What is the ruling on reading the books of contemporary scholars and attributing imamate to them?
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The questioner : Shaykh, regarding the previous issue that was discussed in the books of contemporary scholars, what is your opinion if it is said that a contemporary scholar has a connection, or is connected, to the predecessors? As for the books of contemporary scholars who draw from the books of the Salaf, follow them, and disseminate, clarify, and explain them, young people are advised to read them, with the clarification that their value is not like that of the books of the predecessors. As for contemporary scholars who feed on the books of innovators and disseminate non-Salafi beliefs in their books, such as the beliefs of the Asha'irah and the like, young people are not advised to read their books, out of fear that they will be influenced by what is in them. As for scholars of knowledge, if they read them, that is a different matter, either to warn against the errors contained in them or the like. As for advising young people to read these books, or to add or bestow religious titles upon their authors, knowing that they are not from the people of the Sunnah and the community, how is it that they are described as renewers or imams or the like? What is your opinion, Shaykh?
The Shaykh : This distinction that he mentioned is a good distinction. But most of the books of the later scholars, and those who may be referred to as imams or as leaders, are mostly based on ideas and intellectual matters that are far from the methodology of the righteous Salaf.
As for the one who transmits the words of the righteous Salaf and explains, clarifies, and interprets them, his words do not go beyond being the words of the Salaf, but they are an explanation, interpretation, and clarification. Then, if we read many of the books of the later scholars, even in jurisprudential issues, we find that they are far from thorough investigation. When they speak, for example, about matters of transactions, we find that they make a great and significant effort to subject them to reality?
To the extent that some of them permit riba (usury or interest) if, in their claim, it is investment riba, and they say that the forbidden riba is exploitative riba, which is intended to exploit the wealth of the poor, while what is intended for investment and developing the national economy and the like is permissible. Such ideas cannot be accepted, and we cannot encourage young people to study such books and turn away from what the righteous Salaf wrote. This distinction that the brother Hamad made is good, meaning that the contemporary scholar who wrote in what the predecessors wrote, in the form of explanation or clarification or the like, is in reality the books of the predecessors, except that he explained and expanded them for the later generations. But we want the contemporary scholars who claimed certain ideas and became leaders of people in these ideas; this is what we see should not be directed to young people. As for the one who is cautious in knowledge and does not fear for himself, there is no harm in him reviewing these books to benefit from what they are upon and to know the truth of their matter, then he sees what he sees from the perspective of warning against them, either in general or in a specific issue, because
The Shaykh : This distinction that he mentioned is a good distinction. But most of the books of the later scholars, and those who may be referred to as imams or as leaders, are mostly based on ideas and intellectual matters that are far from the methodology of the righteous Salaf.
As for the one who transmits the words of the righteous Salaf and explains, clarifies, and interprets them, his words do not go beyond being the words of the Salaf, but they are an explanation, interpretation, and clarification. Then, if we read many of the books of the later scholars, even in jurisprudential issues, we find that they are far from thorough investigation. When they speak, for example, about matters of transactions, we find that they make a great and significant effort to subject them to reality?
To the extent that some of them permit riba (usury or interest) if, in their claim, it is investment riba, and they say that the forbidden riba is exploitative riba, which is intended to exploit the wealth of the poor, while what is intended for investment and developing the national economy and the like is permissible. Such ideas cannot be accepted, and we cannot encourage young people to study such books and turn away from what the righteous Salaf wrote. This distinction that the brother Hamad made is good, meaning that the contemporary scholar who wrote in what the predecessors wrote, in the form of explanation or clarification or the like, is in reality the books of the predecessors, except that he explained and expanded them for the later generations. But we want the contemporary scholars who claimed certain ideas and became leaders of people in these ideas; this is what we see should not be directed to young people. As for the one who is cautious in knowledge and does not fear for himself, there is no harm in him reviewing these books to benefit from what they are upon and to know the truth of their matter, then he sees what he sees from the perspective of warning against them, either in general or in a specific issue, because
Source
لقاء مفتوح مع فضيلته بحائل — archive.org (49:13)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.