Is the Prophetic Hadith: "For my Ummah to spend an era under an oppressive ruler is better than for it to spend a single night without a ruler," authentic?
The saying "Sixty years under an oppressive ruler is better than one night without a ruler" is not a prophetic hadith; rather, it is from the words of some of the Salaf, and it is sound. Governing the affairs of people is a great obligation, and neither religion nor worldly life can be established without it, because people need to gather together and thus need a leader. Power and governance are essential for establishing religion, including enjoining good and forbidding evil, jihad, justice, and enforcing the hudud punishments. For this reason, the Salaf used to supplicate for the ruler. The Shari'ah came to achieve benefits and minimize harms, and the existence of a ruler serves this purpose; thus, sixty years under an unjust ruler are better than one night without a ruler.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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