All praise is due to Allāh, and may Salāh and Salām be upon the Messenger of Allah, to proceed: Know, my Muslim brother, that from the principles of the religion of Islām is disbelieving in the Tāghūt, and this is half of tawhīd; its other half being belief in Allāh, as Allah the Most High says:
فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ
بِٱلطَّاغُوتِ وَيْؤْمِن بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِ ٱسْتَمْسَكَ
بِٱلْعُرْوَةِ ٱلْوُثْقَىٰ
Whoever disbelieves in the Tāghūt and believes in Allāh,
then he has held unto the firm hand hold.4
And He said:
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ
رَّسُولاً أَنِ ٱعْبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱجْتَنِبُواْ ٱلْطَّاغُوتَ
And we have sent in every people a Messenger saying worship
Allāh and avoid the Tāghūt.5
And from disbelief in the Tāghūt is: declaring
(ones) disavowal from Kufr and its people, and
hating them, and having enmity towards them, as Allah the
Most High says:
قَدْ كَانَتْ لَكُمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ
فِيۤ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَٱلَّذِينَ مَعَهُ إِذْ قَالُواْ
لِقَوْمِهِمْ إِنَّا بُرَءآؤُاْ مِّنْكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ
مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ وَبَدَا بَيْنَنَا
وَبَيْنَكُمُ ٱلْعَدَاوَةُ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءُ أَبَداً حَتَّىٰ
تُؤْمِنُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ
There has been a good example in Ibrāhīm and those who were
with him, when they said to their people: “We are free from
you and what you worship besides Allāh, we have disbelieved
in you, and enmity and hatred has begun between us and you
until you believe in Allāh alone.”6
Shaykh ul-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullāhu ta’āla)
said: “For Allāh has ordered us to follow in the way of
Ibrāhīm and those who were with him, as they declared
Barā’ah (innocence, disavowal) from the Mushrikūn
and what they worship besides Allāh, and al-Khalīl (Ibrāhīm)
said: “I am free from what you worship, except the
One who created me. Indeed He shall guide me,” and
having Barā’ah is opposite of allegiance, and the
foundation of Barā’ah is hatred, and the foundation
of allegiance is love, and this is because the reality of
tawhīd is to not love except Allāh, and to love what Allāh
loves, thus he doesn’t love except for Allāh, and does not
hate except for Allāh.”
Many of the Muslims have been tribulated by living in the
abodes of the Kāfirūn, for various reasons, and the
ruling upon residing in the lands of the Kāfirūn
has details which the people of knowledge have mentioned,
generally though, it is categorized into three:
The First Category: If the Muslim is capable of openly declaring his religion, and from this religion is disbelieving in the Tāghūt, then it is permissible for him to reside there, and if he is a caller to Allah the Most High amongst the Kuffār, then it may even be praiseworthy and recommended for him to reside there, and this was the condition of the Prophets when they lived amongst their people.
The Second Category: If he is unable to openly declare his religion, and is able to migrate to a land where he can openly declare his religion in it, then it becomes obligatory to do so.
The Third Category: If he is unable to openly declare his religion, and is unable to migrate, then he is from the weak excused ones, but he must refrain from interacting with the Kuffār and mixing with them as much as possible.And, all this has detailing (elsewhere).
For this reason, it is obligatory upon the Muslim residing
in the abodes of the Kuffār to actualize the
Millah of Ibrāhīm (‘alayhis-salām) by way of
declaring Barā’ah from the Kuffār and
their religion, and to openly show them hatred and enmity,
and I wish to make aware of two issues related to this
matter:
The First Issue:
Actualizing the Millah of Ibrāhīm does not mean
leaving calling the Kuffār to Islām in a nice
manner, for the Messenger (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam)
was open to the Kuffār from his people in his
declaration of their Kufr, and his enmity and
hatred towards them, and this did not prevent him from
calling them to Islām by softness, mildness, and with the
good reminder. And (in this matter) two people have fallen
into wrong:
1. Those who see nothing except softness in calling people to Islām, so he left openly showing enmity and hatred to the disbelievers, and thus fell into having allegiance (towards them).
2. Those who see nothing but hatred and enmity towards them, so he ignored calling them to Islām by mildness, and this one his condition – despite being more complete then the first – except he is lacking, for the most complete manner to fulfill and actualize the Millah of Ibrāhīm is by calling the Kuffār (to Islām) and this is the condition of the Prophets (‘alayhim as-salām).
The Second Issue: The actualization of the Millah of Ibrāhīm does not mean being treacherous to the Kuffār or cheating them or their wealth if they give a contract of passage (or safety) to the Muslim, for the Muslim, if he is granted a contract of protection and passage by way of an agreed upon contract with the Muslim, even if only by way of custom, then it becomes prohibited on him to be treacherous or deceive them.And here, between your hands, dear brother, is the book at-Tibyān fī Kufri man a’ān al-Amrīkān, and it discusses one of some of the great explicit matters of the Millah of Ibrāhīm, and I mean by this, the issue of helping the Kuffār and supporting them against the Muslims, and it is one of the nullifiers of Islām as will become clear to you, Allah willing.And some brothers – may Allāh reward them and increase them in reward – had gone about translating it to the English language, hoping by it, to clarify this matter to those who do not know Arabic, and this is a special introduction for this translation.
I ask Allāh, the Glorified the Most High to forgive the ones
who wrote, translated, published and read it from amongst
the Muslims, and I ask Him the Glorified to help us all to
that which He loves and is pleased with, and to grant us
sincerity, and to accept from our actions, and to keep us
firm until we meet Him, and may Salāh and Salām
be upon our Messenger Muhammad, and upon his family and
Companions.
Nāsir bin Hamad al-Fahd
Sunday, 10/3/1424H
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4 Sūrah al-Baqarah (2):256.
5 Sūrah an-Nahl (16):36.
6 Sūrah al-Mumtahinah (60):4.
