One matter that has been excluded from the obligation of obeying the ruler is when He orders a sin. This exclusion has been confirmed by text. Nafi’ reported on the authority of Ibnu ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said;

“It is obligatory upon a Muslim that He should listen and obey whether He likes it or not, except when He is ordered to commit a sinful act. If He is ordered to do a sinful act, a Muslim should neither listen nor obey.” [Narrated by Muslim] The subject being addressed here is the case of a ruler ordering a Muslim to commit sin. It does not address the issue of a ruler being sinful. If the ruler committed the sin before you, without ordering you to commit it, you still have to obey him. Muslim reported on the authority of ‘Awf Ibnu Malik Al- Ashjai’, He said; “I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say:

‘The best of your Imams are those whom you love and they love you, and whom you pray for and they pray for you, and the worst of your Imams are those whom you hate and they hate you and you curse them and they curse you.’We asked; ‘O Messenger of Allah, shall we not then declare war on them?’ He (pbuh) said; ‘No, as long as they establish prayer among you. Beware! Whoever has a Waali (ruler) appointed over Him and He saw Him commit an act of disobedience to Allah, He should hate the Waali’s act of disobedience to Allah, but should not withdraw his hand from obedience.’”

This serves as an evidence that what is intended by ordering a sinful act is ordering of the act itself by the ruler rather than the ruler himself committing it. If the ruler is seen committing a sin, it would not be lawful to disobey him, but if He ordered somebody to disobey Allah, then He should not be obeyed for there is no obedience to any created person in an act of disobedience to the Creator.

This is the only case when disobedience to the ruler is lawful and obligatory, namely when He orders a sinful act. It must be known without doubt that what has been ordered is truly a sin, such as if He orders one to take usury. If however, his order is to perform something that in his opinion is lawful but may be considered unlawful by others, He should be obeyed and it is not allowed to disobey him. This would not be considered an order to commit a sin, but an order to commit a lawful act. For instance, if one is ordered, against one’s own opinion, to have a photograph taken for an official transaction by the ruler, He should be obeyed. For the ruler deems that the Hadith of Ibnu ‘Abbas that prohibits photographing refers to the manual drawing and sketching, but does not apply to the photographic picture. Accordingly, this is evidence or probable evidence in his view. Therefore, his order to use a photographic picture in the official transactions or documents is not an order to commit a sin. He should therefore be obeyed and it would be unlawful to disobey him.