The Shaykh's response to the statement attributed to him regarding Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, stating that he was a Salafi in 'aqidah but not a Salafi in the branches of jurisprudence and hadith.
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The Shaykh : Were you the one who asked the question?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Please, let us see your question.
The questioner : May Allah keep you safe. When you attended the Bahrain conference held under the title: "Islamic Jurisprudence", and Al-A'zami and a group of participating brothers were present, and you commented on Brother Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abbas after he spoke about the Salafi movements, you said: Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) is not a Salafi in the branches of jurisprudence or in hadith, but only in 'aqidah. You mentioned this, and I took this information from the book published by the house responsible for the conference. In response to this, we say: First, what you said about the Shaykh of Islam being a Salafi in 'aqidah is not problematic. As for your statement that he is not a Salafi in the branches of jurisprudence, I see, and Allah knows best, that you, O Shaykh, have not looked into the reality of his madhhab in the branches. The Shaykh is among the examples where he opposed the madhhab, and this is by way of example, the issue of the grandfather and the brothers; the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) opposed the madhhab in this issue.
The second issue is that he spoke about some of the later books of the madhhab, specifically the book *Al-Insaaf*, which is one of the most important books of the Hanbalis, and he said: "Most of what is in Al-Insaaf contradicts the explicit text of Ahmad, let alone the text of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)", and there are several examples, but I will not lengthen this.
The second observation: you said that he is not a Salafi in hadith, and reality contradicts this. The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) traveled to Madinah and studied hadith with Shaykh Muhammad Hayat al-Sindi (may Allah have mercy on him), who was famous at that time.
Also, as far as I know, he studied with Al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the hadith scholars in Makkah.
The third point: your statement that the Shaykh is not a Salafi, I understand from it, and perhaps other people do not: that one who does not engage in the science of hadith is called not a Salafi. For example, doctors or engineers or other students of knowledge who study, for instance, jurisprudence or tafsir and do not engage in authentication and weakening are said to be, and when they work with hadith that contradicts their madhhab, for example, it is said that they are not Salafis in hadith. So what is your answer, may Allah preserve you?
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you!
The questioner : O Shaykh, before this!
The Shaykh : Listen, my brother, may Allah guide you. Do you know 'Aid al-'Abassi?
The questioner : Yes?
The Shaykh : Do you know 'Aid al-'Abassi?
The questioner : I do not know him personally.
The Shaykh : Have you heard anything about him?
The questioner : Yes, that is correct.
The Shaykh : Who is he?
The questioner : ... and I think he is one of your students and has a magazine ...
The Shaykh : Okay, is he dead or alive, as far as you know?
The questioner : I do not know about him.
The Shaykh : Okay, this which you quoted and you lengthened in speech and commentary, and it has become clear that you are not a questioner but rather a responder who is refuting, so may Allah forgive you!
First: We were not at the conference, and the other man, whom you say, arrogant with what you read, conceited with what you read: the man has been a prisoner for eight years. When was the conference held?
The questioner : 1405.
The Shaykh : Ah, so this which you read, you should have first verified one thing before anything else: Is it true that Al-Albani and 'Aid al-'Abassi, who is my student as you say, and he is indeed, were present at the conference?! This is the first error, and this is the error of most students of knowledge who do not verify on one hand, and on the other hand do not know the plots of the other groups. Do you know who organized this conference?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : You do not know, so you do not know this or that, and then you built upon your ignorance praise and blame, and what is built upon what is not valid is from what is not valid.
Second: I do not think you memorized what you read in that book as you memorize the opening of the Book, so I am saying: You can now say, based on what you read: that Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) is not a Salafi in hadith. Can you be certain of this?
I do not think so, and I do not think you would dare to involve yourself in this entanglement. In that case, if you had been cautious in asking such a question, you should have recorded what you read on a cassette, and the question would be as follows: Did you deliver this speech at the conference?!
We tell you: We did not attend the conference and were not invited to it, and our companion cannot attend it even if he were invited to it because he is a prisoner, so may Allah free him from his prison, and he may have become among the dead, may Allah have mercy on him. This is what you should have asked: Did you attend this conference and so-and-so, so that we could tell you: We know nothing about it whatsoever.
Second: Do you believe in this speech?!
So I have lived in this worldly life as much as I could, I do not say this as a recommendation, but as speaking of the grace of Allah, I do not conceal and I do not practice hypocrisy, I say what is in me.
So I believe that Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is as you read, is as you mentioned, is undoubtedly a Salafi imam in 'aqidah, and he has the merit, and so on, of the speech that he deserves in the field of reviving the call to the oneness of Allah in those lands first, and then the blessed call encompassed the other Islamic lands second.
But I cannot say, whether they are true in what they quoted and I do not know from where they quoted, but first: We were certainly not present at that session.
If someone were to ask you now: Do you believe that Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was a hadith scholar?
I would tell you: No, he is not a hadith scholar, and I think you are of such intellect that you understand with me that it is not necessary for a person who read hadith from a person who is famous for hadith to become a hadith scholar. I think you agree with me in this.
So this enthusiasm, which means we heard from you, is unfortunately words in the air with no value, first: because it was built upon something we do not know and were not present for.
Second: It is not appropriate to believe that every imam of the Muslims is a hadith scholar, is a mufassir, is a historian, is a linguist, is such and such, and so on.
If someone were to tell you: Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is not a linguist, perhaps you would not establish for him imamate in language either, due to your enthusiasm for his tawhid and his call. Haha, may Allah forgive you, and I hope Allah will accept repentance from us all.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Please, let us see your question.
The questioner : May Allah keep you safe. When you attended the Bahrain conference held under the title: "Islamic Jurisprudence", and Al-A'zami and a group of participating brothers were present, and you commented on Brother Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abbas after he spoke about the Salafi movements, you said: Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) is not a Salafi in the branches of jurisprudence or in hadith, but only in 'aqidah. You mentioned this, and I took this information from the book published by the house responsible for the conference. In response to this, we say: First, what you said about the Shaykh of Islam being a Salafi in 'aqidah is not problematic. As for your statement that he is not a Salafi in the branches of jurisprudence, I see, and Allah knows best, that you, O Shaykh, have not looked into the reality of his madhhab in the branches. The Shaykh is among the examples where he opposed the madhhab, and this is by way of example, the issue of the grandfather and the brothers; the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) opposed the madhhab in this issue.
The second issue is that he spoke about some of the later books of the madhhab, specifically the book *Al-Insaaf*, which is one of the most important books of the Hanbalis, and he said: "Most of what is in Al-Insaaf contradicts the explicit text of Ahmad, let alone the text of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)", and there are several examples, but I will not lengthen this.
The second observation: you said that he is not a Salafi in hadith, and reality contradicts this. The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) traveled to Madinah and studied hadith with Shaykh Muhammad Hayat al-Sindi (may Allah have mercy on him), who was famous at that time.
Also, as far as I know, he studied with Al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the hadith scholars in Makkah.
The third point: your statement that the Shaykh is not a Salafi, I understand from it, and perhaps other people do not: that one who does not engage in the science of hadith is called not a Salafi. For example, doctors or engineers or other students of knowledge who study, for instance, jurisprudence or tafsir and do not engage in authentication and weakening are said to be, and when they work with hadith that contradicts their madhhab, for example, it is said that they are not Salafis in hadith. So what is your answer, may Allah preserve you?
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you!
The questioner : O Shaykh, before this!
The Shaykh : Listen, my brother, may Allah guide you. Do you know 'Aid al-'Abassi?
The questioner : Yes?
The Shaykh : Do you know 'Aid al-'Abassi?
The questioner : I do not know him personally.
The Shaykh : Have you heard anything about him?
The questioner : Yes, that is correct.
The Shaykh : Who is he?
The questioner : ... and I think he is one of your students and has a magazine ...
The Shaykh : Okay, is he dead or alive, as far as you know?
The questioner : I do not know about him.
The Shaykh : Okay, this which you quoted and you lengthened in speech and commentary, and it has become clear that you are not a questioner but rather a responder who is refuting, so may Allah forgive you!
First: We were not at the conference, and the other man, whom you say, arrogant with what you read, conceited with what you read: the man has been a prisoner for eight years. When was the conference held?
The questioner : 1405.
The Shaykh : Ah, so this which you read, you should have first verified one thing before anything else: Is it true that Al-Albani and 'Aid al-'Abassi, who is my student as you say, and he is indeed, were present at the conference?! This is the first error, and this is the error of most students of knowledge who do not verify on one hand, and on the other hand do not know the plots of the other groups. Do you know who organized this conference?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : You do not know, so you do not know this or that, and then you built upon your ignorance praise and blame, and what is built upon what is not valid is from what is not valid.
Second: I do not think you memorized what you read in that book as you memorize the opening of the Book, so I am saying: You can now say, based on what you read: that Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) is not a Salafi in hadith. Can you be certain of this?
I do not think so, and I do not think you would dare to involve yourself in this entanglement. In that case, if you had been cautious in asking such a question, you should have recorded what you read on a cassette, and the question would be as follows: Did you deliver this speech at the conference?!
We tell you: We did not attend the conference and were not invited to it, and our companion cannot attend it even if he were invited to it because he is a prisoner, so may Allah free him from his prison, and he may have become among the dead, may Allah have mercy on him. This is what you should have asked: Did you attend this conference and so-and-so, so that we could tell you: We know nothing about it whatsoever.
Second: Do you believe in this speech?!
So I have lived in this worldly life as much as I could, I do not say this as a recommendation, but as speaking of the grace of Allah, I do not conceal and I do not practice hypocrisy, I say what is in me.
So I believe that Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is as you read, is as you mentioned, is undoubtedly a Salafi imam in 'aqidah, and he has the merit, and so on, of the speech that he deserves in the field of reviving the call to the oneness of Allah in those lands first, and then the blessed call encompassed the other Islamic lands second.
But I cannot say, whether they are true in what they quoted and I do not know from where they quoted, but first: We were certainly not present at that session.
If someone were to ask you now: Do you believe that Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was a hadith scholar?
I would tell you: No, he is not a hadith scholar, and I think you are of such intellect that you understand with me that it is not necessary for a person who read hadith from a person who is famous for hadith to become a hadith scholar. I think you agree with me in this.
So this enthusiasm, which means we heard from you, is unfortunately words in the air with no value, first: because it was built upon something we do not know and were not present for.
Second: It is not appropriate to believe that every imam of the Muslims is a hadith scholar, is a mufassir, is a historian, is a linguist, is such and such, and so on.
If someone were to tell you: Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is not a linguist, perhaps you would not establish for him imamate in language either, due to your enthusiasm for his tawhid and his call. Haha, may Allah forgive you, and I hope Allah will accept repentance from us all.