The Methodology of the People of the Sunnah in Responding to Those Who Disagree with Them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner asks: What is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community when responding to those who disagree with them? We ask for details regarding mentioning their good qualities.
Answer:
First, responding is a task undertaken only by people of knowledge. It is undertaken only by people of knowledge who are skilled in responding, who establish proofs, and who refute error. Not everyone who responds from among the beginners or the pretenders to knowledge does so; no, such a response becomes worse than the error itself. Second.
The response is to be made with wisdom, clarifying the truth without harshness and without insult. It is to be made with wisdom and by clarifying the truth with its evidence, without targeting individuals. It is sufficient to say, "So-and-so erred in such-and-such, and the correct view is such-and-such." This is what is required. As for insult, harshness, and publicizing the matter, this is not part of the response; this is not part of the response. This increases evil. Whereas if you respond with wisdom and a good manner, perhaps the one who erred will return and retract his error. But if you respond with a bad response, this may lead him to persist in falsehood. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
The questioner asks: What is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community when responding to those who disagree with them? We ask for details regarding mentioning their good qualities.
Answer:
First, responding is a task undertaken only by people of knowledge. It is undertaken only by people of knowledge who are skilled in responding, who establish proofs, and who refute error. Not everyone who responds from among the beginners or the pretenders to knowledge does so; no, such a response becomes worse than the error itself. Second.
The response is to be made with wisdom, clarifying the truth without harshness and without insult. It is to be made with wisdom and by clarifying the truth with its evidence, without targeting individuals. It is sufficient to say, "So-and-so erred in such-and-such, and the correct view is such-and-such." This is what is required. As for insult, harshness, and publicizing the matter, this is not part of the response; this is not part of the response. This increases evil. Whereas if you respond with wisdom and a good manner, perhaps the one who erred will return and retract his error. But if you respond with a bad response, this may lead him to persist in falsehood. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
شرح كتاب التوحيد [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب قول الله - تعالى - : { إنك لا تهدي من أحببت } — islamhouse.com (48:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.