi)

Umar (RAA) said: There is no Islam without the Jama´ah; and there is no Jama´ah without (the obligation of having to) listen; and there is no listening without (the obligation to) obey (Mishkat). Abu Daud adds: there is no Jama´ah without an Ameer.

Harith Al-Ash´ari (RAA) said that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) declared: I order you (to adhere to) five (things): the Jama´ah, listening, obeying, Hijrah, and Jihad in the way of Allah. Whoever departs from the Jama´ah by as much (distance) as the span of a hand, he has removed the guardianship of Islam form his neck, except in case of his return (to the Jama´ah). And whoever calls with the call of Jahiliyyah, such is from the ashes of Jahannam. Even if he fasts and performs Salaat and (thereby) considers himself a believer (he will still enter into the Hell). 

(Ahmad, Tirmidhi)

Abdullah Ibn Umar (RAA) said that he heard the Allah´s Messenger (SAW) say: Whoever removes a hand from (the pledge of) obedience he will meet with Allah on the day of Qiymah with no evidence (of being a believer); and whoever dies without Baiy´ah on his neck (i.e., without having given the pledge of obedience to the Ameer/Imam and, as a consequence, submitted himself to the obligation of having to obey the Ameer/Imam), has died a death of Jahilliyah. 

(Muslim)

Mu´awiyah (RAA) said that the Prophet (SAW) said: Whoever dies without an Imam (i.e., without having become a member of the Jama´ah and, thus, accepted the authority of an Ameer/Imam over him) dies a death of Jahiliyyah. 

(Ahmad, Tabarani)

Ibn Umar (RAA) said that the Prophet (SAW) said: Whoever dies (while) separated from the Jama´ah, dies a death of Jahiliyyah. 

(Hilli, Tabarani)

There are some who will read these Ahadith for the first time and, because of shock, might doubt them. Others will declare that they could not be authentic Ahadith for, had they been such, then Muslims would have spoken about them. We would not, as a consequence, have witnessed this present state of total abandonment of Baiy´ah and the collapse of Khilafah.

Our response to such objections is, first, to remind the Muslims that the prohibition of riba in Islam was made in the most forceful language possible in both the Qur´an and Hadith, and yet the overwhelming majority of Muslims are today ignorant of the subject, and worse yet, are in a state of manifest and dangerous violation of that Divine prohibition.

Secondly, the authenticity as well as the supreme importance of the ahadith relating to Bai´yah, for example, were emphasized when Shaikh-ul-Azhar (i.e., the head of the Al-Azhar University) quoted the hadith from Sahih Muslim in the declaration issued by him on behalf of all the Ulama of Al-Azhar and of Egypt in response to the Turkish abolition of the Khilafah:

...and whoever dies without Baiy´ah on his neck (i.e., without having given the pledge of obedience to the Ameer/Imam and, as a consequence, submitted himself to the obligation of having to obey the Ameer/Imam) had died a death of Jahiliyyah. 

(Muslim)

The Turkish Grand National Assembly abolished the Khilafah on March 3, 1924. The declaration from Al-Azhar came three weeks later. This declaration from Al-Azhar University constituted the most important response from the entire world of Islam to the abolition of the Khilafah. That this sahih hadith should have been quoted in that most important declaration is an indication of the extent of recognition of its authenticity.

Let us not direct our attention to those who are persuaded that the Baiy´ah must be given to an Ameer/Imam but insist that they will give the Baiy´ah only when the Khilafah over the entire Ummah is restored. What explanation can we offer to them which would convince them of the virtual impossibility of restoring the Khilafah during the last seventy years (1924-1994)?

Source: One Ameer, One Jama'ah

To be Continued....