You have done well, O wise brother! You read the book Return to Islam carefully and then read it again, free from imitation, fanaticism, arrogance, and being swayed by the enemies’ whispers until you understood it well. Then you came to us to clarify what was unclear to you, unlike the ignorant who do not open it except with negative thoughts, do not read it except with carelessness and hastiness, and are swayed by all the gossip and rumors they hear about it, and if something from it is unclear to them, they do not come to us to clarify it, but they go to their devils who mislead them without knowledge, commanding imitation upon them and prohibiting them from listening to the word and following the best of it. ﴿يَقُولُونَ إِنْ أُوتِيتُمْ هَذَا فَخُذُوهُ وَإِنْ لَمْ تُؤْتَوْهُ فَاحْذَرُوا ۚ وَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ فِتْنَتَهُ فَلَنْ تَمْلِكَ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا ۚ أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُطَهِّرَ قُلُوبَهُمْ ۚ لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌ ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ﴾[1]; “They say: ‘If you are given this, then accept it, but if not, then beware.’ And whomever Allah wills to put to trial, you do not possess for him any protection against Allah. These are the ones whose hearts Allah does not intend to purify. For them, there is disgrace in the world, and for them, there is a great punishment in the Hereafter.”

In response to your question, we say that the obligation and prohibition of establishing Islamic hudud on those who fall short do not stem from the same perspective so that they would be contradictory. Rather, they stem from two different perspectives, as is the case with the combination of religious command and prohibition regarding a single matter, when an obligatory action like prayer is combined with a forbidden action like usurpation, such as one who usurps a person’s place to perform prayer there; because it is clear that in this case, performing prayer is forbidden from the perspective of usurpation, but obligatory from the perspective of being a prescribed act of worship. There is no contradiction here because of the difference in the perspectives. This is the case with the obligation and prohibition of establishing Islamic hudud on those who fall short. It is most likely that this comes under the heading of the prohibition of doing something that has a prerequisite before fulfilling the prerequisite; just as performing prayer is obligatory but not permissible for one who is not in a state of purity, so much so that if he performs prayer without being pure, he has sinned. There is no contradiction in this; because the prohibition of performing prayer at the time when it becomes obligatory is an incidental matter that arises from the obligated person’s bad choice. Furthermore, the obligation to establish Islamic hudud on Muslims is an “implicit obligation”; meaning that it is obligatory as part of the establishment of the entire Islam and is not obligatory in isolation; similar to bowing that is obligatory to be performed in prayer and is not considered obligatory outside of it. However, since prayer is obligatory, bowing is also obligatory as a consequence of it. Therefore, if one who does not perform prayer performs bowing, he has not performed prayer to the extent of his bowing, nor has he earned the reward for bowing in prayer. Rather, his bowing is not accepted and does not count toward his prayer at all; because bowing has been legislated as a part of prayer. This is the case with the establishment of Islamic hudud; because it is obligatory as part of the establishment of the entire Islam and is not considered obligatory outside of it. However, since the establishment of the entire Islam is obligatory, the establishment of Islamic hudud is also obligatory as a consequence of it. Therefore, if a man establishes an Islamic punishment before establishing the preceding Islamic rulings, he has not acted justly nor earned a reward. Rather, he has committed injustice and sin; because the Islamic punishment has been legislated as one of the proportionate rulings of Islam and will be established as part of establishing them all. This is a very subtle and profound point that His Eminence Allamah has clarified in the topic “Establishing some parts of Islam is contingent on establishing the entirety of it” from the book Return to Islam, where he has said:

The penal rulings of Islam have been made with regard to the full realization of Islam and in proportion to the time and place in which the other rulings of Islam have been applied as deterrent factors and there is no motive for committing crimes with their application, and therefore, committing them in this situation is unnatural and requires a prescribed punishment. As for example, the ruling of amputation of a thief’s hand has been made with regard to the full realization of Islam and in proportion to the time and place in which the economic rulings and deterrent measures of Islam have been established, such as the fair distribution of wealth and the payment of Zakat and Khums, not the time and place in which the economic rulings of Islam have not been established, the distribution of wealth in them is unfair, and Zakat and Khums are not being paid as they must, and therefore, there is a reason for theft and what deters it is missing. This means that if a person commits theft during the government of other than Islam and in a place where its specific and general rulings are not applied, then he does not deserve the punishment prescribed for theft, and imposing it on him is unfair and contrary to the intention of the Legislator. As the application of other penal rulings is subject to the realization of the Islamic government and the application of the original form and the entirety of the rulings of Islam, and before that, it is neither useful nor appropriate; because Allah has legislated these rulings to be implemented in His government and in proportion to the time and place in which a person on behalf of Him, who has full knowledge about the entirety of them and full ability to apply them to their examples, takes the reins of affairs, and based on these two advantages, he exercises His government and manifests His justice; as the main executor of His rulings at the time of their revelation was the Prophet, and this fact has been influential and taken into consideration in their legislation; to the extent that it is not unlikely that if these rulings had been revealed to one other than him or to one who was not like him, they would have had a different nature.[2]

As a result, it is obligatory for Muslims to establish Islamic hudud by bringing the Mahdi to the open and having him rise to power. If they fail to do so, their establishment of Islamic hudud would be like performing prayer without wudu. This is one of the interpretations of the words of Allah Almighty, where He has said: ﴿وَلَيْسَ الْبِرُّ بِأَنْ تَأْتُوا الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهَا وَلَكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنِ اتَّقَى ۗ وَأْتُوا الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ أَبْوَابِهَا ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ﴾[3]; “And it is not a righteous act to enter houses from the back, but righteousness is to be pious and enter the houses from the front door. And fear Allah so that you may succeed.”