Dought & clear, - Is it obligatory to obey a ruler who does not rule according to theBook of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger(blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him)?.

Is it obligatory to obey a ruler who does not rule according to the
Book ofAllaah and the Sunnah ofHis Messenger (blessings and peace of
Allaah be upon him)?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The ruler who does not rule according to the Book of Allaah and the
Sunnah of His Messengershould be obeyed in matters that do not involve
disobedience towards Allaah and His Messenger, and it is not
obligatory to fight him because of that; rather itis not permissible
to do so unless he reaches the level of kufr, in which case it becomes
obligatory to oppose him and he has no right to be obeyed by the
Muslims.
Ruling according to anything other than thatwhich is in the Book of
Allaah and the Sunnah ofHis Messenger reaches the level of kufr when
two conditions are met:
1. When he knows the ruling of Allaah and His Messenger; if he is
unaware of it, then he does not commit kufr by going against it.
2. When what makes him rule by something other than that which
Allaah has revealed is the belief that it is a ruling that is not
suitable for our time andthat something else is more suitable than it
and more beneficial for people.
If these two conditions are met, then ruling by something other than
that which Allaah has revealed constitutes kufrwhich puts a person
beyond the pale of Islam, because Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning): "And whosoever does not judge by what Allaah hasrevealed,
such are the Kaafiroon (i.e. disbelievers)" [al-Maa'idah 5:44]. 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.
But if he rules by something other than that which Allaah has revealed
whilst believing that ruling by that – i.e. that which Allaah has
revealed -- is what is obligatory, and that it is more suitable for
the people, but he goes against it because of some whims and desires
on his part or because he wants to wrong the people underhis rule,
then he is not a kaafir; rather he is a faasiq (evildoer) or a zaalim
(wrongdoer). His authority remains, and obeying him in matters that do
not involve disobedience to Allaah and His Messenger is obligatory,
and it is not permissible to fight him or remove him from power by
force or to rebel against him, because the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allaah be upon him) forbade rebelling against rulers unless
we see blatant kufr for which we have proof from Allaah. End quote.
Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen (2/118)

Dought & clear, - Can ahaad hadeeths be accepted with regardto ‘aqeedah?.

I heard someone say that 'aqeedah cannot be proven by means of ahaad
hadeeths, because they are based on probability and not based on
certainty. Whatis your response to that?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Our response to the one who thinks that 'aqeedah cannot be proven on
the basis of ahaad hadeeths becausethey are based on probability or
speculation and 'aqeedah cannot be based on speculations is:This
opinion is not correct, because it is based on something thatis not
correct. That is for a number of reasons:
1. The idea that ahaad hadeeths are based on probability or
speculation does not apply in all cases; there are some ahaad hadeeths
that are based on certainty if there is corroborated evidence to
confirm them, such as if the ummah accepted them. An example is the
hadeeth of 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him),
"Actions are but by intentions…" It is an ahaad hadeeth, but despite
that we know that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said it. This is what was confirmed by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah, al-Haafiz ibn Hajar and others.
2. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to
send individuals with basic teachings of 'aqeedah - testimony that
there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
- and the fact that he sent them is binding proof. For example, he
sent Mu'aadh to Yemen, and the fact that he sent him is regarded as
binding proof for the people of Yemen that they were obliged to accept
him.
3. If we say that matters of 'aqeedah cannot be proven on thebasis
of ahaad reports, then it is possible to say that practical rulings
cannot be proven on thebasis of ahaad reports, because practical
rulingsare accompanied by the belief that Allah enjoined this and
forbade that. If this opinion is accepted, then many of the rulingsof
sharee'ah would be rendered invalid. If this idea is rejected then the
idea that 'aqeedah cannot be proven on thebasis of ahaad reports
should also be rejected, because there is no difference between the
two, as we have explained.
To sum up: If an ahaad report is supported by corroborating evidence
which indicates that this is true, then it becomes part of knowledge
and rulings of practice and belief may be established. There is
nothing to indicate that there should be any differentiation between
the two. Any person whosuggests that any of the imams differentiated
between them has to prove that with a sound chain of narration from
that imam, then he has to explain his evidence.
4. Allah, may He be exalted, has enjoined referring to the people
of knowledge for the one who is unaware of what is one of the most
important issues of 'aqeedah, which is Prophethood. Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"And We sent not (as OurMessengers) before you (O Muhammad) any but
men, whom We sent Revelation, (to preach and invite mankind to believe
in the Oneness ofAllaah). So ask (you, O pagans of Makkah) of those
who know the Scripture [learned men of the Taurat (Torah) and the
Injeel (Gospel)], if you know not.
44. With clear signs and Books (We sent the Messengers)"
[al-Nahl 16:43, 44]
This includes asking one or many. End quote.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him)
Fataawa al-'Aqeedah, p. 18.

Ruling on the wife of one who reviles religion.

Dought & clear, - I heard that if a man reviles religion, his wife
becomes divorced from him, and he has to repent, seek forgiveness and
do a new marriage contract. How true is this?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Reviling religion is apostasy from Islam. The same applies to reviling
the Qur'aan or the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him): it is apostasy from Islam, and kufr (disbelief) after faith - we
seek refuge with Allah. But it does not mean that the wife is divorced
(talaaq); rather they should be separated without divorce. It cannot
be divorce; rather she becomes haraam for himbecause she is a Muslim
woman whereas he is a kaafir, and she remains haraam for him until he
repents. If he repents and her 'iddah has not yet ended, she goes
backto him without any needfor anything, i.e., if he repents and turns
back to Allah, she goes back to him. But if her 'iddah has ended and
he has not repented, then she may marry whomever she wants. That is
like a divorce but it is not a divorce (talaaq); rather it is like
divorce because Allah has forbidden Muslim women for kaafirmen.
If he repents after the 'iddah has ended and hewants to (re)marry her,
there is nothing wrong with that, but it should be done with a new
marriage contract, so as to be on the safe side and avoid an area
concerning which the scholars differed. Some scholars think that she
is permissible for him without a new marriage contract: if she chose
him and did not marry anyone else after the 'iddah ended, she remains
as she was (i.e., still married). However, the majority say that when
the 'iddah ends, she becomes irrevocably divorced from him and becomes
a non-mahram to him, and she cannot become permissible for him except
with a new marriage contract. So it is better and more on the safe
side to do a newmarriage contract. This applies if the 'iddah ended
before he repented. But if he repents before the 'iddah ends, then she
is still his wife, because theProphet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) accepted the marriage contracts of men who became Muslim
after their wives did, before the wives' 'iddahs ended. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah havemercy on him)
Fataawa Noor 'ala al-Darb, by Ibn Baaz, 1/106

The Triple Filter test, Islamic Stories

During the golden Abbasid period, one of the scholars in Baghdad, the
capital of Muslim caliphate at that time, was reputed to hold
knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great
scholar and said,"Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
"Hold on a minute," the scholar replied. "Before telling me anything
I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter
Test."
"Triple filter?"
"That's right," the scholar continued."Before you talk to me about my
friend it mightbe a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're
going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first
filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about
to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said,"actually I just heard about it and..."
"All right," said the scholar. "So you don't really know if it's true
ornot. Now let's try the second filter, the filter ofGoodness. Is what
you are about to tell me about my friend something good?" "No, on the
contrary......"
"So," the scholar continued, "you want to tell me something bad about
him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test
though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is
what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded the scholar, "if what you want to tell me is
neithertrue nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
"O ye who believe! Let not some men among you laugh at others: It may
be that the (latter) are better than the (former): Nor let some women
laugh at others: It may be that the (latter are better than the
(former): Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each
other by (offensive) nicknames: Ill-seeming isa name connoting
wickedness, (to be used of one) after he has believed: And those whodo
not desist are (indeed) doing wrong." [Surah al-Hujurat 49.012]