The Shaykh Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut mentioned to me that he used to visit you, and you had moved your library to the shop?

Al-Huwaini:The Shaykh : Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut mentioned to me that he used to visit you, and you had moved your library or something like that to the shop?

The Shaykh : His saying that he used to visit me is a lie and falsehood! In fact, he only attended at my place once, and I was pressing him for a meeting to negotiate. And upon you be peace, mercy of Allah, and blessings... What Allah willed! Here, He gave you a trait...
Al-Hawani: May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : He was, as I said, a bitter enemy to my call to the Sunnah, and he was extremely fanatical about his madhhabic study under his Shaykh, "Salih Farfur." He used to spread false, fabricated news about me, as is the constant practice of the people of innovation and those who follow scholars blindly toward the people of the Sunnah.

Another questioner : Who...?

The Shaykh : Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut. Among his unforgettable deeds is that when my first wife, Umm 'Abd al-Rahman, died, I took charge of lowering her into her grave, contrary to the Sunnah of the Shaykhs, of course, and especially the Hanafis. This is because the Hanafis hold that when a woman dies, the marital bond is dissolved; therefore, it is not permissible for him to see her or look at her after her death. This is contrary to the well-known practice of the Salaf, who would, for example, take charge of washing one another, and contrary to the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to 'A'ishah when he entered upon her and she was saying, "Woe to my head!" He said (peace be upon him): . So I also broke with, among the other things I broke with, the customs of the fanatics there by taking charge of lowering my wife into the grave. And among those who participated in the funeral procession wasThe Shaykh : Shu'ayb. And that was not for the motive of following the Sunnah or the prescribed consolation, but rather because my wife was an Arna'uti and he was an Arna'uti, so he had to come out for the procession. Otherwise, if he had been able, he would not have taken a single step; because he considers me a misguidance due to my opposition to the madhhab. What indicates this to us is what he did after the people left with me from the burial. We finished the burial; so he gathered the people and began to shout and deny what I had done. There were some of our brothers from the Salafi Muslim Brotherhood, led by "Ismail al-Attar," whom you must have heard of, and Zuhayr al-Shawish. These were among the senior members of the Brotherhood who had adopted the Salafi call, even though they remained in their Brotherhood affiliation. So they took him aside and calmed him down, meaning they calmed his anger and softened their speech with him until the flame of his fire went out. This is one of his deeds. So I was always saying to those around me and those who reported his intense hostility toward me: "Let's bury her, brothers, and then we'll see what we have!" In the end, for the first time, he entered the shop, and we sat with him in a discussion for hours, perhaps four or five hours; I no longer remember well. The outcome of the session was his ultimate agreement that it is permissible for me to issue fatwas based on what my opinion and independent legal reasoning had reached, within a narrow circle, and that I should not call people to these opinions of mine. I said: First, this is not possible practically. Then, what is the practical difference between calling Zayd and calling 'Amr?! What is the difference? And I gave him an example: I had an older brother named Muhammad Nadi Abu Ahmad, who worked as a carpenter in a state factory called "Al-Qadim Factory."

Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, mercy of Allah, and blessings. And although he was almost an uneducated person, he memorized every saying he heard from me and every opinion, and by this, or for this reason, he stood out in the factory there. And upon you be peace, and upon you be peace, mercy of Allah. And he became like a Shaykh among them, meaning.
-- Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : Welcome, and upon you be peace.

Another questioner : How are you?

The Shaykh : How are you?

Another questioner : How are you?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, how is your health? Welcome, and upon you be peace, please proceed.

Another questioner : How are you, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well. How are you?

Another questioner : By Allah, I am well.

The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.

Another questioner : I am asking you?

The Shaykh : No.
Al-Hawani: Yes, indeed --.


The Shaykh : So I gave him the example of my brother Abu Ahmad, who was working there in the "Al-Qadim Factory" as a carpenter. I said to him: If my brother asked me the following question: "My brother, I performed the ablution and got cut in the factory, and some blood came out of me; what is your opinion, do you know if this ablution is invalidated or not?" I would naturally, O Shaykh So-and-so, want to tell him my opinion, because it is not permissible to conceal knowledge, so I would tell him: "No, the ablution is not invalidated!" So you are saying that you may issue fatwas to those around you, but this "around" extends, and this is its example. My brother took this answer, and he was in the factory; any worker who had something happen would go to Abu Ahmad: "O Abu Ahmad, the story is such and such." And a man came and said to him: "I performed the ablution and got cut; what should Abu Ahmad say?" He would say to him: "By Allah, my brother, I say that this does not obligate the ablution." So what, do you want to restrict the matter?! Practically, first, and then scientifically, what is the difference between me issuing a fatwa to my brother in kinship and in religion, and another brother of mine in religion to whom I do not issue a fatwa about what I believe to be from the religion!
This session was the one that weakened some of his fanaticism, but intense hatred and envy overcame him. Therefore, to this day, the effect of the discussion is not apparent in his behavior in his obedience and his worship. Then he slanders the Salafis as much as he is able to do so, as if he is saying: I do not accept the Salafi madhhab as a madhhab. For this reason, we were distant from each other; and he did not visit my shop. But I know that the first time he softened a little was with 'Abd al-Qadir; they attended some of the lessons I was delivering in the venue we had rented. So they attended and then stopped, fearing that it would be said that So-and-so and So-and-so are from the group of So-and-so, and they continued with that. And he was proofreading the proofs of my books that Zuhayr was printing, considering that he was an employee there. If he found an error, he concealed it and did not inform about it until after the book was finished. If you have a copy of the book "Sharh al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah" in which I did the takhrij, there is a note in the final addendum about a hadith. Perhaps the hadith is: . This hadith had appeared in one of my books, and I said: Perhaps it is the same takhrij; that I did not find a source for it. So when he was proofreading these proofs, he came upon this mistake, this error, and did not inform Zuhayr about it until after I had traveled to Saudi Arabia to teach the subject of hadith at the Islamic University. The book was under printing, so Zuhayr wrote to me about it, and I wrote that addendum. And I wrote to Zuhayr that this was from the scheming, hatred, and envy of this man; he concealed the error until after the book was finished printing! Knowing that I am the one who did the takhrij of the hadith in "Al-Mishkat." So this mistake, and I was in a hurry due to the travel, preparing for the trip to Saudi Arabia, so this error occurred from me and he concealed it.

The questioner : Meaning, your saying "some of the proofreaders" is Shu'ayb?

The Shaykh : You have spoken well, yes, it is him, yes, indeed. So we ask Allah to guide us and him to the straight path.