Criticizing the Salafis for having no methodology in calling to Allah, and why they do not form a party like the others; what is your answer?

Al-Halabi : Our Shaykh, in a question that has been repeated many times, and you have answered it repeatedly, but our brotherThe questioner : insists on asking about this so that all the brothers may benefit. He says there are those who criticize the Salafi callers to Allah by saying they have no methodology or organization; what is the answer? And is there a necessity for organization on the model of contemporary parties? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : We disavow to Allah any resemblance to those who contradict the texts of the Book and the Sunnah that prohibit division. And among the strongest causes of division is blind, deaf, and mute partisanship. So we disavow to Allah any resemblance to those who take partisanship as a means of calling to Islam, without realizing that partisanship divides the Muslims beyond the division they are living and experiencing in this time, which was a result of a previous, ancient division. We are now living in the worst of these results, and we do not stop there until we create new causes and means that increase the division among the Muslims, and even within the single group that belongs to acting upon the Book and the Sunnah. There arises a party under the name of the Salafi Party, which differs from the Salafis in general in that it is organized. This organization, in my belief, is like that of some Islamic parties that do not belong to the Da'wah that is called the Salafi Da'wah in some countries, and the Da'wah of the Supporters of the Muhammadan Sunnah in other countries, and the Da'wah of the People of Hadith in a third set of countries. There are some parties that belong only to an Islam that has no concept for them, and if it has a concept, it has multiple, strongly contradictory faces. They are content only with agreeing on Islam, but what is Islam? What is the creed of Islam?
Every person from this same party answers you with an answer that differs from the other. There is no surprise regarding such parties that do not adopt the Salafi Da'wah as their methodology in their understanding of their religion, whether it be creed, rulings, or conduct. There is no surprise in that, because they do not know. But what is the matter that we hear in this period people from among us and within us, who call with our call, and unify with our tawhid, and follow the Sunnah of our Prophet with us. Now they have been influenced by the other groups, so they formed parties and blocs. And it is not against the other parties, but against those who were with them; because they did not form a party with them, so they became their enemies and opponents. That is from the ill omen of contradicting the like of the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): . Islam does not recognize partisanship at all. Rather, it is obligatory that we be like one body; if one part of it is afflicted, the rest of the body responds to it with fever and sleeplessness.
But we have tried partisanship before the new party. We tried it, and it divided the ranks of the Muslim people who are united by the call of Islam. Why? Because they declared on many occasions that the community of Muslims is only such-and-such a party. Only these are the community of Muslims. That is from the ill omen of partisanship, blocs, and division in the call to Islam. And we lived in Syria for many years with the Muslim Brotherhood, calling them to the Book and the Sunnah, and we did not belong to them. Then Allah decreed for me to migrate from Damascus to Amman. And I began there to call as I used to do while I was in Damascus. I used to visit Jordan and call to the extent that my move from Damascus to Amman allowed. But when I settled and resided in Amman, I took on more and much more activity in the Da'wah than before. And the result of that was that someone informed the authorities there about us. Allah knows; we do not accuse a Sufi Shaykh, or a madhhab follower who practices taqlid, or a specific party. Allah knows. But the outcome of that informing was that they returned me, against my will, and in a manner that does not need detailing, to Damascus under the surveillance of the intelligence. Then after about half a year, they allowed me to return to Amman, after I had built a house there and had begun moving my library to it. They allowed me, and praise be to Allah, to return and reside there again. And I began my activity. So what was the position of one of the parties there? They declared openly the obligation to boycottThe Shaykh : Al-Albani. And not only in his person, but with everyone who carries his call. So we would pass by people we used to greet and who used to greet us, and there he would turn his face away from us and deviate. Why? Because the order had been issued from the top leadership, they claimed, that it is obligatory to boycott Al-Albani. And this law continued for a full year. And among them were people.

The questioner : This is an emergency law, do not be angry.

The Shaykh : Yes, I am not angry . Among these nobles who were influenced by the decision of the committee there, or the administration, or whatever they call it, was the man by whom Allah benefited many, I believe, in Afghanistan, and that is Dr. Abdullah Azzam. This man’s affair is strange. He was the only partisan who was keen to attend my sessions. He had a small notebook and a fine, soft, nice pen, like him. Whenever he heard a benefit from Al-Albani, he recorded it for himself. But when the decision was issued, he no longer greeted us. A meeting brought me together with him while I was leaving the mosque there. We said to him: How is this, Dr.? He said, meaning: A summer cloud will soon clear. We said: Good. Months passed, and he remained in this avoidance. As for individuals from the party, they used to attend our circles without permission from the top leadership, they claimed! And we would raise this issue: What compelled your group to issue this unjust decision? And here you are now attending? If you believed that this decision was just, you would not contradict it. But you feel that it is unjust, and therefore you attend these sessions.
In conclusion, the time came for this decision, as they say, to have its span and effect, and the people who used to greet us returned to their greetings. Then I was surprised by the arrival of the late Dr. (may Allah have mercy on him) to my son-in-law’s house. I was awake with him. He and one of our Salafi brothers entered, greeted us, and sat down. He said: We came to your house, and knocked on the door and did not hear an answer. Then we went to so-and-so’s house, and sat waiting. We were told: He may have gone to his daughter’s, to her husband’s. And here we are, coming to you. We said to him: Welcome. He said: I have questions, and I want you to be kind enough to give an answer to them? I said to him, contrary to my custom: For every question, a trip. For every question, a trip. Meaning, for every question you want to ask me, you come to my house. But that you take an answer to all the questions in one session, no. He said: Why? I said: When you issued this unjust, oppressive decision? What did I do to you? Except that I call to the Book and the Sunnah? He said: You declared Sayyid Qutb a disbeliever. I said: Do you hear me? Did you hear me declare Sayyid Qutb a disbeliever? He said: No, but some of our youth reported that to us. I said: Subhan Allah! As if you have not read His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): . And I mentioned to him the other hadith: . So you did not stop at reporting thatThe Shaykh : Al-Albani declares Sayyid Qutb a disbeliever, but you built upon that the boycotting and severing of ties that contradict the explicit Sunnah: . And you, in particular, among all your group, since you used to attend my sessions, you know that I say: It is not permissible to hasten to declare a Muslim a disbeliever except after establishing the proof. Did you not hear this statement from me repeatedly? He said: Yes. I said: Then how did you not defend me, and in my absence, when this unjust, oppressive decision was made? At least you could say: By Allah, we must send a person to clarify fromThe Shaykh : It is true that he declares Sayyid Qutb a disbeliever? That is one thing. The second thing is how you believed that I declare Sayyid Qutb a disbeliever, when I spoke of him with praise in some of the introductions. If he were a disbeliever in my view, I would not have mentioned him. A long, very long discussion took place between me and him.
The point is that the effect of partisanship is very clear in causing estrangement and severance among Muslims. This is a new example, unfortunately, where the Salafis in some Islamic countries have become two factions. The call to Islam used to unite them and not divide them. But when what they call today "organization" entered the call—which is partisanship and clustering against everyone who does not belong to this cluster and party—then our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) proved true when He said: . This party, even within a single group, in terms of methodology and creed, divides betweenThe Shaykh : a teacher and his student, and between a student and his companion. These are the effects. And as it was said long ago:
"These are our effects that point to us, *** So look at the effects after us."