The Shaykh's response to the people of misguidance who cite the report of 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)
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The Shaykh: Something else came to my mind when I heard you summarize what happened between you and the man. You mentioned that he cited a report from 'Ali.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh: That it is in a place.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh: At that time, we were busy listening to your summary until we reached the mosque. Otherwise, I would have said in my heart: Do you know where he took this misguidance from? He took it from *Musnad al-Rabi' ibn Habib al-Khariji*.
The student: The one who is the Shaykh of the report, "Allah is without a place." Is this in Musnad al-Rabi'?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : Yes.
The Shaykh: And al-Saqaf mentioned this in his notes on the doubts.
The student: A doubt...
The Shaykh: Yes.
The student: Yes, of course, did you study the chain of this report, my Shaykh?
The Shaykh: It does not need more than its mere presence in "Musnad al-Rabi'"; I dismiss it entirely, because he is, first of all, an obscure man with no mention in the biographical books of the scholars of the Khawarij, let alone the scholars of the Sunnah. When they speak of him, they use words that do not exist in the books of Islamic history, such as saying he was an Imam, a memorizer, or a trustworthy man. As for the book they attribute to him, "Musnad al-Rabi'," it contains hadiths narrated from people who came after al-Rabi' by many years. If it were said that there is no book more authentic than *One Thousand and One Nights*, that would not be an exaggeration.
The questioner: Allah is the Greatest!
The Shaykh: Many of the narrations in it are from people known to be abandoned and weak, and they are after al-Rabi'. So even if we assumed that the chain between al-Rabi' and 'Ali is as clear as the sun at noon, it has no value, because al-Rabi' is an obscure man, and it is not known whether he was a hadith scholar. And even if it were known that he was a hadith scholar, was he trustworthy, precise, and a memorizer? There is no way to know any of this. And yet, this al-Saqaf has a bias in his heart; he exalts this man to mislead people into thinking he is a reference. He even said that among the Ibadis, he is like the four Imams among the people of the Sunnah.
The student: Allahu Akbar.
The Shaykh: Yes, that is right. Therefore, I would also like you to put this question before him: Where did he take this report from? First of all, from Musnad Ahmad, God forbid. Well, is everything in the Musnad authentic? The answer is no. Well, is this from the authentic or from the weak?
The student: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you be peace... He said, "I do not know." How can you argue with something that, if he were just, he would say, "I do not know"? How can you argue in matters of creed with something whose authenticity you do not know, while you say that creeds are not established except by certainty and conviction? And you deny the certainty and conviction explicitly stated in the Qur'an and the hadith through figurative interpretation. The important thing is the droning on about Allah being neither inside the world nor outside of it. If I were with you, I would not refrain from mocking him and saying to him: "Truthful is Allah the Mighty" when he says that Allah is neither inside the world nor outside of it. I would say, "Truthful is Allah the Mighty." He would say, "No, no, this is not a verse." Is it definitely not a verse? Well, "Truthful is the Messenger of Allah." No, no, it is not a hadith. Well, if it is not a verse and not a hadith, where did you get it from? And this is a creed. Allah is greater than them.
The questioner: Beautiful, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Allah, who says...
The questioner: Allah is greater than them...
The Shaykh: Allah, who says:[Taha 20:5], , and so on, to the end of the verses and hadiths, and so forth.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh: That it is in a place.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh: At that time, we were busy listening to your summary until we reached the mosque. Otherwise, I would have said in my heart: Do you know where he took this misguidance from? He took it from *Musnad al-Rabi' ibn Habib al-Khariji*.
The student: The one who is the Shaykh of the report, "Allah is without a place." Is this in Musnad al-Rabi'?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : Yes.
The Shaykh: And al-Saqaf mentioned this in his notes on the doubts.
The student: A doubt...
The Shaykh: Yes.
The student: Yes, of course, did you study the chain of this report, my Shaykh?
The Shaykh: It does not need more than its mere presence in "Musnad al-Rabi'"; I dismiss it entirely, because he is, first of all, an obscure man with no mention in the biographical books of the scholars of the Khawarij, let alone the scholars of the Sunnah. When they speak of him, they use words that do not exist in the books of Islamic history, such as saying he was an Imam, a memorizer, or a trustworthy man. As for the book they attribute to him, "Musnad al-Rabi'," it contains hadiths narrated from people who came after al-Rabi' by many years. If it were said that there is no book more authentic than *One Thousand and One Nights*, that would not be an exaggeration.
The questioner: Allah is the Greatest!
The Shaykh: Many of the narrations in it are from people known to be abandoned and weak, and they are after al-Rabi'. So even if we assumed that the chain between al-Rabi' and 'Ali is as clear as the sun at noon, it has no value, because al-Rabi' is an obscure man, and it is not known whether he was a hadith scholar. And even if it were known that he was a hadith scholar, was he trustworthy, precise, and a memorizer? There is no way to know any of this. And yet, this al-Saqaf has a bias in his heart; he exalts this man to mislead people into thinking he is a reference. He even said that among the Ibadis, he is like the four Imams among the people of the Sunnah.
The student: Allahu Akbar.
The Shaykh: Yes, that is right. Therefore, I would also like you to put this question before him: Where did he take this report from? First of all, from Musnad Ahmad, God forbid. Well, is everything in the Musnad authentic? The answer is no. Well, is this from the authentic or from the weak?
The student: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you be peace... He said, "I do not know." How can you argue with something that, if he were just, he would say, "I do not know"? How can you argue in matters of creed with something whose authenticity you do not know, while you say that creeds are not established except by certainty and conviction? And you deny the certainty and conviction explicitly stated in the Qur'an and the hadith through figurative interpretation. The important thing is the droning on about Allah being neither inside the world nor outside of it. If I were with you, I would not refrain from mocking him and saying to him: "Truthful is Allah the Mighty" when he says that Allah is neither inside the world nor outside of it. I would say, "Truthful is Allah the Mighty." He would say, "No, no, this is not a verse." Is it definitely not a verse? Well, "Truthful is the Messenger of Allah." No, no, it is not a hadith. Well, if it is not a verse and not a hadith, where did you get it from? And this is a creed. Allah is greater than them.
The questioner: Beautiful, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Allah, who says...
The questioner: Allah is greater than them...
The Shaykh: Allah, who says:
The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.
الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَىThen He rose above the Throne
ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.