Please note the following:

1. Repelling the more corrupt by the corrupt is reasonable only if there is no third option that is better than both of them and can be attained. His Eminence Mansoor has called out to people, informing them that there is someone better than all the corrupt individuals they elect in their elections, and that is Imam Mahdi whom the Messenger of Allah gave them the glad tidings of him and promised that he would fill the earth with justice and equity as it has been filled with oppression and cruelty, and he can be reached by preparing the ground for his advent in a known manner. Therefore, there is no reason at all to repel the more corrupt by the corrupt; as His Eminence Mansoor has explained in one of his letters, stating after talking about the corruption of rulers who claim that their rule is Islamic:

Do not let Satan deceive you that you would have the illusion of emergency and say: “These are better than others for us, there is no choice for us other than them, and we are repelling the worse by utilizing the bad”; because if you are pious, do not be satisfied with the bad, and avoid taghut, Allah will make a way out for you from where you do not expect, grant you a double portion of His mercy, provide for you a light by which you walk, and forgive the failures of your past; because He is indeed the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful; as He has said: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ اجْتَنَبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ أَنْ يَعْبُدُوهَا وَأَنَابُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ لَهُمُ الْبُشْرَى﴾[1]; “And those who avoided worshiping taghut and turned toward Allah, there will be good tidings for them.” Now I give you good tidings that Allah has never left His servants to choose between the bad and the worse, and He is too Wise and too Generous to do so, but rather He has set the good for them beyond the bad and the worse, but most of them do not know. I have come to you now to inform you about it and reveal it after a period that has been prolonged for you so that you may gain insight. Now I have brought you a message in which there is relief for you, and perhaps Allah has started something that is hidden from you; because He has power over all things. So if my feet remain firmly on the earth and those who do not want Allah to be worshiped on it do not remove me from it, I will speak to you and show you the truth, to an extent that children will memorize it and housewives will describe it, and if my feet are seized and I am removed from the earth, I have no fear; because I am not better than my fathers.[2]

He has explicitly stated in his other works that the righteous man whom he calls on people to elect instead of their corrupt and more corrupt individuals is Imam Mahdi, who will come without the slightest doubt on a day when they ensure his protection and support sufficiently, whether he is alive now, as this great scholar believes, or not alive, as others assume. This is what he meant by his statement, of which one of his companions informed us, he said:

«كَانَتِ انْتِخَابَاتٌ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ فَقَالَ لِيَ الْمَنْصُورُ: هَلِ انْتَخَبَ النَّاسُ سُلْطَانَهُمْ؟ قُلْتُ: نَعَمْ، انْتَخَبُوا فُلَانًا! قَالَ: لَوِ انْتَخَبُوا الْمَهْدِيَّ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ! قُلْتُ: مَا كَانَ مُرَشَّحًا فِيهَا جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ! قَالَ: مَا مِنِ انْتِخَابَاتٍ إِلَّا وَهُوَ مُرَشَّحٌ فِيهَا، وَلَكِنَّ النَّاسَ لَا يَنْتَخِبُونَهُ»; “An election was held in the city. Then Mansoor said to me: ‘Did people elect their ruler?’ I said: ‘Yes, they elected so-and-so!’ He said: ‘If they had elected the Mahdi, it would have been better for them!’ I said: ‘He was not a candidate in it, may I be sacrificed for you!’ He said: ‘There is no election unless he is a candidate in it, but people do not elect him.’”

It is clear that Imam Mahdi is not a candidate in any election in the apparent sense of being one of the known candidates in it. However, he is a candidate in every election in a spiritual sense, meaning that he is one of those whom people can choose whenever they want to choose a ruler, as if he is one of the candidates in every election. This is by way of simile and metaphor, not by way of literal sense as some superficial people who are stuck to words claim.

2. It is permissible to repel the more corrupt by the corrupt only if the cycle between them does not arise from the obligated person’s bad choice. If the cycle between them arises from the obligated person’s bad choice, then ﴿ذَلِكَ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاكَ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَيْسَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ﴾[3]; “this is for what your hands have sent forth, and Allah is not unjust to (His) servants”; as He has said: ﴿فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ﴾[4]; “Whoever is forced by necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, no sin is upon him.” However, this is desiring and exceeding the limit; therefore there is a sin upon him. His Eminence Mansoor has explained it in his books, letters, and pure sayings, stating that the difficulty of reaching Imam Mahdi arises from people’s negligence in protecting and supporting him and their preoccupation with scattered rulers other than him. Now, if we assume that they have no choice but to elect the corrupt or the more corrupt, then it arises from their bad choice. Therefore, it is not considered an excuse for them to elect the corrupt, but rather they are sinful for electing him and will be punished for it, even if they have no choice but to do so, ﴿وَمَا ظَلَمَهُمُ اللَّهُ وَلَكِنْ كَانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ﴾[5]; “and Allah has not wronged them, but they have wronged themselves.”

3. The only justification for repelling the more corrupt by the corrupt is when it is known which one is corrupt and which one is more corrupt! But how would people know that?! ﴿أَوَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِمَا فِي صُدُورِ الْعَالَمِينَ﴾[6]; “Does Allah not know better what is in the hearts of people of the world?!” And that ﴿وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَفْعَلُونَ﴾[7]; “He knows best what they do”?! There are many men who pretend to be good while they are the worst of people, and there are many men whom people think are evil while they are among the best of them; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ الْخِصَامِ ۝ وَإِذَا تَوَلَّى سَعَى فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَسَادَ﴾[8]; “And among people is he whose speech pleases you in the life of the world, and he calls Allah to witness what is in his heart, yet he is the fiercest of opponents; and when he gains power, he strives on the earth to cause corruption on it and destroy crops and lives, while Allah does not like corruption,” and said: ﴿وَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَى أَنْ تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ﴾[9]; “And perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you, and perhaps you like a thing and it is evil for you, and Allah knows and you do not know.” Also, it may be that one who pretends to be a believer is worse than one who pretends to be a disbeliever; because the latter is a disbeliever, while the former is a hypocrite, and the hypocrite is worse and more harmful to Islam and Muslims than the disbeliever; like the rulers of Iran who claim that their rule is Islamic and they are followers of the Ahl al-Bayt, while they have broken the back of Islam with their evil deeds and shown enmity to His Eminence Mansoor who invites people toward the rule of the Ahl al-Bayt, or like the rulers of Saudi Arabia who claim that they spread monotheism and are leaders of the Islamic states, while they are the furthest people from monotheism and the most loyal to the enemies of Muslims. Then how would people distinguish between the corrupt and the more corrupt?!