The Shaykh’s response to the fabrications of the partisans against him.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... yesterday, through the speech presented on the topic of the seminar ... and the speech you graciously gave yesterday about what was reported about you in this book, and the correct or clear question that means you should answer is: Is the response mentioned in this seminar from your eminence, meaning is it a lie attributed to you, or is it a response through tapes that reached some officials in the Arab Office for Education, and thus they published it? Second: regarding the speech mentioned about Shaykh Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi, it was mentioned in the introduction of the book that he did not attend the discussion, and that you also did not attend the discussion, and that...
The Shaykh : Also, what?
The questioner : No one from the Salafi direction attended, and therefore they placed, meaning, the thesis of Shaykh Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi and the response that your eminence mentioned in this book, this is so that it is understood that we are distributing this book, and we are distributing the books of the Arab Office for the Gulf States. If this is considered a lie against you? We do not do this distribution? Especially since we know the main reason for our distribution of the Office's books is the books that you graciously provided, such as *Sahih Sunan Ibn Majah* and the rest of the books. I ask for clarification and may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
First: If they took from tapes, may Allah know about them, time has passed over them and consumed them, and they published them under the title of this book, do I hear the attendees what is the title of this book?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Okay, when any reader reads in this book the speech of the brother the prisoner, a few years before this seminar was held, what does the reader understand? Does he understand that he was present at the session? Or was this taken from a tape? Be fair to me.
The questioner : This is what was reported...
The Shaykh : Listen, listen, my brother, may Allah be pleased with you, answer my question.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I ask you, and every question has an answer, and you do not open the book, and you do not get excited about the book. I am asking about the one who reads this speech attributed to our brother Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi, and my speech which is a comment on it, is it understood that this was taken from a tape? Perhaps time has passed over it and consumed it, perhaps it was played with by some hands, may Allah know about it, but the important thing in the question is this first matter: Is it understood from the presentation of my speech and the man's speech that he was in the seminar with the other people of the seminar, or was this taken from a tape?
The questioner : It is understood from the introduction of the book that Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi did not attend, but what was raised, you are right in this.
The Shaykh : How? How?
The questioner : You are right in this, because they did not mention the way in which the book was published in the response to Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi.
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : But Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi, they mentioned that he did not attend the discussion.
The Shaykh : I did not see this, let me hear it.
The questioner : This says: And we have included ... an article about the Salafi call and its position towards the other movements by Professor 'Aid al-'Abassi, despite not discussing it in the seminar due to the non-participation of a representative of this Salafi direction in the works of the seminar.
The Shaykh : Okay, why did they not invite him?
The questioner : Understood.
The Shaykh : Understood.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Why did they not invite me? Say what is known.
The questioner : It was said that they did not, meaning in the introduction: due to the non-participation of a representative of the Salafi direction, meaning due to not informing anyone of the officials of this direction and his non-attendance, that they informed a type of people and they did not attend the seminar.
The Shaykh : A type of people?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Am I from that type?
The questioner : Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : May Allah know, okay, I know if I was invited or not?
The questioner : Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : How, O Shaykh, may Allah guide you?!
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : O Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with you, listen, listen, my brother, we have a bad opinion, frankly, we do not have a bad opinion of every person who has a connection to this topic, but we have a bad opinion of some of them, whom we know or do not know.
First, meaning, unfortunately, what do I say? If it is said, the Salafi caller in Syria, who is he? Is it 'Aid al-'Abassi or his Shaykh al-Albani, whom he was afflicted with? What do you know?
The questioner : Shaykh al-Albani.
The Shaykh : Okay, Shaykh al-Albani, do you think the student is invited and the Shaykh is ignored? Knowing that the student is a prisoner and cannot be invited! And the Shaykh, praise be to Allah, is free and can be invited? Do you not wonder why they did not invite this Shaykh? The answer is with everyone who knows the partisan hostility, which we were talking about now, that one of the misfortunes of these partisan groupings is the division of the Muslim community. I was not invited because I am a Salafi caller for the face of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, and they know this. This is one thing. The other, yes?
The questioner : Even if they did not invite those who are among your students.
The Shaykh : The ones present here, "and the earth is inhabited" as they say, meaning there are some of our brothers who are present and close to the area where that seminar was held. This is one point.
Second: When they mentioned Shaykh Al-Albani's comment on the words of the brother 'Ayd 'Abbasi, why did they not say that this is a tape we have, so that the reader would be fully informed of the matter? It was a plot hatched in the dark, my brother. We cannot improve our opinion of people beyond what is necessary, otherwise we would fall into what we warn people against, which is Sufism that deviates from Islam. For it is reported in some of what is transmitted from some of the ascetic Sufis, those with pure hearts, that one day he passed by on the road and wept. His companion said to him: What is the matter, my brother, that you are weeping? He said: Look at these two, a husband and wife; the man is having intercourse with his wife on the side of the road. I am weeping with regret that they did not find a shelter, they did not find a shelter for them in which to satisfy their desire. This exaggeration in having a good opinion of people is not good opinion. Rather, here we say, and a hadith is narrated, and it is a weak hadith, and it is only narrated from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and this was part of his policy and wisdom: "Prudence is having a bad opinion of people". And unfortunately, we live in a very detestable partisan society. We have a Salafi imam who has been there for years, spreading knowledge among the small children, teaching them the Qur'an and teaching them tajwid, and his wife teaches the women and the small children. And there became a very active scholarly movement, but its flaw is that it is Salafi. So they kept at him and kept at him until they removed him from the mosque. Why? Because he is Salafi. And why? Because there is a mosque for a group from those groups, so they do not want to be crowded in what? In their atmosphere. This is the division,[Ar-Rum 30:31-32].
The Shaykh : Also, what?
The questioner : No one from the Salafi direction attended, and therefore they placed, meaning, the thesis of Shaykh Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi and the response that your eminence mentioned in this book, this is so that it is understood that we are distributing this book, and we are distributing the books of the Arab Office for the Gulf States. If this is considered a lie against you? We do not do this distribution? Especially since we know the main reason for our distribution of the Office's books is the books that you graciously provided, such as *Sahih Sunan Ibn Majah* and the rest of the books. I ask for clarification and may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
First: If they took from tapes, may Allah know about them, time has passed over them and consumed them, and they published them under the title of this book, do I hear the attendees what is the title of this book?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Okay, when any reader reads in this book the speech of the brother the prisoner, a few years before this seminar was held, what does the reader understand? Does he understand that he was present at the session? Or was this taken from a tape? Be fair to me.
The questioner : This is what was reported...
The Shaykh : Listen, listen, my brother, may Allah be pleased with you, answer my question.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I ask you, and every question has an answer, and you do not open the book, and you do not get excited about the book. I am asking about the one who reads this speech attributed to our brother Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi, and my speech which is a comment on it, is it understood that this was taken from a tape? Perhaps time has passed over it and consumed it, perhaps it was played with by some hands, may Allah know about it, but the important thing in the question is this first matter: Is it understood from the presentation of my speech and the man's speech that he was in the seminar with the other people of the seminar, or was this taken from a tape?
The questioner : It is understood from the introduction of the book that Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi did not attend, but what was raised, you are right in this.
The Shaykh : How? How?
The questioner : You are right in this, because they did not mention the way in which the book was published in the response to Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi.
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : But Muhammad 'Aid al-'Abassi, they mentioned that he did not attend the discussion.
The Shaykh : I did not see this, let me hear it.
The questioner : This says: And we have included ... an article about the Salafi call and its position towards the other movements by Professor 'Aid al-'Abassi, despite not discussing it in the seminar due to the non-participation of a representative of this Salafi direction in the works of the seminar.
The Shaykh : Okay, why did they not invite him?
The questioner : Understood.
The Shaykh : Understood.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Why did they not invite me? Say what is known.
The questioner : It was said that they did not, meaning in the introduction: due to the non-participation of a representative of the Salafi direction, meaning due to not informing anyone of the officials of this direction and his non-attendance, that they informed a type of people and they did not attend the seminar.
The Shaykh : A type of people?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Am I from that type?
The questioner : Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : May Allah know, okay, I know if I was invited or not?
The questioner : Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : How, O Shaykh, may Allah guide you?!
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : O Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with you, listen, listen, my brother, we have a bad opinion, frankly, we do not have a bad opinion of every person who has a connection to this topic, but we have a bad opinion of some of them, whom we know or do not know.
First, meaning, unfortunately, what do I say? If it is said, the Salafi caller in Syria, who is he? Is it 'Aid al-'Abassi or his Shaykh al-Albani, whom he was afflicted with? What do you know?
The questioner : Shaykh al-Albani.
The Shaykh : Okay, Shaykh al-Albani, do you think the student is invited and the Shaykh is ignored? Knowing that the student is a prisoner and cannot be invited! And the Shaykh, praise be to Allah, is free and can be invited? Do you not wonder why they did not invite this Shaykh? The answer is with everyone who knows the partisan hostility, which we were talking about now, that one of the misfortunes of these partisan groupings is the division of the Muslim community. I was not invited because I am a Salafi caller for the face of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, and they know this. This is one thing. The other, yes?
The questioner : Even if they did not invite those who are among your students.
The Shaykh : The ones present here, "and the earth is inhabited" as they say, meaning there are some of our brothers who are present and close to the area where that seminar was held. This is one point.
Second: When they mentioned Shaykh Al-Albani's comment on the words of the brother 'Ayd 'Abbasi, why did they not say that this is a tape we have, so that the reader would be fully informed of the matter? It was a plot hatched in the dark, my brother. We cannot improve our opinion of people beyond what is necessary, otherwise we would fall into what we warn people against, which is Sufism that deviates from Islam. For it is reported in some of what is transmitted from some of the ascetic Sufis, those with pure hearts, that one day he passed by on the road and wept. His companion said to him: What is the matter, my brother, that you are weeping? He said: Look at these two, a husband and wife; the man is having intercourse with his wife on the side of the road. I am weeping with regret that they did not find a shelter, they did not find a shelter for them in which to satisfy their desire. This exaggeration in having a good opinion of people is not good opinion. Rather, here we say, and a hadith is narrated, and it is a weak hadith, and it is only narrated from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and this was part of his policy and wisdom: "Prudence is having a bad opinion of people". And unfortunately, we live in a very detestable partisan society. We have a Salafi imam who has been there for years, spreading knowledge among the small children, teaching them the Qur'an and teaching them tajwid, and his wife teaches the women and the small children. And there became a very active scholarly movement, but its flaw is that it is Salafi. So they kept at him and kept at him until they removed him from the mosque. Why? Because he is Salafi. And why? Because there is a mosque for a group from those groups, so they do not want to be crowded in what? In their atmosphere. This is the division,