Ahmad on Rebellion: To Suffer with Patience is Better than to Violently Rebel and Spill Blood
By Abu Amina Elias for FaithinAllah.org
Abu Al-Harith Ahmad ibn Muhammad Al-Sa’igh, the close friend of Imam Ahmad, reported:
سألت أبا عبد الله في أمر كان حدث ببغداد وهم قوم بالخروج فقلت يا أبا عبد الله ما تقول في الخروج مع هؤلاء القوم فأنكر ذلك عليهم وجعل يقول سبحان الله الدماء الدماء لا أرى ذلك ولا آمر به الصبر على ما نحن فيه خير من الفتنة يسفك فيها الدماء ويستباح فيها الأموال وينتهك فيها المحارم أما علمت ما كان الناس فيه يعني أيام الفتنة قلت والناس اليوم أليس هم في فتنة يا أبا عبد الله قال وإن كان فإنما هي فتنة خاصة فإذا وقع السيف عمت الفتنة وانقطعت السبل الصبر على هذا ويسلم لك دينك خير لك ورأيته ينكر الخروج على الأئمة ، وقال الدماء لا أرى ذلك ولا آمر به
I asked Abu Abdullah (Ahmad ibn Hanbal) about something that had occurred in Baghdad, and because of which some people were considering rebellion against the ruler. I said, “O Abu Abdullah, what do you say about taking part in the rebellion with these people?” He decried it and started saying, ”Glory be to Allah! The blood of the people, the blood! I do not believe in this and I do not tell others to do it. For us to suffer our situation in patience is better than the trial (fitnah) in which blood is spilt, property is taken, and the sacred is violated. Do you not know what happened to the people before you in the days of civil war?”
I said, “Abu Abdullah, are the people today not in a trial?” He replied, ”If so, it is a limited trial, but if the sword is raised, the trial will engulf everything and there will be no way to escape. To suffer patiently this situation in which Allah keeps your religion safe is better for you.”
I saw him decry rebellion against the leaders, and saying, ”The blood! I do not believe in this and I do not command it!”
[Abu Bakr Al-Khallal, Al-Sunnah 89]
Category: Righteousness البر
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