What is the ruling on those who are unable to reach urban areas and follow sheikhs in remote areas who are upon misguidance?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : I visited Sudan some time ago. In some very remote areas where the people are unable to reach the urban areas where the scholars are, a man follows a sheikh of his and believes that this sheikh has knowledge and is, I mean, trustworthy in his knowledge. This sheikh is one of the deviant sheikhs who circumambulates graves, makes some vows, beats the sand, and takes omens. This man follows him and believes that this man is one of the awliya (close friends of Allah) and that this man actually brings him closer to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) through this knowledge. If he follows him and believes that this knowledge is the true knowledge, do we issue a ruling against him with any of the rulings?
The Shaykh : This falls under our previous discussion, and I think you were not present. We said whether the ignorant person is excused or not, and we detailed the statement in it, and we do not need to repeat it now. But I will say a brief word: If this Muslim, who is deceived by that Sufi, deceiver, deviant sheikh, etc., if he has exhausted his effort to know the truth and then stopped with this sheikh, he is excused. But if he is convinced by him without consulting the other sheikhs, and he is able to— I am saying this because I understood from you that you assume this person lives in a remote country far from the scholars— if he is unable to come to the scholars, he is excused in this case. Is that clear?
The Shaykh : This falls under our previous discussion, and I think you were not present. We said whether the ignorant person is excused or not, and we detailed the statement in it, and we do not need to repeat it now. But I will say a brief word: If this Muslim, who is deceived by that Sufi, deceiver, deviant sheikh, etc., if he has exhausted his effort to know the truth and then stopped with this sheikh, he is excused. But if he is convinced by him without consulting the other sheikhs, and he is able to— I am saying this because I understood from you that you assume this person lives in a remote country far from the scholars— if he is unable to come to the scholars, he is excused in this case. Is that clear?