The ruling on balancing the merits of the one who errs against his errors when refuting him
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Question:
If a man among the people speaks in the matter of calling to Allah, and the scholars who engage in refutation respond to this man, some people say that it is necessary to mention the account of this man’s deeds from the standpoint of justice.
Answer:
No, not at all. Balancing has no basis. This is an innovation. The scholars used to refute without mentioning the merits of the one being refuted. These books exist, and the books of refutation exist, praise be to Allah. They mention the error, refute it, and clarify the truth, but they do not mention the merits, their merits. Allah is the One who will take care of them, and He will not let their merits be lost. As for us, we are not the ones who evaluate people. Rather, we only repel the error. Also, do we know these merits? Do we certify anyone before Allah the Exalted and say to him, “You have merits”? We do not know; Allah knows best. Do you certify yourselves? Allah knows best. But we hope for the one who does good and fear for the one who does evil. Our aim is only to clarify the error. It is not our aim to belittle the person or to publicize him. Rather, our goal is to clarify the truth and to advise the person himself so that he returns and retracts to the truth. This is advice for him. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
If a man among the people speaks in the matter of calling to Allah, and the scholars who engage in refutation respond to this man, some people say that it is necessary to mention the account of this man’s deeds from the standpoint of justice.
Answer:
No, not at all. Balancing has no basis. This is an innovation. The scholars used to refute without mentioning the merits of the one being refuted. These books exist, and the books of refutation exist, praise be to Allah. They mention the error, refute it, and clarify the truth, but they do not mention the merits, their merits. Allah is the One who will take care of them, and He will not let their merits be lost. As for us, we are not the ones who evaluate people. Rather, we only repel the error. Also, do we know these merits? Do we certify anyone before Allah the Exalted and say to him, “You have merits”? We do not know; Allah knows best. Do you certify yourselves? Allah knows best. But we hope for the one who does good and fear for the one who does evil. Our aim is only to clarify the error. It is not our aim to belittle the person or to publicize him. Rather, our goal is to clarify the truth and to advise the person himself so that he returns and retracts to the truth. This is advice for him. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 11 من 15 / شرح أصول الإيمان / دعاء الرسول للغرباء/ صالح الفوزان / العقيدة/ كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:04:10)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.