Al-Jarh Wa At-Tadeel: Clarifying The Public Errors Of Our Brother Muhammad Muneer Mufti

[Maher.ibn.Ahmad.Attiyeh]

Bismillaah Al-Hamdulillaah wa salatu wa salaamu 'ala rasulullaah
Amma-ba'd

The Agreement Among The Scholars Upon Boycotting and Warning Against Ahlul Bid'ah, by Abu Uwais (rahimahullaah)

Abu Uwais (rahimahullaah) held a copy of the book "The Agreement among the Scholars upon Boycotting and Warning against Ahlul Bid'ah," written by Abu 'Abdillaah Khaalid, and relayed to the gathering a few ayat, important statements from the Introductions and some bullet-points based on the chapters. The following are notes, not verbatim.

Allaah said (what means):

...And We have also sent down unto you (O Muhammad) the reminder and the advice (the Qur`an), that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them. (An-Nahl, ayah 44)

Or have they partners with Allaah (false gods), who have instituted for them a religion which Allaah has not allowed. (Ash-Shooraa, ayah 21) ------> Who have legislated for them what Allaah has not allowed.

It is He Who has sent down to you (Muhammad) the Book (this Qur`an). In it are Verses that are entirely clear; they are the foundations of the Book; and others not entirely clear. So as for those in whose hearts there is a deviation (from the truth), they follow that which is not entirely clear thereof, seeking Al-Fitnah (polytheism and trials, etc.), and seeking for its hidden meanings. But none knows its hidden meanings save Allaah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in it; the whole of it (clear and unclear Verses) are from our Lord." And none receive admonition except men of understanding. (Aali 'Imran, ayah 7) -------> Evil goal, evil intention.

The Messenger (salallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) warned of bid'ah even before bid'ah emerged.

Shaikh Zayd bin Muhammad bin Hadee al-Madkhalee (hafidhahullaah) said:

Allaah raised and has raised and will raise in every time those who defend the true religion and defend the Sunnah of the greatest and best and most generous of the Prophets (Muhammad, salallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam), and uncover bid'ah and the plotting of the Innovators and the deception of the deviants, so that no one will be deluded by them and so that those who don't have much fiqh in Deen will not be misled by these deviants.

Shaikh Rabee bin Hadee al-Madkhalee (hafidhahullaah) said:

Today, there are new tricks, new methods of leading the people astray. In the past, one could not get Ahlul Bid'ah confused with Ahlus-Sunnah. They were distinguished. Yet their evil was lighter than it is today, and it was relative. But in our time, the people of bid'ah have been able with their plotting and planning and strategies to enter into the ranks of Ahlus-Sunnah. Rather, they have been able to get right into the center of them and be amongst them, mixed with them.

And this had a great and evil effect, especially upon the youth, those who have been taught some things. In particular, the youth in the universities and even the houses and markets. And this is because Ahlul-Bid'ah were able to present themselves as Ahlus-Sunnah and mix with the people of the Sunnah, and not be distinguished, and therefore they were able to relay and convey their poison.

They came with new methods and methodologies and principles; all these methods and principles were to make the haqq look like the baatil, and to make baatil look like the haqq. It's all Talbees (deception). Deception. It was used to humiliate, put down and eradicate the truth, and to destroy the people of the truth. And to raise the position of the people of ahwaa` (desires). So they came up with principles by way of their strategies, plans.

One of them is Muwaazinaat (balancing).

[Abu Uwais (rahimahulalah) explained: it's a manner of praising people of bid'ah, and saying, "whenever we mention something bad about them, we have to mention their good, because that's the only thing that is just." Some of them even applied this principle to shaytan and the Jews and (others).

To warn of bid'ah is just, so that the people are warned!

An example would be like saying, "yes, he curses the sahaaba, but maa sha` Allaah akhee, if you heard his Qir`aa (recitation of the Qur`an) and you saw his Qiyaam (standing in the salat)." So by saying this, they (deceive the people concerning the evil of bid'ah, and the evil of that person of bid'ah).]

This type of muwaazinaat, they call it "'adl (justice)", but it is in reality Himaaya (defense) of Ahlul Bid'ah. And it is a way of knocking down Jarh wa Ta'deel, which is Naseeha (sincere advice). And the Naseeha is the way of Islaam, the way of the people of the Sunnah. They advise this Ummah to what will benefit it. They advise this Ummah against what will harm it.

The people of bid'ah want to knock all of that down.

Ahlus-Sunnah's way of Naseeha is to help the Muslims, and protect them from falsehood, and going astray from those who are astray and trying to lead them astray. But all that goes out the window when you start praising the (evildoers).

So this Muwaazanat is one of their methods.

Another (trick, plot) is what they call Fiqh al-Waqi' (understanding of current events), which is used to raise the position of Ahlul Baatil (people of falsehood), and to put down the position of Ahlul-Haqq (people of truth), and to give the people a bad impression of the scholars, (saying about the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah), "they only know menses and post-nadal bleeding, but not how to implement the Deen in the time we're living in."

[Abu Uwais (rahimahullaah) explained: Two decades ago, some tried to rally the youth with this slogan, deceiving the youth into thinking that our scholars [Scholars of the Sunnah] didn't know anything regarding the current events. In reality, it was Shaikh Ibn Baaz (rahimahullaah) and the scholars of the Sunnah who knew the plots of people of falsehood, such as the Jews and Christians and also those very people who were howling the term Fiqh al-Waqi'.

Of course, we learned that these people - the likes of Safar and Salman and 'Abdur-Rahman 'Abdul-Khaaliq - didn't know anything regarding Fiqh al-Waqi'. Safar and Salman and 'Abdur-Rahman 'Abdul-Khaaliq ignorantly insisted that watching BBC and CNN, and reading Time and Newsweek is how (the Muslims) need to keep up with plots of the kufaar, and that the scholars were delved into Qur`an and Sunnah and Tafseer.

It turned out that Safar and Salman and 'Abdur-Rahman 'Abdul-Khaaliq didn't know anything regarding Fiqh al-Waqi', nor did they even know their own waqi'.]

Shaikh Rabee' said that the plots of the kufaar have already been exposed in the Qur`an and Sunnah - via revelation from Allaah, the All-Knowing of the seen and unseen - and this is how the scholars are able to spot the fitnah before it arrives (due to its signs), and advise regarding it, and to Allaah belongs all the Praise.

Shaikh Rabee' added that the people of bid'ah and desires have an iron grip upon the youth and have chained the feet of the Muslim youth and stopped them from moving toward the haqq, and blind-folded them from seeking the truth - the path of guidance. We hope for them that they are freed from this, and we ask Allaah in this matter.

Then Abu Uwais (rahimahulaah) brought other doubts that people of bid'ah desperately put up, such as, "I understand warning against the bid'ah, but why warn against the people?" Of course, Allaah and His Messenger (salallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) mentioned names. The proofs for Ahlus-Sunnah come from Qur`an and Sunnah upon the understanding of the Salaf. [To the next person who relays this doubt: establish upon him the proofs from the Qur`an and Sunnah, and the statements of the 'ulemma, and then tell him: if a person has a gun and is shooting people, do you only mention the gun, or do you also mention the person firing the gun, so that if you see this person, you may avoid him as well as his gun. A student shared this in an excellent 'aqeedah and manhaj class a few years ago, may Allaah reward him.]

Abu Uwais also said in commenting on and reading off the titles of the chapters in this book that Shaikh Rabee' and Zayd (hafidhahumullaah) both praised:

- People of Bid'ah describe all those who are not upon their bid'ah as being "harsh." It's one of their strategies. So don't let that derail you, or discourage you. This is what they want.

- Forbiddance of looking into their books, and destroying them, except for the one grounded in 'ilm reading it only to refute them.

- Ijma' of Salaf regarding obligation of boycotting people of bid'ah and warning against them.

Also, Abu Uwais showed how humble Shaikh Rabee' and Zayd (hafidhahumullaah) are that they both wrote an Introduction for a book compiled by a student, Abu 'Abdillaah Khaalid. Maa sha` Allaah.

Source: Tape: The Agreement Among the Scholars upon Boycotting and Warning Against Ahlul Bid'ah