Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Khalaf al-Barbahārī (d. 329 AH / 941 CE) ؒ wrote in Sharḥ as-Sunnah, point 137:
وإذا رأيت الرجل يدعو على السلطان فاعلم أنه صاحب هوى، وإذا رأيت الرجل يدعو للسلطان بالصلاح فاعلم أنه صاحب سنة إن شاء الله؛ لقول الفضيل بن عياض: «لو كانت لي دعوة مستجابة ما جعلتها إلا في السلطان». قيل له: يا أبا علي، فسر لنا هذا، قال: «إذا جعلتها في نفسي لم تعدني، وإذا جعلتها في السلطان صلح، فصلح بصلاحه العباد والبلاد». فأمرنا أن ندعو لهم بالصلاح، ولم نؤمر أن ندعو عليهم وإن جاروا وظلموا؛ لأن ظلمهم وجورهم على أنفسهم وصلاحهم لأنفسهم وللمسلمين.
“If you see a man supplicating against the ruler, know that he is a person of desire. If you see a man supplicating for the ruler’s uprightness, know that he is a person of Sunnah, if Allah wills. For al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ said: ‘If I had a supplication that would be answered, I would direct it only towards the ruler.’ He was asked: ‘O Abū ʿAlī, explain this to us.’ He replied: ‘If I directed it towards myself, its benefit would not extend beyond me. If I directed it towards the ruler, he would become upright, and through his uprightness the people and the land would be set right.’ We have therefore been ordered to supplicate for their uprightness, and have not been ordered to supplicate against them, even if they act unjustly and oppressively. Their injustice and oppression are against themselves, whereas their uprightness benefits both themselves and the Muslims.” (Al-Barbahārī, Sharḥ as-Sunnah.)
The Explanation
Shaykh Ṣāliḥ ibn Fawzān ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Fawzān explains:
This statement has been transmitted from the Pious Predecessors (as-salaf aṣ-ṣāliḥ): “If you see a man supplicating against the ruler, know that he is a person of desire.”
This is a Khārijite and Muʿtazilite tendency, because the Khārijites and Muʿtazilites supplicate against the Muslim rulers. The duty is the opposite: to supplicate for their uprightness and success.
Their uprightness benefits Islam and the Muslims. When you supplicate for them, you are supplicating for the Muslims, because the ruler’s uprightness benefits his subjects. This is the methodology (manhaj) of the Pious Predecessors: supplicating for the uprightness of those in authority.
His statement, “If you see a man supplicating for the ruler’s uprightness, know that he is a person of Sunnah, if Allah wills,” means that this is the guidance of the Pious Predecessors in their dealings with those in authority.
Regarding his citation of al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ (d. 187 AH / 803 CE) ؒ, al-Fuḍayl was one of the great scholars, worshippers and ascetics. His statement, “If I had a supplication that would be answered, I would direct it only towards the ruler,” expresses sincere concern, in accordance with the words of the Messenger of Allah :
«الدين النصيحة». قلنا: لمن؟ قال: «لله ولكتابه ولرسوله ولأئمة المسلمين وعامتهم».
“Religion is sincere counsel. We asked: ‘To whom?’ He replied: ‘To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims and their common people.’” (Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, no. 55.)
Sincere counsel towards Muslim leaders includes supplicating for their uprightness. Supplicating against them is a form of insincerity towards them.
His statement, “We have therefore been ordered to supplicate for their uprightness, and have not been ordered to supplicate against them, even if they act unjustly and oppressively,” is because supplicating against them amounts to supplicating against the Muslims. If authority breaks down and the ruler falls, blood is shed, security is disrupted, corruption spreads and the prescribed legal punishments (ḥudūd) cease to be enforced. His downfall therefore brings harmful consequences.
In our time, people of desires among sectarian partisans (ḥizbiyyīn) and followers of the Khārijites accuse those who supplicate for the ruler of compromising their religion. The author’s statement applies to these accusers: they oppose the Sunnah and are people of desires. Attention must therefore be paid to this matter.
Additional Commentary in the Existing Article
The existing article describes al-Fuḍayl as a scholar of the second Islamic century and characterises supplication for rulers as sincere concern for religion and Muslim welfare. It also describes the harmful consequences of political chaos as historically attested, presents stability and reform through supplication as preferable to agitation and rebellion through supplication against authority, rejects accusations of compromising religion, and urges Muslims to remain firm upon the way of the Pious Predecessors. These explanatory statements have been retained here separately because their precise wording does not appear in the verified source passage.
References
Al-Barbahārī, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Khalaf, Sharḥ as-Sunnah, point 137.
Al-Fawzān, Ṣāliḥ ibn Fawzān ibn ʿAbd Allah, Itḥāf al-Qārī bi-t-Taʿlīqāt ʿalā Sharḥ as-Sunnah li-l-Imām al-Barbahārī, vol. 2, section “Man yadʿū li-s-Sulṭān fa-huwa Ṣāḥib Sunnah…”, official electronic text and continuation vol. 2, p. 193, Dār ar-Rushd, Riyadh. Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān, Itḥāf al-Qārī bi-t-Taʿlīqāt ʿalā Sharḥ as-Sunnah li-l-Imām al-Barbahārī, vol. 2; official electronic section on supplication for the ruler p. 193, Dār ar-Rushd, Riyadh.
Muslim, Abū al-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 55.
