The obligation upon Muslims, just as they believe in the texts, is to understand them correctly, such as the hadiths and verses regarding the exaltation of Allah.

The Shaykh : One of the imams of hadith and the imams of the followers of the righteous Salaf, the Imam al-Dhahabi al-Dimashqi, wrote a specific treatise on this important issue, because it is a matter of creed. The title of the treatise is *Al-‘Uluw li-‘Aliyy al-Ghaffar* (The Exaltation of the Exalted, the Forgiver). I have served this book by summarizing it, commenting on it, and writing an important introduction regarding this correct Salafi creed. Today, the Habashis and the masses of Muslims anywhere deny this creed, even though it is established in dozens of texts from the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah. This is an example of what I mentioned earlier: how people believe in verses but do not truly believe in them because they have deviated from understanding them correctly. Therefore, every student of knowledge should be as Allah the Exalted commanded His Prophet (peace be upon him) to say: .
The Shaykh: The point is: . Every Muslim, male or female, must be upon clear-sightedness in his religion. This clear-sightedness is not realized except through knowledge, and knowledge does not return except to three sources: the first source is the Book of Allah, the second source is the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the third source is the sayings of the Companions. For this reason, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said in some of his excellent scholarly poetry:
“Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said, *** The Companions said; it is not deception.
Knowledge is not setting you up for foolish disagreement *** Between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist.
Nor is it denying the attributes and negating them *** Out of fear of denial of the divine attributes and likening Allah to creation.”
These people today, including many of the elite and this Habashi and his followers, deny that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) rose above the Throne. They have long interpretations regarding this, and researching the refutation of them would take us away from what we are currently discussing, especially since our time is nearly over. Therefore, we are only reminding, and we have only the reminder, that every Muslim must be upon clear-sightedness in his religion. One should not affiliate with any person who is not absolutely infallible except with one person, and that is Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him). Likewise, it is not permissible for a Muslim to affiliate with any group in this world, whether in the present or the past, except with one group, and that is the group of the righteous Salaf. The reason for this is that no one is infallible except the Messenger (peace be upon him), and no group is infallible except the group of the righteous Salaf. Therefore, there is no partisanship in Islam, no group affiliation in Islam, and no affiliation with any person, no matter who that person is, whether he is one of the four imams: Abu Hanifah, Malik, al-Shafi‘i, or Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Among the virtue of these imams is that they forbade being followed without the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Thus, it is authentically reported from each of them that he said: “If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab.” If it is not permissible for a Muslim to affiliate with an imam from among these imams, who are as they are in knowledge, virtue, and righteousness, how can a person affiliate with another person whose true status and extent of knowledge are unknown? How much more so if it is known that he has deviated from the Book and the Sunnah? There is no affiliation except with one affiliation, and that is the Book, the Sunnah, and the righteous Salaf, as we mentioned earlier. This is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The questioner : A small question we want to ask, just one.

The Shaykh : There is no time left.

The questioner : Ten minutes.

The Shaykh : That is enough. It is now six-thirty, and you want to ask a question and you want... what else...