QUESTION
What
is your position, may Allaah preserve you, on someone who
says, "It is not permissible to speak against the
people of innovation, since they are Muslims."
And he uses as a proof the statement of the Messenger (sallallaahu
'alayhe wa sallam), "The
Muslim is sacred to another Muslim, his blood, wealth, and
honor." Give us some benefit, may Allaah
reward you with goodness.
ANSWER
by Shaykh 'Ubayd Al-Jaabiree, well-known scholar and retired
professor from the Islaamic University of Al-Madeenah [
audio in
'Arabic only ]
I
begin by saying, firstly, fiqh, or the understanding
of how to use proofs, is:
[1]
Bringing together all the texts about the subject at hand;
[2]
Then looking into which of them are mutlaq (all-inclusive)
and which are muqayyad (restricted to a certain application);
[3]
And then (which of them are) 'aam (general) and which
are khaas (specific);
[4]
And then which of them are mujmal (left to the basic
meaning) and which are mufassar (expounded upon);
This
is the exemplary way, the one that the usage of proofs is
not complete except by way of it. Similarly, is:
[5]
Looking into which of them are texts of wa'd (promise
of a good reward) and which are texts of wa'eed (promise
of a punishment);
This is what Ahlus-Sunnah are upon. For verily, Ahlus-Sunnah
do not weigh the statements of the people and their actions
except upon two scales - Nass (texts of the Book
and the Sunnah) and ijmaa' (scholarly consensus).
So whoever is in line with the texts and the scholarly consensus,
then we accept from him. And whoever contradicts a text
or a scholarly consensus, then he is to be refuted, no matter
who he is.
So
when this is understood, we must place this hadeeth along
with other ahaadeeth. For example, an example of a hadeeth
that we must put with this one, so as to understand them
in harmony, is his statement (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa
sallam):
"There
will come some people who will narrate to you what you never
heard of, neither you or your fathers. So then be warned
of them."
The
hadeeth has been collected by Muslim in the introduction
to his Saheeh, and similarly Al-Baghawee collected
it in Sharhus-Sunnah.
So
then it becomes clear that the meaning of the Muslim (from
the hadeeth in the question) whose blood, money, and honor
is sacred, is the Muslim who does not hurt the adherents
to Islaam, even if he was an
innovator whose innovation was kept to himself, the one
who does not call to it and remains silent. This is the
case for the innovator whose innovation is kept to himself,
he does not admit to it, nor does he call to it.
Secondly,
if we looked to the Salaf of this Ummah, beginning
from the Companions of the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe
wa sallam), the Taabi'oon, and then those after
them, we would find that their books are full of refutations
of the people of desires, speaking ill of them, detesting
them.
From
these statements, there is the statement of 'Abdullaah
ibn 'Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him), "By
Allaah, I do not think that anyone's destruction would
be more beloved to Shaytaan."
It
was said, "How is that?"
He
replied, "An innovation is invented in the East
or the West, and a man brings it to me. When it reaches
me, I crush it with the Sunnah."
And
Al-Faarooq ('Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allaah be pleased
with him) said, "Be warned of the people of opinions!
For verily, they are people who could not stick to the
narrations of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alayhe
wa sallam), and then they spoke based on their opinions,
and thus they strayed and caused others to stray."
And
similarly, the warnings issued by the Salaf who came afterwards
continued, imaams of the Religion issued warnings,
the people of knowledge and practice warned against innovation
and its people...
...So
when this is understood, then you know that the person
who made that statement is either an ignoramus who does
not know the da'wah of the Salaf nor how Ahlus-Sunnah
interacted with those who opposed (the Sunnah), or a person
of desires who wants to make an easy atmosphere for the
people of innovation to have them accepted among the people.
SOURCE
This
was translated exclusively for www.bakkah.net from a published
recording entitled Liqaa' Maftooh, dated 1424/6/9.
[ file no. AAUJ001 - click
here for audio ]
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