The duty of obeying the Muslim ruler, and its one fixed limit, are gathered on the companion page, “Do Muslims Have to Obey Muslim Rulers?” This page takes up the other side: what do the books say about rising against the ruler, opposing him, and stirring the people up against him?
One honesty note at the start. The books held for this site explain the Qur’an, the hadith [reports of the Prophet’s ﷺ words and actions], and the creed. They do not discuss the street protests and demonstrations of today by name, and nothing on this page pretends that they do. What they do address in their own words is rebellion against the ruler, opposing him, publicly attacking him, and inciting the people against him, and they name the harms that follow: hatred, division, bloodshed, and fitnah [strife and tribulation]. That is what this page gathers.
Revolting Against the Ruler Is Not the Way of Ahlus Sunnah
Shaykh al-Fawzan states the position of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah [the people of the Sunnah and the community] in his book A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects, setting their way against the way of the Khawarij, the first sect to split from the community and rebel against the rulers:
“Ahl-us-Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah believe in hearing and obeying the Muslim rulers, in opposition to the Khawaarij and they do not believe in revolting against the imaam of the Muslims, even if he commits a mistake, as long as it is not kufr or shirk.”
The imaam is the leader of the Muslims. Kufr is disbelief, and shirk is associating partners with Allah in worship. Explaining the Prophet’s ﷺ words in the twenty-eighth hadith of an-Nawawi’s Forty Hadith, “even if an Abyssinian slave is made your leader”, Shaykh al-Fawzan gives the reason in his Commentary on the Forty Hadith:
“His position and authority should rather be considered; as long as the matter is conclusively for him and allegiance is given to him, obeying him is obligatory even if some violations that have not reached the level of Shirk emanate from him. He should still be obeyed because of the benefit in obeying him and the great harm and evil involved in revolting against him. He should be advised and counseled. That is, one should not be silent about him; he should rather be advised.”
What the Prophet ﷺ Commanded When Rulers Withhold People’s Rights
The situation that most tempts people toward rebellion was put to the Prophet ﷺ directly. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s explanation of Riyad as-Salihin records the question and the answer:
Wa’il bin Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Salamah bin Yazid Al-Ju’fi asked Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “O Prophet of Allah! Tell us, what you command us to do if there arises over us rulers who demand of us what is due to them and refuse us what is due to us.” Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned away from him, but he repeated the same question. Thereupon Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Listen to them and obey them. They are responsible for their obligations and you are accountable for yours.” [Muslim]
‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “There will be discrimination after my death and there will be other matters that you will disapprove.” He was asked: “O Messenger of Allah! What do you command us to do when we are encountered with such happenings?” He answered, “Give what is due from you and supplicate to Allah for your rights.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
The rights are asked of Allah, by supplication. They are not taken by rising against the ruler.
How Rebellion Begins: Hatred, Mockery, and Broadcasting a Ruler’s Faults
The books trace rebellion back to its first steps. Explaining the hadith of ‘Awf bin Malik about the best and the worst of leaders, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen describes where hatred of a bad ruler leads:
“As for the worst leaders, these are the ones ‘you hate and they too hate you’. You hate them because they did not live up to the expectations of their subjects and failed to render the rights to their owners. The followers will hate them when they act in this manner, which leads to mutual hatred and may lead the masses to rebel against the people in authority. This begins by disobeying their orders, then ‘you will begin to curse them and they will curse you’, refuge is with Allah; that is, you will abuse them and they will abuse you.”
The chapter on obedience in Riyad as-Salihin closes with the hadith of Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him):
“Whoever disgraces the ruler Allah will disgrace him.”
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen explains what disgracing a ruler looks like in practice:
“Disgracing the ruler can come in many ways: One of the ways is making a mockery of the commands of the ruler. When such person is commanded to do a thing, he will say: ‘See what he said’. Also, such person will never appreciate whatever the ruler does; he will say: ‘See what he has done’. He wants to deride the authority of the ruler in front of the people. The populace will definitely belittle the ruler once his command is belittled. They will not comply with his orders again nor will they avoid his prohibitions.”
“Hence, whoever disgraces the ruler by broadcasting his faults, abusing him, defaming him and seeking popularity through that has made himself a target of Allah’s disgrace. This is because if he degrades the leader with things like these, the populace will rebel against him and defy him, which will be a cause of evil; hence, Allah will disgrace such person.”
And in his lessons from the hadiths of this same chapter, the Shaykh sets the point down plainly, as his second and third points:
“Two: It is not permissible for us to oppose the leaders.”
“Three: It is not permissible for us to discuss what may incite rancour against the ruler or cause hatred towards them because these entail great evil. It may appear to one that discussing such matters is a sense of vigilant concern and a process of revealing the truth. Publicly declaring the truth is not from behind the veil, it should be in front of the ruler and you will tell him: ‘You did so-and-so which is not good; you left so-and-so, which is an obligation’.”
“There is no sense of revealing the truth in you attacking from behind the scene, abusing the ruler and becoming famous for that. This is only a source of corruption, which may lead to hatred and revolt against the rulers. This may snowball into a greater evil, which is armed rebellion against them and renouncing their pledge of allegiance, refuge is with Allah.”
The Example of Imam Ahmad
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen holds up the conduct of Imam Ahmad, the Imam of Ahlus Sunnah, who was himself harmed by the ruler of his time:
“Indeed, Imam Ahmad (may Allah shower blessings on him) was beaten by the ruler; they beat him and dragged him with a mule. He would be whipped until he would lose consciousness in marketplaces and he is the Imam of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah. Irrespective of this, he would supplicate for the ruler and he would refer to him as the Leader of the believers. Indeed, they ordered him at a point to give up narrating Hadeeth; he obeyed the order and stopped teaching openly. He began moving around, visiting different places, so his students started coming to him and he would teach them Hadeeth.”
“He did all these in order not to oppose the ruler because, as it has been earlier mentioned, the companions asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah, should we not oppose them?’ His response was: ‘Your best leaders are those whom you love and they love you, and your worst leaders are those whom you hate and they hate you, you curse them and they curse you’. They said: ‘Should we not oppose them? He said: ‘No, so far they establish the Salat for you’. He repeated this twice. For this reason, we cannot go against them so far they establish the Prayer; rather, we should hear and obey them and discharge the responsibilities on us and for them is what they do.”
When Fighting Breaks Out Among the Believers
What, then, does Allah command when a group does take up arms? Surah al-Hujurat answers, in as-Sa’di’s rendering:
“49:9. If two groups among the believers fight one another, then make peace between them. If one of them transgresses against the other [and rejects all efforts to make peace], then fight [all of you] against the one that transgresses, until it complies with the command of Allah. Then if it complies, make peace between them on the basis of equity and be just, for verily Allah loves those who are just.”
“49:10. The believers are but brothers, so make peace between your [contending] brothers. And fear Allah, so that you may be shown mercy.”
As-Sa’di explains:
“This is an implicit prohibition on the believers transgressing against one another and fighting one another. If two groups of believers fight, then other believers are obliged to try to contain this great evil by making peace between them and intervening in the best manner whereby they may achieve peace, and they should take all measures that may lead to achieving that.”
Ibn Kathir, in the other tafsir [explanation of the Qur’an] held here, names the group that refuses peace for what it is:
“(But if one of them outrages against the other, then fight you (all) against the one that which outrages till it complies with the command of Allah.) means, until the rebellious group refers to the commands of Allah and His Messenger for judgement and they listen to and obey the truth.”
The fighting the verse commands is bounded on every side: its aim is return, not destruction. As-Sa’di draws out the lessons of the passage:
“In addition to the above, we also learn that fighting among the believers is contrary to the brotherhood of faith; hence it is one of the worst of major sins. Faith and the brotherhood that is based on it are not diminished when there is fighting, as is the case with other major sins that are less than the ascription of partners to Allah. This is the view of ahl as-Sunnah wal-jama’ah.”
“We also learn that it is obligatory to reconcile between the believers on the basis of justice, and to fight the transgressors until they come back to compliance with the command of Allah, and that their wealth is protected, because Allah has specifically made it permissible to fight them if they persist in their misguidance, but He has not made it permissible to seize their wealth.”
The ascription of partners to Allah is shirk. Even the group that fights is not cast out of the faith for its fighting. Ibn Kathir makes the same point on the verse itself:
“(And if two parties among the believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them both.) Therefore, Allah calls both opposing groups among Muslims, believers, although they are fighting each other. Al-Bukhari and other scholars relied on this Hadith as evidence that committing a sin does not nullify faith, no matter how major the sin is. This creed contradicts the creed of the Khawarij sect and those who accepted their idea, such as the Mu’tazilah sect.”
The Khawarij: The First to Make Revolt a Doctrine
Rebellion against the rulers began with the Khawarij, and the books tie their revolt to their other great error: declaring Muslims to be disbelievers for their sins. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen explains Ibn Taymiyyah’s words in al-Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah about the Haruriyyah [the first of the Khawarij]:
“The Haruriyyah and the Mu’tazilah expelled him from faith, rather, the Haruriyyah say that he is a disbeliever whose blood and wealth are lawful. And because of this they revolted against the Imams (leaders) and they called the people disbelievers.”
And in his Commentary on Kitab at-Tawheed, describing the extremism of the Khawarij and the Mu’tazilah in worship, he writes:
“They claim that whoever commits any of the major sins apostatizes from Islam and as such, his blood and property becomes legitimate (to be taken)! They permitted revolting against the rulers and bloodshed.”
Their story and what the Prophet ﷺ said about them are told on this site’s page on the Khawarij, linked below.
Evil Is Not Removed by a Greater Evil
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen closes his treatment of this chapter by noting what Ibn Taymiyyah recorded at the end of al-Aqidah al-Waasitiyyah about the path of Ahlus Sunnah: that the Hajj [the pilgrimage to Makkah], the congregational prayers, and the festivals carry on under the leaders, just or unjust:
“They believe in the responsibility of performing Hajj, Jihad, festivals, and praying in congregation with the leaders whether they are just or unjust.”
“As for other sins that the leader may commit, Ahlu us-Sunnah Wal-Jama’ah believe the ruler still retain the right of allegiance. He still has the right of obedience and it is not permissible to oppose him, incite people against him or engage in other greater evils.”
“Evil cannot be repelled with evil, rather repel evil with good. As for repelling evil with evil, if they are similar in magnitude and dimension then it has no benefit but if it turns out to be more evil, as it is wont to be, then that is a great evil.”
So the answer the books give is this. Rebellion against the Muslim ruler is forbidden, and so is the road that leads to it: opposing him, mocking him, broadcasting his faults, and stirring the people up against him. A ruler’s injustice is answered the way the Prophet ﷺ commanded, by giving what is due, asking Allah for one’s rights, sincere advice given to the ruler himself, and patience. I have gathered these passages from the books listed below, in their own words, so that readers can return to them and check them for themselves.
References
Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin, Vol. 3: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen; Maktaba Dar-us-Salam (2018).
Commentary on the Forty Hadith of An-Nawawi: Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan (on Hadith 28).
A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects: Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan; Salafi Publications, translated by Abu Naasir Abid bin Basheer.
Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vol. 9 (Juz’ 25-27): Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di; IIPH English Edition 1, 2018 (Surah al-Hujurat 49:9-10).
Abridged Tafsir Ibn Kathir: Ibn Kathir; Darussalam, Second Edition, October 2003 (Surah al-Hujurat 49:9).
Explanation of al-Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah, Vol. 2: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen.
Commentary on Kitab at-Tawheed, Vol. 1: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen; Dar-us-Salam, 2014, translated by Abu Naasir Ibrahim Abdur-Rauf.
Further Reading
- Do Muslims Have to Obey Muslim Rulers?: the duty of obedience itself, and the one limit the books place on it.
- The Khawarij: the first sect to rebel against the rulers, and what the Prophet ﷺ said about them.
- How the Khawarij Misuse Qur’an 5:44 to Declare Muslims Disbelievers: the verse the Khawarij built their revolt on, and what the books say it means.
- The Saved Sect (Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama’ah): who Ahlus Sunnah are, and the creed this page names.
- Does Islam Promote Violence?: what the books say about fighting, its limits, and who holds authority over it.
Verified on 2026-10-24 against the books listed above.