Etiquette and Guidelines in Responding to Those Who Disagree
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Please, my brother Abu 'Umar, come on to the line. Abu 'Umar. Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. And upon you peace. Peace be upon you. May Allah reward you. Our father, the Honorable Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan. The first question. May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. Recently, on social media sites, the internet, YouTube, and other modern programs and mobile phones, an audio clip of you has spread. People wrote the title of this clip and an introduction to it, saying: "The Honorable Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan responds to Shaykh Muhammad al-Areefi, and that he is one who follows his desires." What is your advice to such people who warn against scholars and preachers, expose them, and write such phrases about some preachers? Thank you. Very well. They said about some preachers, whom we consider—Allah is their accountant, and we do not declare them pure before Allah—to have devoted most of their time to serving this great religion. They said that so-and-so Shaykh is a Sufi, and so-and-so Shaykh is... The question is clear. Thank you.
Answer:
My brother, we and others from the people of knowledge respond to the one who disagrees and clarify the error, without intending to target the person, diminish his status, or attack his personality. We do not intend this, seeking refuge in Allah from this. Rather, we intend to clarify the truth. If a person makes a mistake, there is no objection to clarifying his error. That does not diminish his status; rather, it is a warning to him and cooperation with him to return to the truth. He benefits, and the reader and listener benefit. One does not leave the error to spread among the people. There is no flattery in this matter. It is necessary to clarify the truth and make it clear, and there is no flattery in the truth. This does not harm the one being responded to, if he is among the just ones who seek the truth.
As for if he does not want the truth and wants to defend his desires, then we have no way to deal with him. Yes.
Please, my brother Abu 'Umar, come on to the line. Abu 'Umar. Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. And upon you peace. Peace be upon you. May Allah reward you. Our father, the Honorable Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan. The first question. May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. Recently, on social media sites, the internet, YouTube, and other modern programs and mobile phones, an audio clip of you has spread. People wrote the title of this clip and an introduction to it, saying: "The Honorable Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan responds to Shaykh Muhammad al-Areefi, and that he is one who follows his desires." What is your advice to such people who warn against scholars and preachers, expose them, and write such phrases about some preachers? Thank you. Very well. They said about some preachers, whom we consider—Allah is their accountant, and we do not declare them pure before Allah—to have devoted most of their time to serving this great religion. They said that so-and-so Shaykh is a Sufi, and so-and-so Shaykh is... The question is clear. Thank you.
Answer:
My brother, we and others from the people of knowledge respond to the one who disagrees and clarify the error, without intending to target the person, diminish his status, or attack his personality. We do not intend this, seeking refuge in Allah from this. Rather, we intend to clarify the truth. If a person makes a mistake, there is no objection to clarifying his error. That does not diminish his status; rather, it is a warning to him and cooperation with him to return to the truth. He benefits, and the reader and listener benefit. One does not leave the error to spread among the people. There is no flattery in this matter. It is necessary to clarify the truth and make it clear, and there is no flattery in the truth. This does not harm the one being responded to, if he is among the just ones who seek the truth.
As for if he does not want the truth and wants to defend his desires, then we have no way to deal with him. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، آداب وضوابط في الرد على المخالف - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.