The Role of the Imam in Countering Radicalism

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of everything, and may the Salat and Salam be upon His servant and Messenger, Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah, as well as his family, his companions and all those who follow them as perfectly as possible until the Day of Resurrection.

The Imam of a Masjid has status with the congregation of his Masjid (or community); he is viewed with honor and respect because he leads them in prayer, responds to their inquiries and resolves their problems. His opinion is heard and widely accepted by people concerning the affairs of their religion. To them, he is a role model to be followed, and his speech is trusted as long as nothing occurs between him and them that disrupts such a relationship, whether it occurs from the Imam, the congregation as a whole or from some individuals amongst them.

Due to this status and trust for the Imam in the hearts of the congregation of the Masjid, his responsibility is amplified; to enlighten and direct them to what benefits them, and caution them against what harms them in their creed, worship or manners.

A tyrannical group has recently emerged, a group that follows the methodology of the Khawaarij in declaring Muslims to be apostates, murdering the people of Islam, transgressing over lives of people who are protected under the Sharee'ah, along with their wealth, public or private property. They do this under the guise of Jihad, Promoting Good and Forbidding Evil, and Walaa and Barra.

Allah’s religion is free of all of this, and the creed of Ahlus Sunnah is free of all this! So it is an obligated duty upon Imams to have a role in informing those who attend the prayer of the danger of this ideology, its perversion, and its contrast to the reality of Islam.

No doubt Imams vary in terms of knowledge, but the tools for propagating information are plentiful, so if one method is difficult for an Imam, then there are other methods that would be easy.

Amongst the tools that aid an Imam in fulfilling this role are the following:

• Explaining and clarifying the reality of Islam and its stance against what this deviant sect engages in regarding Takfeer, murder, rebellion against legitimate rulers and other such vices and forms of depravity, all the while supporting such a clarification with evidence of Ayat, Ahadeeth and the statements of the people of knowledge.
• In addition, confronting the misconceptions that they propagate by rebutting and disproving them with the truth in a balanced manner that is easy to understand and absorb by common folk. Certainly this requires one to firstly learn and benefit from the people of knowledge and their books, in order for the advisor to avoid making mistakes or getting confused, and thereby causing problems while intending to bring rectification. 
• Giving attention to and explaining topics related to obeying the authorities, Jihad, the sanctity of human life and similar topics from books that are suited for reading to the congregation of the Masjid; such as Riyadh as-Saliheen, Buloogh al-Maraam, al-'Aqeedah al-Wasitiyyah, Kitab at-Tawheed and their likes.
• Reading the statements that are issued by The Committee of Major Scholars or The Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fatwaa, or by the major scholars such as his eminence; the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom, the noble Shaykh Saleh al-Fawzan, or the noble Shaykh Saleh al-Luhaydan and their likes – may Allah preserve and support them. Reading out these statements to the congregation of the Masjid with a calm and clear voice, and explaining whatever needs further explanation, helps in propagating the important contents of such statements.
• Propagating such Fatawa and statements by printing them in appropriate quantitates and handing them out freely to those who attend the Masjid and the people of the neighborhood.
• Propagating audio files consisting of the Fatawa and lectures of our major scholars about terrorism and giving them out freely, for indeed there is trust for the major scholars in the hearts of people, and all praise is due to Allah.
• Encouraging the congregation of the Masjid to attend the lectures and classes of the major scholars, and acquainting them with their numbers and the schedules of their classes and lectures, and enlightening them about the necessity of referring to them regarding contemporary affairs and problems and following their opinions.
• Hosting the people of knowledge and sincere Du'aat (at the Masjid), and arranging for them to deliver lectures concerning these topics to clarify them to people in a concise manner or during a general lecture, while selecting appropriate times for the congregation of the Masjid in order to maximize the benefit.

These are but a few easy and feasible methods that the Imam of a Masjid can apply in order to carry out a part of the role that is expected of him. Obviously some of these methods require planning, permission from the administration of the Masjid, and taking the relevant rules and regulations into consideration and abiding by them.

There are also preventative methods that an Imam must not be heedless of, as being heedless of them could lead to the Masjid being a grounds from where some corrupt ideologies spring from.

• Amongst them is giving anyone the opportunity to give a lecture to the congregation of the Masjid. This is an obvious error, because not all people are the same. So if amongst them are people with a correct Creed, then there are others amongst them with a corrupt Creed. If there are sincere advisors amongst them, there are deceivers amongst them who will confuse them in their religion, who will encourage them to practice evil and prohibit them from good. If there are knowledgeable people amongst them who can distinguish truth from falsehood, then there are zealous and ignorant ones amongst them who are not able to distinguish what is correct from what is false, who cannot distinguish what is beneficial from what is harmful. So the ignorant ones or those who follow their desires are extremely dangerous for the Ummah, it is not permissible to give them an opportunity or permit them to corrupt the earth after its rectification (by allowing them to give lectures/classes).
• Amongst them is being vigilant regarding the propagation of pamphlets, leaflets and audio files that contain radical ideologies that call to revolution, chaos and cast doubts about the rulers and people of knowledge.
• Amongst them is being keen upon establishing activities in the Masjid making sure that they are in accordance to the correct 'Aqeedah as well as the rules and regulations that have been placed for the security of the Ummah, protecting it against what will harm it and bring down its structure. For indeed there are some people who may use such non-profit activities to cause corruption in a twisted way. Take this for example; a person used to give gifts to students at circles of knowledge, every time a student would come to receive his gift he would say audibly to him 'May Allah make you like such and such a person' naming a caller to Takfeer and revolution. This supplication in reality is a message; a praise for the one being named and an encouragement to follow in his footsteps.

No doubt that exploiting virtuous non-profit activities to propagate dangerous and destructive ideologies leads to their eventual shut down or applying restrictions on them in order to repel the greater evil, and who is to benefit when we reach that stage?

Before I conclude, I would like to draw attention to some topics that need to be addressed a lot, in accordance to the methodology of as-Salaf as-Saleh, amongst them;

• The Rights of the Rulers,
• Cautioning about Criticizing Scholars and Rulers,
• The Status of the Scholars and Rebuking Doubts raised about them,
• The Reality of Jihad in Islam,
• The Ruling of Takfeer, Tabdee' and Tafseeq.
• The Prohibition of Assaulting Security Personnel
• The Prohibition of Assaulting non-Combatant non-Muslims.
• The Need for Security,
• Cautioning from the Causes of Division and Differing.

My noble brother;

There are many methods and many topics as well, and this is only but a small part, I pray that whoever has more may spread it to maximize the benefit, and Allah knows best and may the Salaat and Salaam be upon His Prophet and Servant Muhammad, his family and companions.

'Alee ibn Yahya al-Haddadee
The Imam and Khateeb of Jami' 'Aisha in Riyadh.
16/2/1426 H.