Key points from an interview with the Grand Mufti of Libya, His Eminence Sheikh al-Sadiq al-Ghariani:
Iran as a Muslim Land
Iran — regardless of its current regime — is a country where the adhan is called, congregational prayers are held, and its people pray, fast, and perform Hajj. Therefore, by its Shari’ah definition, it is a Muslim land and its people are from the People of the Qiblah, whether one likes it or not.
The Obligation of Loyalty and the Impermissibility of Neutrality
When there is a war between Muslims and disbelievers, the Muslim is obligated to show loyalty to the Muslims and disavowal of the disbelievers. This is binding, because it is how God described people in the Quran. He said: “And those who disbelieve are allies of one another,” and “The believing men and believing women are allies of one another,” and “The hypocrite men and hypocrite women are of one another,” and “And thus We make some of the wrongdoers allies of others.” There is no other category in this battle called neutrality.
Neutrality — while fighting rages between disbelievers and Muslims — means belonging neither to these nor to those. It is another name in the Quran for hypocrisy. God described them saying: “Wavering between them, belonging neither to these nor to those.”
The Arrogance of the American President
The American president — out of his self-delusion — never misses an occasion when something bad happened to America in the past without saying, “If I had been in charge, it wouldn’t have happened.” He praises himself and his strength, boasting that he is the greatest leader ruling the greatest country, and that he owns this and owns that.
In this, he echoes the words of the tyrants and the arrogant ones on earth from past ages. The people of ‘Ad said before him, “Who is mightier than us in strength?” And the first Pharaoh said, “I only show you what I see fit.” This president — in his recklessness, arrogance, and sense of supremacy — is on the verge of saying, “I am your lord most high.”America’s Predicament and the Lesson of Divine Power
And now, he has plunged America into a predicament the likes of which it has never seen in its modern history.
He has dragged his country into a battle with a small nation that is incomparable to his — neither in manpower, nor in equipment, nor in wealth. God has shown him his humiliation through it, and he has resorted to pleading with the nations of the world against this small state, searching for a way out. Let him learn from this lesson — if he still has any reason that benefits people — that all power belongs to God, and that God is severe in punishment.
Today they are swallowing the cups of death. Their buildings collapse upon their heads, fires rage in their cities and villages. They are stricken with terror night and day, running to shelters and fortifications in panic from the sirens of Iranian strikes raining down on them.
The Helplessness of the Gulf States and the Lesson of Seeking Honor from Other Than God
The American military bases in the Gulf states have turned from a source of protection into a source of aggression and fear. The American bases have threatened their security, disrupted their resources, and shut down their airports. This is a lesson in seeking honor from other than God — for whoever seeks honor from other than God will be humiliated. God said: “Whoever desires honor — then to God belongs all honor.”
The Gulf states — whom America used to call allies — found themselves unable to defend themselves, and even unable to export their own wealth.
Among the truths of the Shari’ah is that whoever abandons the Muslims at a time when they need support will find himself in a position where he seeks support and finds none.
The Quran Is a Book of Guidance, Not Decoration
God revealed the Quran as a book of guidance — to act upon its verses and observe its commands and prohibitions — not for showing off and adorning gatherings and celebrations with it. God said: “There has come to you from God a light and a clear Book, by which God guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace,” and He said: “These are the verses of the Quran and a clear Book — guidance and glad tidings for the believers,” and He said: “This is the Book about which there is no doubt — guidance for the God-fearing.” The attribute of guidance is inseparable from it.
Whoever turns away from its guidance and from observing its commands and prohibitions will not benefit from allocating funds for Quran memorization competitions, even if they reach millions. The Quran elevates some peoples — those who act upon it — and debases others — those who neglect acting upon it and disregard its limits and rulings. One may recite the Quran while having no good in him, as Imam Malik (may God have mercy on him) said. One may recite the Quran and have prizes dedicated to it, while the Quran itself curses him.
Among the signs of the end times, as narrated in tradition, is that reciters will be many while scholars and jurists will be few, and that “men will recite the Quran but it will not go beyond their collarbones.”
Reciting the Quran While Contradicting It in Action
This is the guidance of the Quran that must be upheld — not that a reciter reads “And whoever kills a believer intentionally — his recompense is Hell” while he himself has no regard for killing, kidnapping, and torturing people to death in prisons; nor that he reads “As for the thief, male and female — cut off their hands” while he himself steals; nor that he reads “Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus son of Mary — that was because they disobeyed and used to transgress; they would not forbid one another from wrongdoing that they did — how wretched was what they used to do” while he himself neither commands good nor forbids evil, nor fulfills what God has obligated upon him in caring for even his closest family — his wife and children — and preventing them from wrongdoing; nor that he reads “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against God and His Messenger and spread corruption in the land is that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides” while he himself is a highway robber and combatant; nor that he reads what God has warned those who consume usury while he himself exchanges cash for higher amounts through checks, speculates, and gambles to inflate the cost of people’s sustenance and corrupt their wealth — and then, on top of all that, he allocates prizes for Quran memorizers. This and the like is making a mockery of God’s verses and taking them in jest.
The Hypocrisy of Charitable Displays Alongside Oppression
Where are they when it comes to their silence about their women being gathered by the American ambassador at an event under the name of “Iftar for the Fasting”?
This and similar failings in matters of religion and sound nature are like one who feeds the fasting in Ramadan while he kills fasting people through torture in prisons, steals millions from their pockets through deals, and impoverishes them. This is deception, manipulation, and fraud — not the way of Islam.
The UAE: Quran Competitions and the “Abrahamic Religion” Initiative – Oppression Nullifies Good Deeds
The UAE has accustomed Muslims to allocating millions in prizes for Quran memorizers in international competitions across the Muslim world. Yet at the same time, it establishes the project of atheism and disbelief — the “Abrahamic Religion” initiative — through which it hangs the cross on minarets and inside mosques and converts them into temples for Jews and churches for Christians. They reject God’s word and His ruling. God said: “They have certainly disbelieved, those who say God is the third of three,” and He said: “So if they believe in the same as you believe in, then they have been rightly guided; but if they turn away, they are only in dissension.”
The oppressor will not be helped by feeding the fasting or giving prizes for Quran memorization competitions while he persists in his oppression. The oppressors, even if they have good deeds, will have the rewards of those deeds transferred to those they wronged — they will be stripped of them and receive nothing, as stated in the hadith.
Neither rulers nor the ruled will benefit from feeding the fasting and allocating prizes for the Quran while they neglect the rights of their subjects, fail to safeguard their wealth, do not establish justice among them, and do not fulfill the rights God has obligated upon them.