Shaikh Muqbil on the Justness of Ahlus-Sunnah in Jarh and Ta’deel
December 22, 2013 § Leave a comment
The Imaam of Yemen, Muqbil ibn Haadi al-Waadi’i, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Indeed in His Noble Book, Allaah عز وجل says, “O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allaah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allaah is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allaah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted.” [Nisaa 4:135]
And He سبحانه وتعالى said, “O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allaah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just—that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allaah, indeed, Allaah is Acquainted with what you do.” [Maaidah 5:8]
And He سبحانه وتعالى said, “And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid al-Haraam lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allaah, indeed, Allaah is severe in penalty.” [Maaidah 5:2]
And He سبحانه وتعالى said, “Indeed, Allaah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.” [Nahl 16:90]
And He سبحانه وتعالى said, “And when you speak [i.e., testify], be just, even if [it concerns] a near relative.” [An’aam 6:152]
Ahlus-Sunnah are the ones who have the most right and the greatest share of these verses and those proofs similar to them, for if they write, they write what is for them and against them, and if they talk they mention what is for them and against them. They stick to justice whether dealing with those who are close to them or distant, whether an enemy or friend. And if you were to look at the books of Jarh and Ta’deel you will find that they are the epitome of justness: they will disparage a man if he deserves such jarh even if he were one of the heads of the Sunnah, and they will praise a person of innovation with the good that he has if there is a need for that, contrary to the people of desires—for they will praise whoever agrees with their innovations even if he is worthless, and they vilify whoever opposes them even if he were one of the heads of the religion.”
Al-Ilhaad al-Khumaini fi Ardil-Haramain, pp. 1-2.
Ibn Baaz Asked About Interacting with Innovators and Knowing When to Boycott Them or Not
December 22, 2013 § Leave a comment
Questioner: What do you advise us with concerning interacting with innovators who we see and speak to and deal with almost every day?
Ibn Baaz: It is obligatory to boycott them for their innovations, if they openly exhibit innovations then it is obligatory to boycott them after having advised and directed them, because a Muslim advises his brother and warns him from open innovations and sins which Allaah has forbidden him, so if he repents [then that is what is desired] and if not then he deserves to be boycotted, and he is dealt with in this manner so that maybe he will repent, maybe he will feel remorse, maybe he will come back to the truth.
Unless the boycotting will result in something whose end is not praiseworthy, then it is not carried out—if leaving off boycotting is better in terms of [bringing that person closer to the] religion and greater in good and closer to being successful, then he is not to boycott him but instead continues to advise him and warns him about the falsehood [that he is in] and he does not boycott him, hoping that Allaah will guide him due to that.
For the believer is like a doctor, if he sees that a cure is beneficial, he carries it out, and when he sees that it is not, he leaves it—so boycotting falls under the category of being a cure, if it has a good effect and is of benefit, he does so, [implementing it] as a form of cure, [hoping] that he may repent and may turn back from his mistake when he sees that his brothers have ostracised him.
But if the boycotting results in greater evil and an increase in the [number of the] people of evil and helps them—then he is not to be ostracised but rather sincerely advised and directed continually and shown the abhorrence of what he has done and he does not show him that he agrees with the falsehood that he carries out, but [he does] persist in advising him sincerely and directing [him].
Fataawaa Nurun ’alad-Darb, vol. 3, p. 40.
Al-Qurtubi, “There is Nothing More Beneficial for the Hearts Than …”
December 16, 2013 § Leave a comment
Al-Qurtubi said, “The scholars, may Allaah have mercy on them, said, ‘There is nothing more beneficial for the hearts than visiting the graves, especially if the hearts are hard.’”
At-Tadhkirah, p. 132.
Al-’Abbaad on, ‘So and so is an Innovator, if You don’t Call Him an Innovator Then We will Call You an Innovator,’ when Both the One Making that Judgement and the one it is Made Against are from Ahlus-Sunnah and Have the Same Manhaj
December 15, 2013 § 1 Comment
Host: The questioner says, ‘Our Shaikh, may Allaah protect you, it is from the success that Allaah has given us that many of the students of knowledge were present for the [lessons on the] Introduction of Sahih Muslim explained by Your Excellency, only that this blessing, i.e., the principles which Imaam Muslim mentioned have become unclear to some of them such that some of them have applied the principles to some of their [own] brothers from Ahlus-Sunnah.
So when a scholar performs ijtihaad and calls someone an innovator but other people oppose him in that, then they oblige other people to call him an innovator [too] and they then go to the people who oppose them and boycott them and warn against them, believing that that is the methodology of the Salaf even though the ’aqeedah of both parties is one and their methodology is one, and the countries of many of these people are full of shirk and magic and Sufism, so do you have any advice to clarify the truth and bring about unity?
Al-’Abbaad: I say: the person to whom Allaah has granted success must clarify the truth and ask for Allaah’s guidance for the person he is clarifying the truth to, but after that what should not occur from him is to pursue that person [such] that if that person does not respond then he is boycotted and not spoken to like that which some of the small students do—because they know nothing of the religion and [they do this boycotting etc.,] while they are present in Europe and the East and the West, ya’ni, they know nothing about the rudimentary matters of the religion but they have been afflicted with calling people innovators and boycotting, ya’ni, ‘So and so called so and so an innovator so whoever does not call him an innovator then he is an innovator and is to be boycotted,’ this is not the way of the Salaf—Shaikh Ibn Baaz would never do this—how numerous his refutations are but he was [always] busy with knowledge and would not pursue the person that was refuted, he would just make the truth clear and then carry on along the path of the people of knowledge. This is the correct way.
As for what some of the small students who are found in different places do and who have nothing in terms of knowledge, but only, ya’ni, they will meet their brothers and so [then will say], ‘So and so is an innovator, if you don’t call him an innovator [too] then we will call you an innovator,’ and he [i.e., the person they are calling an innovator] is from Ahlus-Sunnah and this is about people from Ahlus-Sunnah, it is not about people from Ahlul-Bid’ah but about people from Ahlus-Sunnah, he did something which is attributed to him, it [i.e., this thing attributed to him] may be correct or it may be incorrect, but [then] doing such [aforementioned] things is not allowed—this is not known from the Salaf of this Ummah: that when one of them would make a mistake that he would then be boycotted and called an innovator and that the people would then be asked to call him an innovator [too] and boycott him, this is not from the manhaj of the Salaf.
And the closest example [is that of] our Shaikh, Shaikh ’Abdul-’Aziz ibn Baaz through whom Allaah brought about benefit and that benefit covered the horizons and much, much good came about at his hands and his refutations are numerous but he was busy with knowledge, it wasn’t his mission, when he did call someone an innovator, to then go and say, ‘This is a must, because if not, whoever does not call him an innovator [too] then he will [also] become an innovator and is to be boycotted,’—Shaikh Ibn Baaz never did this—and nor those on the way of the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him.
Asked on 8/12/2013 in the Prophet’s Mosque.
Al-’Abbaad Asked Whether it is Allowed to Test People Regarding a Particular Person by Asking Them, ‘What do you say about so and so?’
December 14, 2013 § 3 Comments
Questioner: Is it allowed to test people regarding a particular person, such that it is said to one of them, ‘What do you say about so and so?’ and then he is categorised according to his answer?
Al-’Abbaad: Such things are not allowed, this is from the Devil’s manipulation of the people. It is a mistake for them to busy themselves with asking people questions about a person and then to [either] throw away that person who was being tested by that question or bring him close according to the answer that he gives. It is obligatory on everyone person who is sincere to himself to busy himself with seeking knowledge and with that which will benefit him, and not to busy himself with what will harm and not benefit him.
Baab Sharhis-Sunnah min Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud.
Al-’Abbaad Asked if, when a Shaikh Calls Someone an Innovator, the Student is Obliged to Adopt that Stance
December 14, 2013 § 1 Comment
Questioner: If one of the Shaikhs said about someone, ‘He is an innovator,’ is the student obliged to adopt this stance of calling that person an innovator? Or must he know why the person was called an innovator? Because this declaration of a person to be an innovator may have been applied to someone who is on the Sunnah?
Al-’Abbaad: Not everyone’s statements in this issue are accepted, if it comes from someone like Shaikh Ibn Baaz or like Shaikh Ibn ’Uthaimeen then it is possible that his statement is relied on, as for anyone and everyone, then such statements are not taken from them.
Baab maa Jaa’a fi Miqdaar Diyyatidh-Dhimmi min Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud.
Al-‘Abbaad on Rushing to Declare Someone who has the Correct ’Aqeedah to be an Innovator
December 13, 2013 § Leave a comment
Questioner: We want a clarification of the danger of rushing to declare someone who is known to have a sound ’aqeedah to be an innovator or open sinner and the enmity and boycotting and conflict that results from that?
Al-’Abbaad: What is obligatory on every Muslim is to take precautions regarding his religion and himself and that he does not thrust himself into issues whose harm will come back to him, in fact, it is sincere advice between the Muslims that is obligatory and especially between Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah, advising one another, being good to one another, co-operating amongst each other upon good, warning each other from what they may fall into so that they can turn away from it—and after that the people are not divided into those who support this person against that one or that one against this one.
Rather a person strives to make the truth the missing thing he is looking for, and he [should be someone who] loves good for everyone, such that he loves that a person who has made a mistake returns [to the truth].
As for the differing which takes place and busying one’s time with what happens between Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah in terms of the statements they make about each other and the students of knowledge pursuing that and becoming busy with it such that it becomes their one and only concern—then this does not befit a student of knowledge, in fact, the student of knowledge must desire to become busy with knowledge and not busy himself with, ‘So and so said and so and so said,’ it is not allowed for him to pursue the saying of so and so and so and so which he has become busy with because that results in rancour, enmity, boycotting, hatred and alienation.
So what is obligatory is mutual advice one to another, and what is obligatory is that everyone is good to the other and that he loves good for himself, and thus co-operation upon righteousness and piety will occur.
As for splitting Ahlus-Sunnah into disputants and quarrellers, each of them speaking about the other, calling each other innovators, slandering each other, boycotting each other—then there is no benefit in this, only harm. And it would have been fitting for time to have been spent speaking about the enemies of the Sunnah who spread mischief in the land and do not rectify matters.
As for a person who is from Ahlus-Sunnah but who has mistakes, then he is sincerely advised and debated with in a way that is best, and keenness is to be shown for him to be guided and for him to be brought close and not for him to be alienated and thrown away and discarded.
So it is obligatory to be just[ly balanced] and moderate in all matters and not to go to extremes or fall short.
And the declaring of people [from Ahlus-Sunnah] to be obstinate sinners and innovators and the boycotting [that occurs] and so on, this is all from the handiwork of the Devil and from his plots against man, rather what is obligatory, as I indicated, is to be busy with knowledge and not to preoccupy oneself with the things that some of Ahlus-Sunnah say about each other, because that preoccupies [a person] from knowledge and detestable matters result from it like those that I alluded to earlier such as [people then] boycotting each other, and this is wrong—because if everyone who made a mistake were to be boycotted or if everyone who read his books or listened to him were to be boycotted, no one would be exempt from that, because everyone is liable to make mistakes, and some of the scholars, we don’t say many of the scholars, made mistakes, and the people did not boycott them or abandon them or leave their books, rather they benefitted from them, and the person who makes a mistake is rebutted, but that should not be a cause for people to split into parties and factions, for that is from the Devil’s plot for man.
From the Shaikh’s explanation of Abu Dawud.
Al-‘Abbaad asked About People who are Hasty in Declaring Others to be Innovators and the Youth who Busy Themselves with Such Things
December 13, 2013 § Leave a comment
Questioner: What is Your Excellency’s opinion about a person who is hasty in declaring someone to be an innovator or sinner by saying, “The most vile person on earth,” or, “The most harmful of the world,” about a man who is known to have a sound methodology and calls to it and also has blessed efforts in calling to Allaah, and then based upon that he makes it a requirement that whoever does not call him an innovator is boycotted and ostracised, and he turns differences between people into differences in the manhaj and then that results in division amongst the youth and sows enmity between them?
Al-’Abbaad: Statements such as these are clear mistakes, obvious mistakes, it is obligatory to have moderation and to be just[ly balanced] in all affairs and to be careful of the harm of the tongue and what is caused thereby whose ending is not something praiseworthy, and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “Whoever guarantees me [the chastity of] what is between his jaws and his legs, I guarantee him Paradise,” what is being referred to is the tongue and one’s private parts, likewise his saying صلى الله عليه وسلم in his counsel to Mu’aadh, “And are the people thrown on their faces [or he said, ‘on their nostrils’] into the fire for any reason other than the fruits of their tongues?” So it is obligatory for a person to guard his tongue and not to let it loose by talking about things which will harm him.
On top of that, the fact that a person makes a mistake and then, as is said in the question [he is subsequently referred to as being], ‘… more vile then such and such … more dangerous than such and such … more severe than such and such,’ this is also an increase in a person’s harming himself by bringing such exaggerations, by making statements which may not be correct and which are not sound and not in conformation with the reality [of the situation].
Furthermore, the anarchy, the evil suspicion brothers have of each other, the boycotting and so on that occurs because of those statements, all of these are things which are from the handiwork of the Devil, and are things which are from the plots he has for man to make him fall into destructive matters and those things which will result in him being harmed.
So a person must call himself to account and guard his tongue, the damage caused by it is something very dangerous and colossal, and it is from a person’s good fortune that he guards it from speaking about anything that comes back to harm him.
And that which some of the brothers from Ahlus-Sunnah do where they concern themselves with discrediting others and speaking about others and expending their efforts in that and leaving off the enemy, [leaving off] those who spread corruption in the land and do not rectify—these are things the Devil plots for a person to turn him away from that which he should [in reality] be doing, turning him away [from the good he should be doing] to that which he should [in fact] be protecting himself from.
From the Shaikh’s explanation of Sunan Abu Dawud.
Ibn Taymiyyah in Prison
December 11, 2013 § Leave a comment
The student of Ibn Taymiyyah, Imaam Ibn ’Abdul-Haadi, said, “He is the Shaikh, the Rabbaani Imaam, the Imaam of the Imaams, the Mufti of the Ummah, the Scholar of Multiple Fields of Knowledge, the Chief of the Memorisers, the Peerless [Scholar] of His Time, the Master of His Era, the Shaikh of Islaam, the Blessing of Mankind, the Sign of the Time, the Explainer of the Quraan, the Chief of the Ascetics, the Matchless Worshipper, the Subduer of Innovations, the Last of the Mujtahids—Taqiyud-Deen Abul-’Abbaas Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, ‘He finished reciting the Quraan eighty or eighty one times during the time he was in prison … everyday he would recite three Juzz, finishing [the Quraan] every ten days, thus did his brother Zainud-Deen inform me.’”
Al-’Uqood ad-Durriyah min Manaaqib Shaikhil-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, pp. 3 and 290.
Al-‘Abbaad on Pirated Software
December 6, 2013 § 1 Comment
Questioner: Some people buy a computer program, crack it, and then copy it and sell it for a cheap price, bearing in mind the original copy is sold at expensive rates, is this allowed?
Al-‘Abbaad: One must guard the rights of people and not infringe upon them, if he himself were the person in this situation would he agree for this to be done for him [i.e., if the person making the copies were the actual owner/producer of the original]? It’s known he wouldn’t. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in a hadith reported by ’Abdullah ibn ’Amr ibn al-’Aas in Sahih Muslim, and this is part of a long hadith, “Whoever would like to be delivered from Hell and enter Paradise, let him die believing in Allaah and the Last Day, and let him treat people as he would like to be treated,” [The Book of Leadership, no. 4776] ya’ni, he deals with people as he would like for them to deal with him.
Al-Fawzaan on Pirated Software
December 5, 2013 § Leave a comment
Questioner: Here’s another question from Algeria, the brother says, ‘I work with pirated software whose owner is a Christian [i.e., the original software is owned/produced by a Christian], I work copying CD’s, even though they do not permit them to be copied, but we copy them [anyway] and then use them for seeking knowledge?’
Al-Fawzaan: This is not allowed, this is from their rights and it is not allowed for us to transgress against them and it is not allowed for us to take their wealth, it is not allowed for us to transgress against them, saying [as a justification], ‘They are Christians.’ No. This is deception. These are their rights and we do not take them away, so long as they prohibit it, these are their rights and we do not encroach upon them saying [as a justification], ‘This is part of da’wah,’ this is not from da’wah—this is a defamation of the da’wah, Islaam forbids this, [Islaam forbids] committing aggression against people’s property, and their rights, even if they are non-Muslims.
’Uthaimeen on Women Growing Long Nails
December 5, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “I warn some of those women whose evil deeds—leaving their nails to grow and making them long—has been made alluring to them by Shaitaan. [I warn them] because it goes against the fitrah [one’s natural disposition] and the time the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم laid down for his nation, because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم set a time [limit for the trimming of] the nails, the pubic region and the armpits, and moustaches for men, of no more than forty days.”
Fataawaa Nurun ‘alad-Darb, vol. 11, p. 12.
’Uthaimeen on What to Memorise
December 3, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Memorise what you are able to from the books of hadith, if it is possible for you to memorise Bulughul-Maraam min Adillatil-Ahkaam then that is very good, if you can’t, then ’Umdatul-Ahkaam, so that you will have a share of proofs which you can rely on—and this is all after memorising the Book of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, and understanding its meanings, because it is the foundation.”
Fataawaa Nurun ’alad-Darb, vol. 2, p. 20.
Ibn Baaz Was One of the Fastest Scholars to Refute Innovations
November 18, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh Muhammad al-Majdhoob said about Shaikh Ibn Baaz, may Allaah have mercy on him, “And you would see him to be the fastest scholar to renounce innovations because according to him they are an assault against the rights of the revelation, an alteration of Allaah’s Religion, something which ultimately distances the Muslims from the correct Islamic path.”
’Ulamaa wa Mufakkiroon ’Araftuhum, p. 91.
Uthaimeen on Knowledge
November 17, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Knowledge is one of the best and most lofty types of worship and the greatest in benefit, and that is why you find the Devil keen to hinder a person from it.”
Fataawaa Nurun-alad-Darb, vol. 2, p. 12.
Uthaimeen on Displaying Rituals of Happiness or Grief on the Day of Aashuraa
November 14, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “The Day of ’Aashuraa is one of the Days of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, there is nothing that has been legislated concerning it except one thing which is the fast, and yet even then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave the order to fast a day before or after it in order to be different to the Jews.”
Fataawaa Nurun-’Alad-Darb, vol. 2, p. 1199.
And he said, “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was asked about fasting on the Day of ’Aashuraa and so he said, ‘It expiates the past year,’ i.e., the one before it.
No part of the Eed [celebrations] have a place on this day. So just as none of the rites of Eed are a part of it, none of the rites of grieving are either—displaying grief or happiness on this day is in opposition to the Sunnah, nothing has been reported from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم concerning this day except to fast it.”
Fataawaa fil-’Aqeedah, vol. 2, p. 1121.
Uthaimeen on Fasting ʿĀshūrā
November 8, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “The Month of Allaah, al-Muḥarram, is the one between [the month of] Dhul-Hijjah and Ṣafar, about which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ‘… the most excellent fast after (fasting) in the month of Ramadan is the fast in Allaah’s Month of al-Muharram …,’ and it is established that one should fast on [the Day ofʿĀshūrā which is] the 10th [of Muḥarram which corresponds to Tue. 16th July 2024], or the 9th and the 10th [Mon. 15th and Tue. 16th July 2024], or the 9th, 10th and 11th [Mon. 15th, Tue. 16th and Wed. 17th July 2024].”
Sharh Riyaadis-Saaliheen, vol. 5, p. 299.
The Encouragement to Fast in Muharram
November 3, 2013 § Leave a comment
“Abu Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him, reported that he (the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم) was asked as to which prayer was most excellent after the prescribed prayer, and which fast was the most excellent after the month of Ramadan. He said, ‘Prayer offered in the middle of the night, and the most excellent fast after (fasting) in the month of Ramadan is the fast in Allaah’s Month of al-Muharram.’” [Muslim]
Ibn Rajab said, “… And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم called the month of Muharram, ‘Allaah’s Month,’ and its ascription to Allaah shows its distinction and excellence, for nothing is attributed to Him, the Most High, except the most elite of His creation, like His ascription of Muhammad, Ibrahim, Ishaaq, Ya’qoob and other Prophets to His ’Ubudiyyah, and He ascribed His House and His She-Camel to Himself.” [See Surah Shams, verse 13 for a mention of the She-camel.]
Lataa’iful-Ma’aarif, pp. 68-70.
The Dhahabi of His Time on Extremism Towards Personalities and Fanatical Blind-Followers
November 1, 2013 § Leave a comment
The Dhahabi of his time, the ’Allaamah, the Muhaddith, ’Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Yahyaa al-Mu’allimi, The Yemeni, [d. 1966], may Allaah have mercy on him said, “One of the most extensive valleys of misguidance is extremism towards distinguished personalities.
And one of the sharpest weapons used by the extremist is that he will accuse everyone who tries to bring him back to the truth of having hatred of those distinguished personalities [which he is fanatical towards] and of having enmity towards them.
Some of the people of knowledge hold that the first time the Christians went to extremes regarding Jesus عليه السلام, the extremists would accuse everyone who criticised them of hating Jesus and humiliating him and so on. And so this was one of the greatest things that aided the spread of extremism, because the people of truth who remained saw that when they renounced the extremists they would then [as a result] become ascribed to that [very] thing which they were the most severe of people in [actually] loathing, i.e., [they would become accused of] hating Jesus and insulting him; and the people detested them [i.e., the common folk began to hate the people of truth], and they were harmed and so they held back from renouncing [the extremists], and so the path was left clear for the Devil—and close to this is the condition of the extremists of the Raafidah [Shee’ah] and the grave-worshippers and the extremist blind-followers.”
At-Tankeel bimaa fee Ta’neeb al-Kawthari minal-Abaateel, p. 184.
Al-Fawzaan on the Two Types of Conveying Knowledge and Who is to Carry Them Out
October 19, 2013 § Leave a comment
Questioner: How is it possible to reconcile his saying صلى الله عليه وسلم, “Convey from me even if only an aayah,” with the condition that a caller should have copious knowledge?
Al-Fawzaan: There is no contradiction here walhamdulilaah, because the conveyance is of two types: conveying the text and conveying the meaning.
The first type: conveying the text [i.e., the wording] is something everyone who has memorized a text from Allaah’s Book or the Sunnah of His Prophet can do, he can help the people memorise it … when he’s memorised a Surah or an aayah he can teach the people that Surah and when he has memorised a hadith he can teach it to the people—this is conveying the text and anyone can do it, for this reason the Quraan is taught by many people who do not have knowledge but they have memorized the Quraan and can recite well, and [likewise] people who do not have knowledge teach hadiths to the people but they are good at having memorised the hadith and teaching it to the people. Having understanding [fiqh] is not a condition for conveying a text.
The second type: conveying meanings, i.e., the explanation of these texts and clarifying the rulings and wisdom contained therein—this is the one that requires knowledge and no one should carry this out except a scholar. So there is no contradiction between the obligation of conveying and the fact that no one calls the people except someone who has knowledge of what he is calling to, because da’wah requires understanding. Conveying the meaning, the meanings of the texts and their explanations and clarifying them to the people is different to the first type which everyone who has memorized something from the Book of Allaah or the Sunnah of His Messenger can do and teach the people about, this is good … that he sits and teaches the people and makes them memorise the Quraan and memorise the hadiths and [other] texts, this is very good but we say to him: do not explain the meanings to the people when you don’t know them [yourself].
Al-Ijaabaat al-Muhimmah fil-Mashaakil al-Mulimmah, pp. 279-280.
Imaam Sa’dee and the Shivering Old Man
October 18, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh Abdullah Aqeel said about his Shaikh, Imaam Sa’dee (d. 1956), “An eyewitness mentioned that on a winter’s day with heavy rain, our Shaikh saw an elderly man in the Jaami’ mosque shivering due to the severe cold and wearing worn-out clothes. When our Shaikh saw him in such a state he went behind a pillar so that no one would see him and took off one of his two thawbs, folded it and gave it to the man who then wore it, fended off the cold with it and who then supplicated for him.”
Ash-Shaikh ’Abdur-Rahmaan As-Sa’dee Kamaa ’Araftuhu, p. 18.
Al-Fawzaan Asked Whether Refutations Harden the Hearts and Who is Supposed to Carry them Out
October 18, 2013 § Leave a comment
Questioner: Do refutations against the people of falsehood harden the hearts? Because there are people who distance us from the books of the people of knowledge that refute the people of falsehood?
Al-Fawzaan: Not refuting the people of falsehood is what hardens the hearts, because their doubts enter the hearts which then become hard. As for rebutting them and clarifying the truth then this is what softens the hearts and turns them back to the truth. So do not pay attention to such false statements which come from people who want to circulate falsehood and doubts and have no one object or refute them, saying, ‘This is freedom of opinion, and this is the other opinion,’ ya’ni, the religion has become opinions [now]? Allaah did not entrust us to our opinions and intellects, rather he ordered us to follow the Book and Sunnah and to understand and act on them both and to refute the doubts and false statements that oppose them. And if it weren’t for the rebuttals against the people of falsehood the truth would not have prevailed or become clear to the people.
But I say, and I continue to say: only the people of knowledge refute the people of falsehood—as for someone learning, and the student of knowledge, or the one feigning knowledge, it is not allowed for them to refute such issues, because maybe such a person will refute based upon ignorance and as a result his refutation will be more evil than the evil of the one being refuted, because when a refutation is not done with knowledge its [resulting] corruption becomes more than its benefit.
Al-Ijaabaat al-Muhimmah fil-Mashaakil al-Mulimmah, pp. 239-240.
Al-Fawzaan Asked Whether Refutations Split the Ummah
October 18, 2013 § 1 Comment
Questioner: There are people who abstain from rebuttals and think that it causes the Ummah to split and they may even forsake the people who do refute the people of innovation and misguidance, and there are those who hold that [one should] not delve into refutations or speak about the mistakes of the students of knowledge and callers when they make a mistake, we would like some direction in view of this?
Al-Fawzaan: Refutations are of two types, those done by the people of knowledge, learning and insight, to clarify the truth and refute falsehood, these are beneficial and essential. As for the refutations which emanate from the ignorant and students who are not well-versed, or the refutations that emanate from desires and [particular] inclinations, then these refutations are not allowed because they harm and do not benefit. As for the correct, reliable refutations which come from the people of knowledge in clarification of the truth and not based upon desires, then these are essential, because it is not allowed to remain silent about the people of misguidance who spread their misguidance and deceive the Ummah and the Ummah’s youth.
Al-Ijaabaat al-Muhimmah fil-Mashaakil al-Mulimmah, p. 239.
Shaikh Muqbil’s Daughter Talking About Her Father’s Humility
October 17, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh Muqbil’s daughter said, “And he would say, ‘I’m neglectful,’ and, ‘I’m not pleased with myself,’ and he told us that after white hair started to appear on his beard he was pained at that, and said to himself, ‘What have you done for Islaam and the Muslims?’ And from his statements was, ‘We are ignorant [of some things], have knowledge [of others], we are correct and we make mistakes.’”
Nubdhah Mukhtasirah Min Nasaa’ih Waalidi al-Allaamah Muqbil ibn Haadi al-Waadi’i wa Seeratihi al-Atirah, pp. 28-31.
Shaikh Muqbil on This Shaikh is Correct … That Shaikh is Wrong … Shaikh so and so is Like this … He’s Like That …
October 17, 2013 § 1 Comment
Questioner: Noble Shaikh, may Allaah protect you, we’d like you to present some advice to your children, the students of knowledge, in Abu Dubai and the Emirates in general.
Shaikh Muqbil: I advise our brothers to be earnest and to strive to acquire beneficial knowledge and not to busy themselves with that which does not concern them, because this differing and this dissension comes about due to free time: Shaikh so and so is correct … Shaikh so and so is wrong … knowledge is not to be taken from Shaikh so and so … Shaikh so and so is like this and that. So I say: you must tell yourself to try to be like Shaikh so and so or better than him who you made yourself busy [concerning, going] from this mosque to that mosque and from this gathering to that gathering [to say] … Shaikh so and so is correct … the other is wrong …
So I advise them to be earnest and to strive and also if it is easy for them to travel … and I have been told that there are some brothers there who are strong students of knowledge so they should go to them and benefit should be taken from them, and I advise them to spread the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of Allaah’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم according to the understanding of the Salaf, and I advise them to visit their brothers the People of Knowledge, and I advise them to invite the scholars from the land of the two Harams and Najd and likewise [those] from any country with the scholar being a Sunni, so that they [i.e., the scholars who they invite] can explain the methodology of Ahlus-Sunnah to them, [such] lectures have a benefit and their effect alhamdulillaah, is great—but they are not the equivalent of learning [i.e., going and acquiring knowledge over a long period of time].
Walhamdulillaahi rabbil-’Aalameen.
Ghaaratul-Ashritah, vol. 2, p. 103.
Imaam Sa’dee and the Blind Man’s Joke
October 17, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh Abdullah Aqeel said about his Shaikh, Imaam Sa’dee (d. 1956), “He was asked one time at a large gathering about the ruling concerning a person seeing his intended wife before the nikaah so he answered stating that it was permissible and that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had instructed that. There was a blind man present and so he said, ‘What about us blind people, is it permissible for us to touch since we can’t see?’ So the Shaikh and those present laughed.”
[Imaam Sa’dee was also Shaikh Uthaimeen’s teacher, may Allaah have mercy on them all.]
Ash-Shaikh ’Abdur-Rahmaan As-Sa’dee Kamaa ’Araftuhu, p. 17.
Shaikh Muqbil on Blindly-Following Al-Albaani, Ibn Baaz and ‘Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on them all
October 15, 2013 § 1 Comment
The Shaikh of Yemen, Muqbil ibn Haadi al-Waadi’i, may Allaah have mercy on him said, “And we say: we hold blind-following to be forbidden. So it is not allowed for us to blindly follow Shaikh al-Albaani, nor Shaikh Ibn Baaz nor Shaikh Ibn ’Uthaimeen, for indeed Allaah تعالى says in His Noble Book, “Follow, [O mankind], what has been revealed to you from your Lord and do not follow other than Him any allies. Little do you remember,” [Al-A’raaf 7:3] and He سبحانه وتعالى said, “And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge.” [Al-Israa 17:36] So Ahlus-Sunnah do not blindly follow.”
Tuhfatul-Mujeeb ’alaa As’ilatil-Haadiri wal-Ghareeb, p. 222.
Supplicating for Your Brothers
October 14, 2013 § 2 Comments
Imaam Ibn al-Jawzi, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “[The Companion] Abud-Dardaa used to supplicate for a group of his brothers every night. And Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to [Imaam] Shaafi’i’s son, ‘Your father is one of six for whom I supplicate every night before daybreak.’”
Saidul-Khaatir, p. 46.
Uthaimeen asked Whether Someone on Hajj Can Use ZamZam Water to Perform Ablution
October 13, 2013 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, was asked, “If a person going on Hajj only has some ZamZam water with him when the time for prayer becomes due, can he perform wudoo [ablution] with it or should he perform tayammum [dry ablution] because ZamZam water is blessed and should only be drunk?”
He replied, “In a hadith from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم about ZamZam it is mentioned that, ‘The water of ZamZam is for whatever it is drunk for,’ but it has been said that from its blessings is that a person can purify himself with it for prayer, so it is permissible for him to perform ablution with it and there is no harm in that, and it is not permissible for him to turn away from that to tayammum as long as there is water present.”
Fataawaa Nurun-’Alad-Darb, CD.
