Dr. Bilal Philips said, “People split away with truth by using classical authentic hadeeth of Rasulullah (ﷺ): “Whoever dies without having an oath of allegiance to a leader around the neck, dies as a people of Jaahiliyyah.” Kindly explain.

The hadeeth makes it clear that it is binding upon Muslims to show obedience to the just Muslim ruler and give allegiance to him as long as he does not call to a sin. It does not mean that every single person in an Islamic State has to come and pledge allegiance to the ruler, because the bai‘ah or oath of allegiance is required only of the leading members and scholars of the community and their followers will be considered to upheld the pledge. That is why, the people of Makkah, for example, did not need to come and pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr, because the major Companions in Madeenah had already done so, and their pledge sufficed them all.

When Imam Ahmad was asked about the meaning of this hadeeth, he replied: “Do you know what an imam is? The imam is the one around whom the Muslims are united. All of them say that he is the imam, and this is what it means.” [This statement was related by Muhammad b. Ishâq in his Masâ’il (2/185) and by al-Khallâl in al-Imân]

Al-Nawawi (رحمه الله) said in Sharh Saheeh Muslim:

With regard to bai'ah (oath of allegiance): the scholars are agreed that in order for it to be valid it is not essential for all the people or all the decision makers to give their bai'ah. Rather, if bai'ah is given by those scholars and people of virtue and status who are present, that is sufficient. It is not obligatory for each person to come to the leader and put his hand in his and give his oath of allegiance to him. Rather what is required of each individual is to submit to him and not go against him or rebel against him.

What is narrated in the ahaadeeth narrated in the books of Sunnah about bai'ah refers to giving allegiance to the Muslim leader, such as when the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

“Whoever dies and did not make an oath of allegiance (to the Muslim leader) has died a death of jaahiliyyah.” [2]

And he (ﷺ) said:

“Whoever gives his oath of allegiance to a leader and gives him his hand and his heart, let him obey him as much as he can. If another one comes and disputes with him (for leadership), kill the second one.” [3]

And he (ﷺ) said:

“If allegiance is given to two khaleefahs, then kill the second of them.” [4]

All of that undoubtedly has to do with giving allegiance to the Muslim leader.

Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allah preserve him) said, answering a question about giving allegiance to the various groups: bai'ah only has to do with the leader of the Muslims; these various bai'ahs are innovated and they are among the causes of division. The Muslims who are living in one country or one kingdom should have one allegiance to one leader; it is not permissible to have several kinds of bai'ah. [5]

With regard to how the allegiance should be given to the leader, in the case of men it is done in word and in deed, namely with a handshake. In the case of women, it is done by word only. This is proven in the ahaadeeth which speak of how allegiance was given to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).

For example, ‘Aa’ishah (رضى الله عنها) said:

“No, by Allaah, the hand of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never touched the hand of any (non-mahram) woman. Rather he would accept their allegiance (bai'ah) in words only.” [6]

Al-Nawawi (رحمه الله) said in his Sharh (commentary): “This indicates that for women, allegiance is given in words only, without taking the hand of the leader, and for men it is done in words and by taking his hand."

Under circumstances where there is no imam as defined by Islamic Law, or where allegiance is demanded on something other than the Qur’ân and Sunnah, then it is not permissible to offer the oath of allegiance. This is clear from the following hadeeth related by Hudhayfah b. al-Yamân:

“There are those who invite from the gates of Hell, and anyone who accepts their invitation will be cast therein.”

I said: “O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us.”

He said: “They are people from our own country who speak our language.”

I asked: “So what do you bid me to do if I come across them?”

He (ﷺ) said: “Stay with the community of Muslims and their imam. If the Muslims have no community and no imam, then turn away from all of those sects, even if it means you having to adhere to the trunk of a tree until death overtakes you.” [7]

The point of this is that the oath of allegiance (bai'ah) is not obligatory except when the conditions for it are met – like the existence of a recognized imam for the Muslims – and in the absence of factors that legally prevent it from being obligatory. However, it does not matter, with respect to the obligation of offering one's allegiance, if the imam exhibits sinful or oppressive qualities.

The hadeeth does not mean, as the questioner seems to have understood, that a person must give his allegiance to anybody, no matter who they are, in order to avoid the negative consequences mentioned in the hadeeth.

The proof for this is that the narrator of the hadeeth, Ibn `Umar – who knew its meaning better than anyone and was very committed to putting it into practice – went for a period of time without giving his oath of allegiance to anyone.

The first time he refrained from offering his oath of allegiance was during the period of disagreement between `Alî and Mu`âwiyah (رضى الله عنهما). He remained in this way until Mu`âwiyah made peace with al-Hasan and the people gave their oath of allegiance to him. He then gave his oath of allegiance to Yazîd after the death of his father Mu`âwiyah, because the people had united around him.

He again refrained from giving an oath of allegiance to anyone during the disagreement that followed until Ibn Zubayr was killed. When the government was again united under `Abd al-Malik b. Marwân, Ibn `Umar (رضى الله عنهما) again offered his oath of allegiance. [Refer to Fath al-Bârî (13/195) and al-Bidâyah wa al-Nihâyah (3/30)] [8]

References:

[1] [Sharh Riyaad-is-Saaliheen Vol 3 p 656-657]

[2] [Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1851]

[3] [Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1844]

[4] [Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1853]

[5] [al-Muntaqa min Fataawa al-Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, 1/367]

[6] [Sahih Bukhaari, Hadith 5288]

[7] [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim]

[8] The above is based on a from an article taken from : http://en.islamtoday.net/node/1686   and from http://islamqa.com/en/ref/23320/%E2%80%9CWhoever%20dies%20without%20an%20oath%20of%20allegiance