بسم اﷲ الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, to proceed:
Springing from Allah’s saying:
...فَمَا وَهَنُوا لِمَا أَصَابَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ وَمَا ضَعُفُوا وَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا ۗ وَاللَّـهُ يُحِبُّ الصَّابِرِينَ
...But they never lost heart for that which did befall them in Allah's Way, nor did they weaken nor degrade themselves. And Allah loves As-Sabirin. [ali-Imran 3:146]
…and the Prophet's (ﷺ) saying:
A man from those before you, would have a hole dug into the earth, and he would be cast in it, and a saw would be brought and placed upon his head, his head between the meat and bone being scraped by iron, and none of this would cause him to return (apostate) from his religion...
and ‘Umar bin al-Khattab's saying:
We are a people whom Allah honoured with Islam, so if we seek honour in other than it, Allah will humiliate us with it
and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah’s, may Allah be merciful to him, saying:
What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart, if I get killed then it is martyrdom, if I am imprisoned, then my imprisonment is seclusion, if I am expelled, then my expulsion is tourism
as well as al-Jurjani’s saying:
I write these words, and I declare before that that I have dug a grave in my cell, and divorced this world thrice and have cut any link between it and me; and after this I say, and rely upon Allah and seek His help:
Firstly: I announce my recantation from the "so-called recantation", and my repentance from the "so-called repentance”, and that I still stand by the statement I produced on the 2/5/1424AH.
Secondly: I announce my deep regret from my great mistake and major fault, in responding to the government and going on television, and if I were asked to repeat such a thing, I would not regardless of the consequences, but Allah decreed otherwise and He does as He wishes.
Thirdly: I did not regret over anything committed before prison, and as for my previous compromise with the government, then I was a muta`awwil in that, thinking I was mukrah (compelled), and Allah, glory be to Him says:
...إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ...
...Except he who is compelled, and his breast is tranquil with faith... [an-Nahl 16:106]
…and it has been authenticated from ‘Umar, that prison is a form of compulsion, as he said:
Four are all compulsion; imprisonment, torment, chaining and threatening.
And he also said:
A man does not guarantee himself if he is chained or tormented.
And Ibn Mas’ud said:
There is no word that will protect me from two lashes, except that I will say it.
And when al-Ma`mun put the Salaf into trials regarding the issue of the creation of the Qur’an, most of them responded muta`awilin. So I found in this a licence, and in the Salaf an example for me, and did what I did. But when I saw the state taking advantage of this in the worst forms to tarnish our image and the image of the Jihad and the Mujahideen, and in return presenting itself as a pure Islamic state, even though (in reality) it is from the Crusaders greatest supporters in their current campaign against Islam and its people - I saw it wrong for me to remain in this ta`awwul, and that it was time for me to go forth and announce the truth, whatever the results.
Fourthly: I still make takfeer of the state, and have not recanted from that. In fact, its disbelief has only increased in my eyes, for I have seen, during the interrogations how the state cares more for the crusaders then the crusaders care for themselves. Furthermore, the state has come to boast in the media and announce that she and the crusaders are in one trench, and this is apostasy by consensus - and from those who mentioned this consensus are Shaykh Ibn Baz, may Allah be merciful to him - nay, the state has even crossed the lines of muthaharah of the disbelievers over Muslims, in an attempt to change the religion of the Muslims, in order to please the crusaders, as was declared by the Minister of Education that the religious curriculum will be altered and al-Wala wal-Bara removed from it, even though al-Wala wal-Bara is the foundation of the religion of Islam, so what disbelief is there after this disbelief? And what apostasy is greater than this apostasy?
Fifthly: That, if the evidence by which to prove the disbelief of this government is strength and imprisonment, then the government will be victorious because it possesses this evidence when I do not, but if the evidence to prove the disbelief of the state is the Qur’an, Sunnah and sound knowledge and proofs, then I will be victorious without a doubt. And I challenge all the scholars of this state, and at the head of them the mufti, for an open debate on this matter, and I swear by Allah that I will prove the disbelief of this state by means of the Book, Sunnah, consensus and sayings of the scholars from all the schools of thought, and even from the scholars of this state such as Shaykh Muhammad bin 'Abdil-Wahhab, may Allah be merciful to him, until Shaykh Ibn Baz, may Allah be merciful to him. I had written the third part of “At-Tibyan fi Kufri Man A'an al-Amrikan” and it was entitled, “The Cooperation of the Saudi Government in the Crusaders Campaign”, and I mentioned in it over thirty quotes taken from the scholars of this state - the first, second and third - all affirming its disbelief and apostasy from Islam, and the handwritten copy is with the intelligence service.
Sixthly: I belief Jihad to be fardh 'ayn, and this is by consensus, for all the scholars mention the ways by which Jihad becomes an individual obligation, (and one of them) is when the enemy enters the lands of the Muslims and not enough repel it; and the enemy has entered the land of the Muslims from all sides as we see, and in this situation no leader is to be asked for permission, even if he were from the righteous khulafa’. So what of the one who allies with the disbelievers and assists them?
Seventhly: I am honoured and pleased with all that I had released of verdicts, statements, books, articles, such as “At-Tibyan fi Kufri Man A'an al-Amrikan”, “At-Tabyin limakhatir at-tatbi’ ‘alal-Muslimin” [Clarifying the Dangers of the Peace Process upon the Muslims] and “Hukm Istikhdam Aslihat adDamar ash-Shamil ” [The Ruling on Using Weapons of Mass Destruction] and others, and I praise Allah for them. And if I was able, I would have released a fatwa on the obligation of Jihad in ‘Iraq.
Eighthly: I am honoured and pleased with my Jihad against the crusaders and their allies by way of tongue and pen, and by Allah I wish that I had done Jihad against them with my hands.
Ninthly: As for clashing with the state, then I used to advise the youth to avoid it due to the inequality in powers, and because the state will use it as a way to filter the youth one after the other, and to fill the prisons with them and what I was expecting has indeed happened, except that I affirm and admit that I do not regret over anything in the same manner that I regret over my submission to the state when they came to arrest me and did not repel, and I swear by Allah, that if I were to return I would have left the state arrest me as a finished corpse, but Allah decreed and whatever He wishes, occurs.
Tenthly: I support the Mujahid hero, Usamah bin Ladin, may Allah preserve him and grant him victory, and I (say this) enraging the tughat, and I consider him to be from the heroes of Islam, and as for those who talk about him (in a bad manner), and say, “Look at what has befallen the ummah because of him,” then this is the path of Jihad filled with corpses, blood, toil, tears and sweat, and for that reason its virtues were great, and its end praiseworthy. And what is being said of Shaykh Ibn Ladin now was said to Shaykh Muhammad bin 'Abdil-Wahhab may Allah be merciful to him. Because Shaykh Muhammad – when he used Jihad to spread Tawheed, and the foreign powers in those days campaigned against it and destroyed it, many scholars spoke (evil) about him and (claimed) that he was a cause in its destruction. So here is history repeating itself; the Taliban collapsed in the same manner the first state collapsed, and Afghanistan was invaded in the same manner that the Arabian Peninsula was invaded. And the Muslims in Afghanistan were killed in the same manner that the Muslims were killed in the Arabian Peninsula. And the towns and villages were destroyed in Afghanistan in the same manner that ad-Dir'iyyah and others were destroyed in the Arabian Peninsula. And the Muslims were taken prisoners to Guantanamo as were the Muslims from the Peninsula taken to Egypt and Istanbul, and al-Mulla ‘Umar and Ibn Ladin hid in the mountains of Afghanistan, as did Imam Turki bin 'Abdillah - King ‘Abdil’-Aziz's grandfather - hid in caves, south of Riyadh; still known till today as the Turki Cave. And then he was killed and then crucified for three days then his corpse was thrown into the sea, may Allah be merciful to him, and then what? The Uthmani state, and the Pasha state of Egypt and all those who fought the call of Shaykh Muhammad bin 'Abdil-Wahhab were destroyed and became history after they (existed in) reality, and the call of Shaykh Muhammad remained and spread and this state remained, due to the blessings of that call - even though this state (later) disowned it - and likewise were all the great calls for reform. And from them, is this call of Shaykh Ibn Ladin, may Allah preserve him, it will remain, and all those who fought it will disappear by the permission and power of Allah.
Eleventh: The state fights two things, and had it not been for them, it would have not been established, and they are: Tawheed, which it refers to as takfeer – and Jihad, which it refers to as terrorism. And had it not been for these two things, then this state would have not been established and al-Sa'ud would have not come to rule, for Imam Muhammad bin Sa'ud, may Allah be merciful to him, did not rule except his village ad-Dir'iyyah and did not have any power or authority over anything else, until Shaykh Muhammad bin 'Abdil-Wahhab, may Allah be merciful to him, came in 1158 and agreed with him to spread Tawheed with the sword and they begun the Jihad, and they rebelled upon six of the rulers of the Uthmani state, beginning with Sultan Uthman III until Sultan Mahmud ‘Adli II. And they fought them with the sword. And likewise was the second and third state. And had it not been the shortness of time, I would have mentioned what verdicts I have memorised of the takfeeri irhabi verdicts for the scholars of the state, during its three phases. And had it not been for these two matters, which the state fights severely these days, then it would have not been formed in the first place, and Allah says:
وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَالَكُم...
...And if you turn back He will bring in your place another people, then they will not be like you. [Muhammad 47:38]
Twelfth: The state has begun to turn right and left trying to understand the cause behind what they call violence and terrorism. And it has killed the youth and filled the prisons and shut the mouths, and fought the callers, and changed the religious curriculum, and allowed the secularists to have authority in the people, and granted the crusaders power over the land, and became blind to the greatest reasons for this and the most important - the policies of the government itself. For this peninsula is the peninsula of Islam, and the land of Muhammad (ﷺ) and it cannot be ruled by other than the legislation of Islam. And this peninsula was protected by Allah for fourteen centuries from colonialism until this state came and placed bases for the crusaders and turned the peninsula of Islam into a theatre for the crusaders to fulfil their plans at attacking Islam and its people. For when Bush announced his first crusading campaign against Afghanistan, it was being launched from the Prince Sultan Base. And when the second crusade campaign against Iraq was announced it was being launched from the same base and then this state become more subservient to the crusaders by changing the curriculum of the Muslims to please them. And it is these reasons and their like that have caused this phase to come about, so if the state wishes to cure this then let it cure itself first, and even if you do kill (all) those youth or the one who is writing these lines, will this phase come to end? And I say that if the policies of the last state produced one ‘Ibn Ladin’ then the present policies will produce a thousand Ibn Ladins, “… and you will remember what I say.” [Ghafir 40:44]
Finally: And in conclusion, this is a summary of what I wanted to write. And I write it with full freedom and intent, discharging my responsibility, advising the ummah, and in correction of the mistake that I committed, and if the government has a greater form of punishment than killing and crucifying then let it implement it upon me and not hesitate in doing so at all.
I being killed as a Muslim,
Do not mind how I am killed in Allah's Cause.
...فَعَلَى اللَّـهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ فَأَجْمِعُوا أَمْرَكُمْ وَشُرَكَاءَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُنْ أَمْرُكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ غُمَّةً ثُمَّ اقْضُوا إِلَيَّ وَلَا تُنظِرُونِ
Then I put my trust in Allah. So devise your plot, you and your partners, and let not your plot be in doubt for you. Then pass your sentence on me and give me no respite. [Yunus 10:71]
I ask Allah to make me firm upon my religion and to take my soul when I am not trial (in my religion), too lenient or extreme, and may Allah send His peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and companions.
Affirming what is in it,
Nasir bin Hamad bin Humayd al-Fahd
Monday night, the eve of Tuesday 25/12/1424 AH [* this indicates that this letter was actually written roughly 10 months ago and it was made public now, by the permission of Allah, despite the plots of His enemies.] [Signed with the left thumb]
Translated by at-Tibyan Publications