The Ruling on Exalting Innovators and Praising Them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The questioner asks: What is the ruling on one who honors the people of innovation, respects them, and praises them by saying that they apply the ruling of Islam, while knowing about their innovations? Sometimes, when he mentions them in general lessons, he says, "with reservations about some of the positions of these people," meaning by that these innovators, or he says, "regardless of the errors these people have," and the like of minimizing the status of their innovations. It is also known that some of these innovators whom this speaker respects, praises, and defends have written and recorded statements that he knows contain criticism of the Sunnah, ignorance of the Companions, and insinuations against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So what is the ruling on this speaker? And should people be warned against his statements?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible to exalt the innovators or praise them, even if they have some truth. Because praising them and speaking well of them promotes their innovation. Yes. And it places the innovators in the ranks of the leaders of this Ummah who are followed.
The Salaf warned us against trusting the innovators, praising them, and sitting with them. In some of their statements, they say: Whoever sits with an innovator has helped to demolish the Sunnah. So it is obligatory to warn against the innovators. And it is obligatory to stay away from them, even if they have some truth. For the majority of misguidance does not exclude having some truth.
But as long as they have innovation, and they have deviations, and they have bad ideas, it is not permissible to praise them, it is not permissible to commend them, and it is not permissible to overlook their innovation. Because in this there is promotion of the innovation and belittling of the Sunnah. And in this way the innovator appears, and they become leaders of the Ummah, God forbid. It is obligatory to warn against them.
And among the Imams of the Sunnah who have no innovation in every era, and praise be to Allah, there is sufficiency for the Ummah, and they are the role models, so it is obligatory to follow.
The one who is upright on the Sunnah and has no innovation. As for the innovator, it is obligatory to warn against him and to denounce him, so that people are warned against him and so that he and his followers are suppressed. As for the fact that he has some truth, this does not justify praising him, because the harm that results from praising him is greater than the benefit of what he has of truth. And it is known that the principle of the religion is that warding off harms takes precedence over seeking benefits.
The presenter:
And in opposing the innovator,
The Shaykh:
warding off a harm
The presenter:
from the Ummah
The Shaykh:
takes precedence over the claimed benefit he has, if there is any. If we adopted this principle, no one would be declared misguided, and no one would be declared an innovator; because there is no innovator who does not have some truth. And he has some commitment.
The innovator is not a pure disbeliever, nor one who opposes the entire Shari'ah, but rather he is an innovator in some matters or in most matters. And especially if the innovation is in creed and in methodology, then the matter is serious; because this makes him a role model, and from that time innovations spread in the Ummah, and the innovators become active in promoting their innovations. So this is the one who praises the innovators.
He misleads the people with what they have of truth. This is one of two things: either he is ignorant of the matter of innovation and ignorant of the methodology of the Salaf and their position regarding the innovators, and this ignorant person is not allowed to speak, and it is not permissible for Muslims to listen to him. Or he is malicious; he knows the danger of innovation and knows the danger of the innovators, but he is malicious and wants to promote the innovation. In any case, this is a serious matter, and this is not permissible, and it is not permissible to be lenient regarding innovation and its people, whatever it may be. Yes.
The questioner asks: What is the ruling on one who honors the people of innovation, respects them, and praises them by saying that they apply the ruling of Islam, while knowing about their innovations? Sometimes, when he mentions them in general lessons, he says, "with reservations about some of the positions of these people," meaning by that these innovators, or he says, "regardless of the errors these people have," and the like of minimizing the status of their innovations. It is also known that some of these innovators whom this speaker respects, praises, and defends have written and recorded statements that he knows contain criticism of the Sunnah, ignorance of the Companions, and insinuations against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So what is the ruling on this speaker? And should people be warned against his statements?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible to exalt the innovators or praise them, even if they have some truth. Because praising them and speaking well of them promotes their innovation. Yes. And it places the innovators in the ranks of the leaders of this Ummah who are followed.
The Salaf warned us against trusting the innovators, praising them, and sitting with them. In some of their statements, they say: Whoever sits with an innovator has helped to demolish the Sunnah. So it is obligatory to warn against the innovators. And it is obligatory to stay away from them, even if they have some truth. For the majority of misguidance does not exclude having some truth.
But as long as they have innovation, and they have deviations, and they have bad ideas, it is not permissible to praise them, it is not permissible to commend them, and it is not permissible to overlook their innovation. Because in this there is promotion of the innovation and belittling of the Sunnah. And in this way the innovator appears, and they become leaders of the Ummah, God forbid. It is obligatory to warn against them.
And among the Imams of the Sunnah who have no innovation in every era, and praise be to Allah, there is sufficiency for the Ummah, and they are the role models, so it is obligatory to follow.
The one who is upright on the Sunnah and has no innovation. As for the innovator, it is obligatory to warn against him and to denounce him, so that people are warned against him and so that he and his followers are suppressed. As for the fact that he has some truth, this does not justify praising him, because the harm that results from praising him is greater than the benefit of what he has of truth. And it is known that the principle of the religion is that warding off harms takes precedence over seeking benefits.
The presenter:
And in opposing the innovator,
The Shaykh:
warding off a harm
The presenter:
from the Ummah
The Shaykh:
takes precedence over the claimed benefit he has, if there is any. If we adopted this principle, no one would be declared misguided, and no one would be declared an innovator; because there is no innovator who does not have some truth. And he has some commitment.
The innovator is not a pure disbeliever, nor one who opposes the entire Shari'ah, but rather he is an innovator in some matters or in most matters. And especially if the innovation is in creed and in methodology, then the matter is serious; because this makes him a role model, and from that time innovations spread in the Ummah, and the innovators become active in promoting their innovations. So this is the one who praises the innovators.
He misleads the people with what they have of truth. This is one of two things: either he is ignorant of the matter of innovation and ignorant of the methodology of the Salaf and their position regarding the innovators, and this ignorant person is not allowed to speak, and it is not permissible for Muslims to listen to him. Or he is malicious; he knows the danger of innovation and knows the danger of the innovators, but he is malicious and wants to promote the innovation. In any case, this is a serious matter, and this is not permissible, and it is not permissible to be lenient regarding innovation and its people, whatever it may be. Yes.
Source
الفوزان - الإجابات العلمية والتوجيهات المنهجية — archive.org (39:32)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.