Shaykh Salim Bamehriz Offers Important Advice About the Covid-19 Vaccine and Tawakkul (Trusting in Allah)

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

The following is a question posed to Shaykh Aboo Anwar Saalim ibn ‘Abdillaah Baamihriz (may Allah bless and preserve him) [1]. This is just another example of how our well-known and reliable scholars and mashaayikh continue to offer sober and consistent advice about how Muslims are to return important matters related to the pandemic back to the scholars who are qualified to deal with matters of global safety and urgent concerns which affect the religion, health, and safety of millions of Muslims. May Allah allow this advice to reach receptive hearts.

The following is a transcript of the Arabic text of the question and its answer, along with an English translation:

هذا سائل يقول وهو يسأل من بلاد أوربا يقول عندنا بعض الإخوة السلفيين يخالفون فتوى العلماء في أخذ اللقاح لقاح كورونا ، معللين ذلك بأن هذا اللقاح ضار للانسان وله سلبيات كثيرة ولما نقول لهم إن العلماء أخذوا ونصحوا بأخذ اللقاح يقولون إن العلماء ليسوا بمتخصصين وعليهم ضغوطات من ولاة الأمر إلى آخره … وأكثر من ذلك أن بعضهم يستخرج شهادة التلقيح وهو في حقيقة الأمر لم يفعل. فهل هذا من الزور فما نصيحتكم لهؤلاء الشباب؟

QUESTION: A questioner from a European country asks: We have some Salafi brothers who oppose the verdict of the scholars about taking the vaccine against Corona[virus], explaining that this vaccine is harmful to people and it has many negative impacts. When we say to them: “The scholars have taken the vaccine and advise us to take it,” They say: “The scholars are not specialists, and they are under pressure from the rulers, etc.” Beyond this, some of them produce a vaccination record, but in reality he did not get it (i.e. he did not take the vaccine, as the record falsely indicates). Is this a kind of zoor (conspiracy of falsehood)? And what is your advice to those youth?

ANSWER by Shaykh Salim Bamehriz (may Allah preserve him):

أقول نصيحتنا  لهؤلاء الشباب بارك الله فيهم وهداهم الله تعالى أن لا يخوضوا في هذه المسائل التى هي ليست من شؤونه وإنما يخوضون في عبث وكلام لا جدوى منه إلا الإضرار بالمجتمع

I say: My advice to those youth, may Allah bless them, and may Allah, the Most High, guide them, is that they do not delve into these matters, things which are not for them. They are only getting into games and speech which has no benefit in it, just harm for Continue reading

Real “Hadith Disciples” Do Not Forsake the Scholars [A Brief Hadeeth Study]

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

Know that the people of knowledge shall indeed be forsaken by some! It is a reality that has been foretold in the hadeeth of Mu’aawiyah (may Allaah be pleased with him), as found in the two Saheeh Compilations of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim:

لَا تَزَالُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي قَائِمَةً بِأَمْرِ اللهِ، لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ مَنْ خَذَلَهُمْ أَوْ خَالَفَهُمْ، حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ أَمْرُ اللهِ وَهُمْ ظَاهِرُونَ عَلَى النَّاسِ
“A group of my Ummah shall continue to uphold the Order of Allaah. Those who forsake or oppose them do not harm them, until the Affair of Allaah arrives, whilst they are (still) uppermost among the people.”

These people are known as the scholars of Islam, as al-Imaam al-Bukhaaree (may Allaah have Mercy on him) said in his chapter title: “They are the people of knowledge.”

The statement, “…Those who forsake or oppose them do not harm them…” indicates that there will indeed be people who speak ill of the scholars and try to divert the people from them. This is from the pre-determined Qadr of Allaah, as part of the struggle between truth and falsehood that He, the All Mighty and All Wise, has decreed to be one of the many tests His Servants shall face.

The scholars of Islam actively work to provide solutions to the Ummah’s problems in every place. Allaah blesses their time and efforts, the effects of which can be found everywhere upon Earth, by His Permission. They are the best of Allaah’s Servants, His true allies, those He has paired Continue reading

Shaykh Fowzaan on Frauds Who Pretend to Have Islamic Knowledge

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

The great scholar, Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan (may Allaah preserve him), was asked:

What is “ta’aalum”? And what is your advice to the youth who face trials due to people engaged in ta’aalum?

He replied:

Ta’aalum is to feign knowledge. Feigning knowledge. It is when a person claims knowledge, while he is not knowledgeable in reality. He has not taken any knowledge directly from the scholars. Rather, he merely learned some things from books, solely from reading. He lacks sound fundamentals to build upon; he just reads things in books and proceeds according to his own understanding, likely erring more than being correct. This is a person of ta’aalum. He is a danger to himself (firstly) and to everyone (at large), since he Continue reading

Is Defending and Honoring the Scholars a Call to Blind Following?

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever-Merciful…

A visitor recently asked about the translation of Shaykh Saalih as-Suhaymee’s advice to support and defend the honor of the scholars of Islaam (found here), saying:

Since these guys are contemporary men who are human and prone to error and sin like all of us, why would we defend them? Isn’t this a call to blind following? [abridged]

To be clear: We have certainly not promoted the blind following of these scholars, nor have we claimed they are perfect without flaws. Nor are we ever to defend any of them in falsehood.

However, dear questioner, may Allaah give you better than the corrupt manhaj (methodology) of Yasir Qadhi, Almaghrib Institute, and those upon their way, your ideas clearly seem to reflect the opinions they commonly lead people into – a total loss of any meaningful distinction between us and the scholars of Islaam, as it relates to the virtues of the scholars, their special status amongst us, and our need to refer to them to learn our Religion. The goal is to disconnect the people from their scholars, which facilitates the spread of deviation very easily.

May Allaah give you better – If Allaah has commanded us in His Quran (more than once) to ask the people of knowledge when we do not know [16:43, 21:7], don’t we need to know who they are?!

Dear questioner, may Allaah give you better! – Know that Allaah has established a very high status for the scholars of Islaam in his Glorious Book, saying: Continue reading