The ruling on praying behind the Asha'irah and an explanation of their status

The questioner:
The Shaykh: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh:
Peace.

The questioner:
I listened at the beginning of the lecture to some of the sects that a student sent abroad might encounter in some Islamic centers. Yes. And your statement, Your Eminence the Shaykh, that if they hold beliefs of disbelief and have religious innovations (bid'ah), then it is not permissible to pray with them. Yes.
I have read to you from photocopied pages from a book, and I do not know if they are authentic or not? And I am asking now, yes, this is very strong speech regarding the Asha'irah. I know some of the Asha'irah, and I know from their condition that they only have some figurative interpretation (ta'wil) in which they exerted effort and perhaps erred in purifying the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, regarding some of the names and attributes. Is this speech correct that I read to you from photocopied pages from a book? The person who brought them to me said it is from the book of Shaykh Salih?

The Shaykh:
And what did you read?

The questioner:
I read that they said that whoever holds this view is worse than the Jews and the Christians, or worse than the Christians, or worse than a polytheist of Quraysh.

The Shaykh:
I mean the Jahmiyyah.

The questioner:
No, the Asha'irah.

The Shaykh:
No, the Asha'irah are the sect closest to the people of the Sunnah and the community, and they are not declared disbelievers, they are not disbelievers,

The questioner:
they are not disbelievers.

The Shaykh:
They have figurative interpretation (ta'wil).

The questioner:
Praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh:
They have figurative interpretation (ta'wil) and are not disbelievers, and they are the sect closest to the people of the Sunnah and the community, because they affirm some of the attributes, they affirm seven attributes or fourteen attributes from the attributes of Allah, so they are closer to the people of the Sunnah and the community, and they are not disbelievers,

The questioner:
and the chain is sound.

The Shaykh:
Except for one who knows the truth among them and opposes it, but as for one who follows a scholar without knowing his evidence (taqlid) or exerts independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) and errs, then he is misguided, it is said he is misguided, but he is not declared a disbeliever, yes.

The questioner:
It is permissible to pray behind one who prays with us. Yes, it is permissible.

The Shaykh:
The prayer is permissible as long as they pray according to the Shari'ah, and merely being Asha'irah, if you find others better than them, do not pray with them, and if you do not find anyone but them, and the matter is between you praying alone or not praying with them, pray with them, yes.

The questioner:
But did you not say, Shaykh, that they are worse than the Christians or the polytheists of Quraysh?

The Shaykh:
This requires that the pages be read and the context of the speech be seen, the context of the speech must be seen to see what it is. Yes.

The questioner:
May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh:
So if you had the pages with us, we would look at them, that would be good, yes.