Allah designated for this Ummah people who will protect His Deen, and who will facilitate their affairs and make them on a level of sincerity and understanding; among them Allah raised Ulemaa, people of understanding, people trustworthy working day and night around the world, people who whenever they see Fitnah, they fight it, whenever they see Taghout and Kuffar, they will call for jihad to fight it.
Allah established this Deen by the Sahabah and by the Tabi'een and the Tabi Tabi'een, he designated this Ummah with Ulemaa like Sufyan Al Thawree, Sufyan Al Uyayna, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Al Uzaa'ee, Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Maalik, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Ahmed and many other scholars later like ibn Qayyim, ibn Taymiyyah all the way to Imam Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and after.
Seeking the knowledge is Fard, but seeking the knowledge is two types; one is Fard 'ayn and one is Fard kifayah. The ilm that is Fard to seek is the Ilm Al Dharouri, the ilm that he cannot fulfil his obligation if he did not understand or study, the other Ilm is Fard Kifayah to understand or study it and it does not take priority over other duties. The Jihad today is Fard 'ayn, it takes priority over the kifayah ilm seeking, if it was offensive jihad, it is also kifayah and seeking ilm may take priority.
We have to understand the foundation of the Deen, people usually ask for a particular mas'alah, but in any topic of ibaadah, you have to study the arkaan (pillars) of it, the waajibaat of it, the foundations, prohibitions, the recommendations etc. Similarly if we want to study about Al Mudhaaharaat (demonstration) we have to know about its objective, its means etc, it is not just a matter of saying allowed or not allowed. If we study this topic, we find that the Shari’ah terms are very important. Nobody will dispute or disagree that to help Muslims is Fard and to cooperate with Muslims is Fard, that it is Fard to support our Muslim Ummah.
Al Mudhaaharah in the Arabic language is “support”, it is narrated in Sunan Daarimi that Ali ibn Taalib said,
"I fought on the day of Badr and supported (dhaaharah) the Muslims"
Allah asked us to have walaa to the believers, part of that is to support them. Allah (swt) says,
"Allah forbids you to have relationship with those who fight you because of your Deen ... and those who support them.”
When we mention demonstrations, we are speaking about support and this is one of the best forms of support for the one who is far away from us and we cannot reach them. Demonstrations are a means to support our Deen the way the Kuffar also demonstrate and support their Kufr, Allah (swt) says,
"The Kafir demonstrates (Dhaheera) his Kufr"
We need to understand the term Mudhaaharah (demonstrations), Imam Al Khattabi defined the term demonstration and he understood from it that the support in demonstrations must be in relation to the jihad and battlefield, Allah (swt) says,
"If they seek help from you in the Deen, support them"
Meaning if they ask you to fight, you must fight and the demonstration is boosting the morale of the Muslims in a time of weakness, it is a form of creating a high profile for Islam; it is a form of support. It is a noble thing not something evil. The demonstration motivates the Muslims and it makes them aware about their Muslim brothers. The demonstration is a form of rejecting the evil, a form of commanding good and forbidding evil.
That is exactly what the prophet (saw) did. So the demonstration is not something Bid’ah and it does have evidences and anybody who speaks about demonstrations must understand the reality of the demonstration.
We find it in Kitab Al Hulya Al Awliyaa v.1, ibn Abbas narrated, how he asked,
"O Rasulullah, are we not on Haq whether we die or stay alive?" He (saw) said, "indeed, by the one whose hand is my soul, you are on the Haq whether dead or alive" so ibn Abbas said, "so why are we hiding? By the one who sent you with the truth, we should come out!” and they went out in two lines Hamza in one and Umar with the other. They came out until they went to the Ka'bah and the Quraish looked to Hamza and Umar and they were so depressed. The prophet (saw) called Umar that day ‘Al Farouq’.”
It is mentioned in Al Isaabah that Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn abi Sheebah narrated from ibn Abbas the story about how Umar came to Islam and that,
“He went out with Hamza in two lines with the Muslims”
So the prophet (saw) gave consent and went out with them in a demonstration, so is that Haram? That is the danger of the one who speaks without ilm about the evidences. We find further evidence in the incident when the Ayat of disciplining the women were revealed, some men started to beat their wives and the women came out in a huge demonstration and complained that some men take advantage and beat their wives without fulfilling the conditions.
Moreover, Nuh (as) used to call the people day and night and go door to door, Muslims went to Abyssinia and they took a stand publicly in front of the King and the prophet consented.
Moreover there was a huge gathering and demonstration in the Bay'ah to the prophet (saw) under the tree. The demonstration is not a new phenomenon.
Some people may complain 'what is the benefit'? They should realise that the demonstration is not dispraised and so if someone does not like it, they should remain silent and should not attack the people who do it. Those people only want to cover up that they are cowards, they never command good or forbid evil at all but is still afraid that he will be arrested or that he will be called a terrorist.
In fact we did not come across any Alim claiming that demonstrations are Haram, rather the fattawa for demonstrations are everywhere. Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi said that it is allowed and praised those who do them.
Even Salman al Awdah said,
"We find nothing wrong with it; it is a form of condemning the evil ... and showing support for Muslims."
As long as it is free from anything Haram (e.g. whistling, singing etc) the original rules for these kinds of things is that it is permissible and the incident of the prophet (saw) and the companions in Makkah is well documented.
Sheikh Ali Al Khudr also said,
"Demonstrations are to come out collectively in an organised way for a particular objective; the original rules are that it is permissible. The Muslims are to other Muslims like a block, they support each other, it is a form of jihad, to call for jihad, to command good and forbid evil. That gathering is a demonstration and it is the Sunnah of the Anbiyaa.”
And he also called it the means leading to the Waajib, Sheikh Ali said clearly that demonstrations are allowed and Sheikh Salman Al Awdah (may Allah guide him) also.
If we go to all the Ulemaa, even those who we disagree with, they say that it is permitted. It is only some scholars of Al Sa'ud, whom it suits them to shout 'Haram!' if there is a demonstration against Al Sa'ud and to say that it is halal or even Fard if it is in favour of Al Sa’ud.
Those who say it is permissible, they are all found in prison like Sheikh Sulayman Al Alwaan, who said publicly,
“It is permissible by the evidence that our Imam, Ahmed ibn Hanbal was put in prison, and the Ulemaa and talabatul ilm came outside and that was the biggest demonstration, it was the uprising of the Hanabilah to release him.”
Some people like to speak about it from the angle of benefit and interest, so they always speak about bringing benefit to the Muslim community; we can say, Allah (swt) says,
“If they ask you for help, help them"
And the prophet (saw) said,
"Support your Muslim brother (verbally, financially, physically) whether oppressor or oppressed"
So supporting your Muslim brothers collectively, openly and publicly is allowed and that is why ibn Taymiyyah in his time, saw the people demonstrate for his release from captivity and he wrote that it reminded him of the demonstration of the Hanabilah.
Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab with his students demonstrated publicly and gathered together ending with fighting, it is a form of jihad, a form carrying Da’wah, a form of commanding good and forbidding evil; it is not Bid’ah. It was done by the prophet (saw) and done by the companions.
It is not the case that “whatever the Kuffar do it becomes Haram in our Deen”; rather it is only what is part of their Deen that is Haram for us to do. The demonstration involving women uncovered, or dazzled is not allowed, or with music or for a Haram reason or calling for UN resolutions are all not allowed, demonstrating for the pope and his funeral is not allowed, demonstrations involving swearing etc are not allowed etc.
But the demonstration commanding good and forbidding the evil, highlighting the situation of the Muslim Ummah in front of the Kuffar supporting the Muslims is definitely allowed, and there is a lot of benefit for the Muslims as well beside all the evidences.
It creates awareness about the current situation because there is no other media, it is an alternative media; it reminds them about what they should do, it motivates those people who do nothing, it boosts the morale, it has a strategic outcome, it puts pressure in order for Muslims to interact; that support in the form of demonstrations will put pressure on the government; it is an opportunity as well for the Ulemaa to meet the masses and the masses to meet the Ulemaa, it is a form of demonstrating the ilm and there is no single qualified Alim that forbade it.
We need to forget about those fake ‘salafis’, they are people who are muqallid, they are just baazis, the benefit in demonstrations is a lot; the Ulemaa on the street is different than seeing them on satellite, and it will create anarchy at the right time, it will train the Muslims to create anarchy for the Kuffar, it is a way to let the enemy know that the Muslims are not sleeping, that they are not fighting only a small group of Mujahideen rather they are fighting an entire Ummah; it will send signals to those oppressed that there is an Ummah that will not leave them, an Ummah that supports them.
Ibn Uthaymeen said, "If these two conditions are met, then ruling by something other than that which Allah has revealed constitutes kufr which puts a person beyond the pale of Islam, because Allah says: "And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the Kafiroon (i.e. disbelievers)" The authority of the ruler becomes INVALID and he has no right to be obeyed by the people; it becomes OBLIGATORY to FIGHT him and REMOVE HIM FROM POWER."
Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen (2/118)
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