Discussion on Islamic Leadership and Authority

Sheikh, may God keep you from coughing. No offense.

I mean, dear Sheikh, many Indonesian people

and scholars and preachers are wondering,

what is the approach of the scholars of al-Sham? And is there

any change in the approach of the scholars of al-Sham? Or are you still following

what

your esteemed father, the great scholar

Imam Abdul Karim al-Rifa'i, may God have mercy on him, and the

senior scholars left you upon?

What is your opinion, Sheikh?

Praise be to God.

The current government,

or the brothers who carried out this movement,

came from the Wahhabi school.

For years, they were extremists.

In fact, they were takfiris.

They used to declare others unbelievers. There were disputes between us and them.

I was in Turkey.

I was in Turkey, and there were many intermediaries

who met with them. I refused to meet with them as long as they remained upon

this approach.

I said no. The Turks intervened on my behalf, the Turkish government intervened

for me to meet him. I said no,

I will not meet him. I remained that way until shortly before the liberation of

Damascus, shortly before the liberation.

He announced in al-Sham, he announced

that he had abandoned extremism and al-Nusra.

Wahhabism and so on, and he is with Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah.

The Ash'aris, praising the Ash'aris, and the Twelvers, and so on.

We are an open country, a country of prosperity.

He called me and said, "This is my situation," meaning,

"Praise be to God, I am among Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah."

And, I mean, no, not at all. There was no disagreement

between me and you, and that your country is such and such.

He asked me to

meet with him, so I met

with him. So I arranged the meeting, meaning, between

him and me.

And he asked—

He had previously believed that

there should not be a Grand Mufti in Syria.

No Grand Mufti at all, meaning, it was unnecessary, because he knew that the Grand Mufti

would be from Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah. And he was afraid.

But when I met with him, I told him,

I mean, I am

the Mufti of the Syrian opposition.

I was elected by

the Syrian Islamic Council and the Syrian Fatwa Council.

They consist of scholars, scholars of Syria, most of whom are

in Syria and throughout the diaspora around the world.

I told him, "But I wanted to be Mufti against my will."

This was in 2012, before Syria fell. So I told

him, "Sheikh, I joined the Syrian Islamic Council." He asked me how...

Did I want it? I assigned this task to others.

I mentioned so-and-so and nominated so-and-so, so-and-so. He would accept no one but me.

I told him, "Now, I don't want this fatwa position."

This

should not be bought from the office of the Mufti. The office of the Mufti is a

very important symbol.

Every country in the Islamic world has a Mufti,

a Sheikh al-Islam, or a head of religious affairs, a symbol, meaning

it exists, there is no giving it up. And I do not want this.

I nominated four or five scholars for you in Damascus.

They are more competent and better than me at issuing fatwas.

And do not do what Bashar al-Assad did, he abolished

the entire office of the fatwa. He abolished it, abolished it completely.

And you would be a role model for all the countries of the Islamic world.

He said, "Right."

Then he asked to meet with me again.

And he said, "We

met with the brothers whose

names

you mentioned. They refused to serve in the fatwa office as long as

Sheikh al-Rifa'i is there. No, no."

So they all refused. Then he mentioned others.

They also refused. So you must be the Mufti.

I said, "All right, God willing."

Sir.

He and the upper echelon of his group

They agree with us completely, and every—every matter

that pleases us in religious matters

or scientific matters,

they support us in it,

and they do not cling to some minor issue they cling to.

I mean,

whether it is from their hearts or politics, God knows. We leave them to God Almighty.

Almighty. I mean, we entrust, we entrust their inner intentions to God,

the Exalted. That is how they are with us.

But they are a lower tier, not their senior tier.