Ruling on Establishing a Library, Calling Youth, and Organizing Them

Question:
The questioner says: A brother in the city of Jeddah wanted to call people to Allah, so he established a library in his mosque and wrote advertisements on paper inviting the youth to join this library. He gathered around him approximately sixty young men and divided them into three groups or families, with each family having a leader and a deputy leader. He organized a methodology for them to follow, and this methodology is renewed every year with some additions. From this methodology: one, attending some of the youth’s lessons with the shaykhs, attending some lessons with the shaykhs; two, lessons delivered by some members of the families; three, lessons on misguidance, and at most; four, trips; five, weekly outings that he leads, and sometimes songs and plays for the purpose of calling to Allah; six, family meetings; seven, meetings for the leaders and deputy leaders; eight, meetings with some members to receive lessons in calling to Allah. The question is: Is this methodology found in the Book and the Sunnah? Where did this methodology come from? And is it permissible for any individual to gather youth around him and appoint himself as their leader? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
The matter of establishing a library and calling the youth to seek knowledge is, in principle, a good deed. However, it is necessary to obtain permission from the authorities, headed by His Eminence Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz, the head of the Department of Da'wah and Guidance. It is necessary to obtain his permission for this matter. It is also necessary that this library and this organization be subject to the supervision of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta, in order to correct it and follow up on it so that it remains regulated.
As for a person inventing something and not referring to the scholarly references or the authorities responsible for this matter, this is not permissible.
As for the methodology mentioned, it is mixed; it contains some correct matters and some matters that are questionable. For example, reading Ibn Kathir is a good thing, but reading al-Zilal (The Shadows) is questionable, because al-Zilal contains many things that are questionable. And our linking the youth to al-Zilal and having them take the ideas in it is a matter of concern. This may have a negative impact on the ideas of the youth.
In the tafsir of Ibn Kathir and in the many, many tafsirs of the scholars of the Salaf, there is sufficiency for such a tafsir. In reality, it is not a tafsir, but rather a book that investigates the general meaning of the surahs or the Qur'an in general. It is not a tafsir in the sense known by scholars from ancient times, which is explaining the meanings of the verses, clarifying the linguistic and rhetorical secrets therein, and the legal rulings therein, and before all of that, clarifying what Allah the Exalted intended by the verses and surahs. Tafsir al-Qur'an (The Misguidance of the Qur'an) is a general tafsir; we can call it a thematic tafsir, from the thematic tafsir known in this era. But it is not relied upon. Because of the Sufism in it. Because of the expressions in it that are not fitting for the Qur'an, such as music and rhythms. Also, it does not focus on tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship), but rather mostly focuses on tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship).
And if it mentions something of tawhid al-uluhiyyah, it only focuses on tawhid al-hakimiyyah (oneness of sovereignty). And sovereignty is undoubtedly a type of tawhid al-uluhiyyah, but it is not the tawhid al-uluhiyyah that is required. In a book that does not make room for Ibn Kathir. This is what I see. If it were chosen from the books of the Salaf, and from the books concerned with 'aqidah (creed), concerned with the tafsir of the Qur'an, concerned with the legal rulings, that would be more appropriate.