If an innovator studies one of the books of the beliefs of the Salaf and remains on his innovation, is the argument established against him and is he judged accordingly?
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The questioner : A questioner says: A person who grew up in the lands of the innovators knows nothing about the reality of the saved sect. Then he came to these lands and studied in their universities and under the hands of their great scholars, and read a number of books on the beliefs of the Salaf, such as Tawhid by Ibn Khuzaymah and others. Does this mean that the argument has been established against him, such that if he remains on his innovation, he is judged as an innovator specifically?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : As an innovator specifically, yes, you are right.
The Shaykh : Yes, there is no doubt that if the Sunnah becomes clear to a person from the Qur'an and the Sunnah and the books written on the reports of the Salaf, there is no doubt that the argument has been established against him. And if the argument is not established against him in such a case, in what would the argument be established against him?
And it is said that he is an innovator, but note that innovation is of two types: absolute innovation in belief and methodology; it is correct to call him an innovator in that case. And innovation in a specific issue; in this case, we must say he is an innovator in that specific issue. Because some people are from the people of the Sunnah, known for their goodness, spreading of knowledge, and serving the Prophetic Sunnah, but they have errors in belief. We say these are innovators in that matter.
But we do not call them absolute innovators and say that we do not accept anything they have written, whether correct or incorrect. This is a mistake. The correct must be accepted from any person, and the error must be rejected from any person. If a person is an innovator in his general methodology, he is called an innovator. If he is an innovator in a specific thing, his description as an innovator is limited to that specific thing.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : As an innovator specifically, yes, you are right.
The Shaykh : Yes, there is no doubt that if the Sunnah becomes clear to a person from the Qur'an and the Sunnah and the books written on the reports of the Salaf, there is no doubt that the argument has been established against him. And if the argument is not established against him in such a case, in what would the argument be established against him?
And it is said that he is an innovator, but note that innovation is of two types: absolute innovation in belief and methodology; it is correct to call him an innovator in that case. And innovation in a specific issue; in this case, we must say he is an innovator in that specific issue. Because some people are from the people of the Sunnah, known for their goodness, spreading of knowledge, and serving the Prophetic Sunnah, but they have errors in belief. We say these are innovators in that matter.
But we do not call them absolute innovators and say that we do not accept anything they have written, whether correct or incorrect. This is a mistake. The correct must be accepted from any person, and the error must be rejected from any person. If a person is an innovator in his general methodology, he is called an innovator. If he is an innovator in a specific thing, his description as an innovator is limited to that specific thing.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 42 - 48 إذا درس المبتدع أحد كتب عقائد السلف وبقي على بدعته هل تقام عليه الحجة ويحكم؟ - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.