What is the Salafi view of the other groups we see in these days, such as the Tabi'iyah and the Sufis?

The questioner : What is the Salafi view of the other groups we see in these days, such as the Tabi'iyah group of Khalaf al-Tabi'iyah, which calls for short poetry, and such as the Sufis, who call for loving the Divine and taking refuge in Him in these matters? What is the Salafi view of this?

The Shaykh : I heard or understood the word Sufis, and what was before it?

The questioner : The Tabi'iyah.

The Shaykh : The Tabi'iyah.

The questioner : The Fadi al-Tabi'ah faction.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, I know it.

The questioner : Yes, what is the Salafi view of it?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : And of its ideas and principles?

The Shaykh : I think that the answer to such a question is understood from the previous answer to the first question. We say: that any group, whether it is the Sufis, the Tabi'iyah, or otherwise, if it is not upon the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous Salaf, then they are not upon guidance. This should be known and imprinted in the mind with an imprint that settles permanently. Every group, every faction that does not care about understanding the Book and the Sunnah as the righteous Salaf did, first, and then, if they understand it correctly, do not apply it correctly, that means they are judging by themselves that they are not of the saved sect. Because we know from the previous hadith that the saved sect has two characteristics from the ideological aspect and another characteristic from the practical aspect. As for the two ideological characteristics, they are being upon what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions were upon.
As for the practical aspect, it is that they apply what they learned of the guidance of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and the biography of the noble righteous Salaf, that they apply it practically and do not believe in it with special philosophies that stem from their desires, if not from their ignorance. For example, many of the sects today, and for example the Muslim girls who belong to that woman, do not wear, for example, the Shari'ah jilbab (outer garment) which was specified in the Book, let alone the Sunnah. They make the covering garment reach only to the middle of the calves, for example. And there may be things we do not know, because this is an apparent matter. There may be ideological and jurisprudential deviations from the Book and the Sunnah that are more dangerous than this example we are mentioning now, which has become their symbol. In the Noble Qur'an, He (Mighty and Majestic) said, addressing the women: , and He said: ; the meaning of this is that the garment they used to wear in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was a full, covering garment such that this garment covered the adornment, which is a euphemism for the anklets that women in Arabia used to wear on their calves. The anklet was like a bracelet on the woman's wrist, and she had something like small, soft bells. So the woman who wanted to attract the attention of the men around her could not do so by exposing her calves, because this is contrary to the Noble Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah. Therefore, He (Blessed and Exalted is He) disciplined them by saying: from these anklets. Now it has become their symbol, contrary to the Noble Qur'an. Why? Because ignorance entered them and modern philosophy entered them. It is not necessary that we call Muslim girls to Islam all at once. Is this Islam? The answer is obvious: No. Islam was revealed, without doubt, in stages, as came in the hadith of Ibn Abbas, and gradually, as is known in the story of the prohibition of intoxicants. But is this a gradual application of some of the rulings specified in the Qur'an that should be repeated today such that it is said: we do not prohibit intoxicants for some European societies, for example, all at once? No, it is necessary to convey Islam in its entirety first, then it is necessary to urge the one who believed in Allah and His Messenger truly to urge him to embody Islam and apply it in its entirety and within the limits of his ability. As for stopping the application on the pretext that this is from the Shari'ah policy, this is deviation from the Book and the Sunnah and from what our righteous Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them) were upon. Therefore, the research into the sects and the parties is a matter that does not end, because the parties are many and the groups are numerous. And if the Messenger (peace be upon him) said in that hadith: that they will split into seventy-three sects, there is no way for a person, especially in such a short time, to count those who differ from what the Messenger (peace be upon him) and the righteous Salaf were upon. It is sufficient for us to draw attention to the rule: whoever takes his religion from the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, which is all embodied in the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the righteous Salaf from their followers, will not be guided except by being upon their methodology and their way. This is what I have as an answer to the second question.