Questions on the Explanation of the Book of Nullifiers of Islam

Question:
Those who speak about our scholars, saying that they are merely jurists of menstruation and post-natal bleeding, and saying, "Do not divide the youth of the Ummah; rather, we want unity of the ranks." Is this hating what Allah revealed to His Messenger?

Answer:
No, this is not disbelief, but it is backbiting and sowing discord. It is backbiting and sowing discord regarding the honor of the scholars, and this is forbidden without doubt. It is severe backbiting, strictly forbidden. They must repent to Allah the Mighty and Majestic and avoid speaking about the scholars. What benefit is there in speaking about the scholars?
It brings nothing but evil. It makes people hate them and diminishes trust in them. Where will people turn if they do not return to the scholars? Where will they go? This is a great danger. First, it is backbiting, and backbiting is a major sin among the major sins. Second, it entails diminishing trust in the scholars and lowering their status in the eyes of the people, and this is not permissible, because it means that people will turn to others instead of the scholars, and evil and corruption will result. This is what the callers of the East want. As for us dividing the youth, we seek refuge in Allah from dividing the Muslims. We love for the youth to unite on the truth, to cooperate in religion, and to be one Ummah, and we call them to this. We strive to unite them, but we do not strive to unite them on what they say. We excuse one another in what we differ on and unite on what we agree on. This is false. We do not unite on the truth and leave what we differ on that contradicts the truth.