and: ﴿وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا أَهْوَاءَ قَوْمٍ قَدْ ضَلُّوا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَأَضَلُّوا كَثِيرًا وَضَلُّوا عَنْ سَوَاءِ السَّبِيلِ﴾[1]; “And do not follow the desires of a group who went astray before, misled many, and got lost in the middle of the path,” and: ﴿وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا﴾[2]; “And do not obey one whose heart We made heedless of Our remembrance, who followed his own desires, and whose affair was excessive,” and: ﴿وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ﴾[3]; “And do not follow the way of corrupters,” and: ﴿وَلَا تَتَّبِعَانِّ سَبِيلَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾[4]; “And do not follow the way of those who do not know,” and: ﴿وَلَا تُطِعْ مِنْهُمْ آثِمًا أَوْ كَفُورًا﴾[5]; “And do not obey any sinner or ungrateful person among them.” Rather, He has considered obedience to them as an excuse worse than the sin made up by the people of Hell and a source of their regret and remorse in the Hereafter, saying: ﴿وَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا إِنَّا أَطَعْنَا سَادَتَنَا وَكُبَرَاءَنَا فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلَا ۝ رَبَّنَا آتِهِمْ ضِعْفَيْنِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ وَالْعَنْهُمْ لَعْنًا كَبِيرًا﴾[6]; “And they say: ‘O Lord! We obeyed our leaders and elders, then they misled us. O Lord! Give them double the punishment and curse them with a great curse.’”

[The Non-Obligation of Obeying Oppressive Rulers]

Nevertheless, it is strange that since the first Islamic century, following the Umayyads’ rise to power and under the influence of their propaganda, many Muslims have considered obedience to their oppressive rulers obligatory and a belief of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah. Relying on a misinterpretation of several ahad reports that contradict the explicit text of the Quran, they have insisted that removing them from power is not permissible, even if their opposition to the intellect and Sharia is apparent. However, this necessitates the obligation to oppose the intellect and Sharia, which is impossible; considering that the sovereignty of oppressors is not possible without obedience to them, while they rule contrary to the intellect and Sharia due to their being oppressors. Therefore, the obligation to obey them conflicts with the obligation to obey the intellect and Sharia, and these two cannot be reconciled.