The Proliferation of Sects and Groups in Our Time, Whose Adherents and Promoters Claim to Be on the Path of the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him)

The questioner : Your Eminence,The Shaykh : Nasir al-Din al-Albani ... , Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings, and after that:
We love you, and we bear witness to Allah regarding our love for you.
Your Eminence,The Shaykh : , Sects and groups have proliferated in these days ... and those who affiliate with them and promote them claim to be on the path of the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him), whereas in reality they are not on the path of the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him). It would be desirable - if you would be so kind - to clarify ... the intentions of these sects and groups and their danger to Islam and Muslims, especially the young among them, because they ... are among the promoters of these deviant and misguided ideas. Some of these categories fall under the name of the Muslim Brotherhood and claim to be Salafi, and this is not hidden from your eminence. With the entry ... of these sects and groups into our days, there are those who promote ... and say: There is no ... innovation. Some of them are preachers ... who speak and deliver lectures, even if their group is ... What is your eminence's view ... regarding these people? May Allah reward you ... ?

The Shaykh: First: I thank everyone who loves us for the sake of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), and I ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to make our love for the sake of Allah a sincere love, the conditions of which are advising one another for the sake of Allah, and that we do not dispute with one another, nor that we pardon one another, and that we overlook some of our desires or mistakes, but rather that we honor one another by virtue of His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . They said: For whom, O Messenger of Allah? He said: .
And since the matter is so, it is not permissible for any group or any faction of Muslims to deny to one another the performance of the duty of offering advice, for enjoining good and forbidding evil is one of the foundations upon which Islam was established, and this is a known matter from the necessities of the religion; that enjoining good and forbidding evil is among the obligations that every person who knows something of the matters of religion and is clear-sighted regarding his religion must possess.
And there is no doubt that the mere claim of a person or a faction that he is upon the Book and the Sunnah is not sufficient, obviously; because we demand of every claimant, whether he is an individual or a group, that he clarify to us the practical evidence that confirms his claim, otherwise the matter is as it was said:
And claims, unless you establish upon them *** clear proofs, their offspring are claimants
And our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) taught us how to argue with those who differ from us, whether they are from the polytheists or from those who deviate from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that we say to them sometimes with the language of our state, and sometimes with the language of our speech: , and we see that many of the groups that have today come to claim that they are upon the Book and the Sunnah, when these groups found that the Islamic world, most of it if not all of it, has turned back and awakened to this reality; that Islam is not the word of such-and-such a president or such-and-such an imam or such-and-such a prince, but rather it is as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said *** The Companions said; it is not by deception
Is knowledge setting you up for foolish disagreement *** Between the Messenger [and] the opinion of a jurist?
No, nor denying the attributes and negating them *** Out of fear of denial of attributes and likening
So the one who says that he is upon the Book and the Sunnah, we do not suffice with this statement of his, but we want him to combine action with speech, otherwise His saying (Exalted is He) will come: , and if the matter is so, our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) has conveyed the message, advised the Ummah, and exerted himself in advice; to the extent that he (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke - and this is not from his own independent reasoning, but rather by revelation from his Lord - when he said (peace and blessings be upon him): . They said: Who is she, O Messenger of Allah? He said: . And in a narration: ; meaning: the group of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions who he (peace and blessings be upon him) left while they were upon his Sunnah. One of the narrations explains the other, is an explanation of the other narration, which is . And also his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), as narrated by al-'Arba' ibn Sari'ah in his famous hadith in the Sunan and others, he said: . So we said: Advise us, O Messenger of Allah? He said: . And in the hadith of Jabir in "Sahih Muslim" and others - and the addition is from al-Nasa'i - : .
This hadith - also - clarified that disagreement will occur among Muslims in the coming time, near or far, and salvation from that is only by holding fast, I do not say only as all the preachers of today say, and this is the distinction between us and them; because returning to the Book and the Sunnah, this phrase is said by every faction on the face of the earth that still belongs to Islam; even the Shi'ah and even the Rafidah do not disavow the Book and the Sunnah, but they disavow the righteous Salaf. And also all the other factions and groups, when they felt what I referred to earlier, that the fashion of the present age is returning to the Book and the Sunnah, with understanding or without understanding, with action or without action; the important thing is returning to the Book and the Sunnah and to Islam, that this Islam is explained in many and very many colors; until it was said of things that did not occur to one's mind to be named - for example - some of the anthems that have deviation, some in their meanings and some in their tunes, were called Islamic anthems. Before, this name did not exist; there were Sufi anthems and the like. So when the world, the entire Islamic world, realized that the Sufis had become abhorred and Muslims in general did not care about them, they replaced the Sufi anthems with Islamic anthems; to promote a commodity that is nothing, it is the same thing, but as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in what remained of the hadiths in this session, he said: .
The point is: there is no group that claims to belong to Islam, testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishes the five daily prayers, fasts in Ramadan, pays zakah on their wealth, and performs Hajj to the House of Allah, except that they all claim to follow the Book and the Sunnah. However, the decisive ruling is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated in the two previous hadiths: the hadith of the distinction that the community is what I and my Companions are upon, and what the Rightly Guided Caliphs were upon. This is the decisive criterion between sincere callers to Allah: it is returning to the Book and the Sunnah, understanding them as our righteous predecessors did. Therefore, Allah the Exalted said: . Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) did not say: "And whoever opposes the Messenger after the guidance has become clear to him, We will turn him to what he has turned to." Rather, He used a phrase of great importance, which is what we are discussing. It is obligatory for us not to oppose the Messenger and not to contradict him, in light of our following the path of the first believers. They are the people of the three generations about whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . The path of the believers was what these three generations were upon. It is not permissible for anyone who is sincere in his claim to be upon the Book and the Sunnah and pure in that intention, except to understand the Book and the Sunnah as our righteous predecessors did. Therefore, every group that claims to belong to the Book and the Sunnah must demonstrate their belonging as they used to say in the past, which we no longer hear recently. They used to say: "We want an Islam that walks on the face of the earth." This is a very important reality. We also want their Islam to be practically applied, walking on the face of the earth in everything they do and call for. And we see, with great regret, that any of the groups referred to in the questionThe questioner : does not adopt Islam as a methodology in their life, according to the methodology of the righteous predecessors we mentioned, except those who belong to names that lead to one meaning. Sometimes they are called Salafis, followers of the righteous predecessors, not followers of fathers and grandfathers, but followers of the righteous predecessors mentioned in the hadith of the three generations. In some other countries, they are called the People of Hadith, and in other countries, they are called the Supporters of the Sunnah. We do not find on the face of the earth any groups that apply Islam practically in all aspects of their lives and follow the methodology of that man who, unfortunately, was killed after the realities of the Salafi call began to become clear to him. One of the titles of some of his books was: "There is no god but Allah: A Methodology of Life."
What are these people doing with this scientific reality except in some formal matters? You see them praying, and each individual among them does not know the prayer of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and does not care about it. Some of them may call the concern for correcting people's acts of worship, whether that is purification, prayer, Hajj, or fasting, a trivial matter and a superficial one. We want to focus on the essence, as some of them say, without knowledge. But we have heard this from many of their individuals. This clearly indicates that they do not want to adopt Islam in its entirety. We do not distinguish between Allah and His Messenger, nor between His Messenger and his Companions, as is the requirement of those evidences. Rather, they are only concerned with the political aspect of Islam. And if they focus on this aspect only, they have contradicted the approach they used to sing about in the past: they wanted an Islam that walks on the face of the earth.
I am pleased, on this occasion, with the saying of one of their elders when he said a word that I hope every Muslim will apply, starting with those who belong to the one who said this word. He said: "Establish the state of Islam in your hearts, and it will be established for you on your land." This is, in my belief, profound wisdom. Because if Muslims do not correct their beliefs, which reside in their hearts, and then do not correct their acts of worship, which are the cause of strengthening faith in their hearts, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated in the well-known hadith of Nu'man ibn Bashir, which begins: until he said (peace and blessings be upon him): . So, whenever the Muslim is concerned with rectifying his outward appearance, and this is only achieved by rectifying his acts of worship according to the Book and the Sunnah, and by rectifying his behavior and his starting point in his life, it is absolutely impossible for them to establish the state of Islam in their hearts except through this path that the Messenger (peace be upon him) legislated when he said in the hadith of Nu'man: .
So, all these groups, if they are sincere that they adopt the Book and the Sunnah, must first apply it according to the methodology of the righteous predecessors, and second, apply it in themselves and their families to the extent of their ability. They should not think about establishing the Muslim state, which requires many and very many conditions. The first of these is the gathering of the hearts of Muslims on the methodology of the righteous. And there is no way for this except as the Lord of the Worlds said: . The path that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) indicated in this noble verse is what the Messenger (peace be upon him) and his Companions were upon. It is reported in "Al-Mustadrak" by al-Hakim and others, in a hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew a straight line on the ground one day, then drew short lines around it, then recited (peace and blessings be upon him) that verse: . Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) added clarification for this verse, as he is commanded in the Qur'an: . He (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed to the straight line and said: . Then he pointed to the short lines around the straight line and said: .
These short paths actually represent a very precise implementation. It is as if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in this drawing was informing the Muslims of the differences that would occur and the restriction to following the short paths. Because we have heard this with our own ears more than once. They say: "There is no doubt that this call you are upon, returning to the Book and the Sunnah in everything people differ in, and on the methodology of the righteous predecessors, is undoubtedly the call of truth. But this requires a long time. When will we arrive?" This is a strange question for Muslims who want to achieve the paths that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated have a devil at the head of each one calling people to it. We read in pre-Islamic poetry words that amaze us, how their meaning is hidden and that it is truth, especially for those who walk on the straight path. I am not a poet and I do not memorize poetry except very rarely, but out of my admiration for this type of poetry, perhaps my memory will help me to quote it for you. It is the saying of Imru' al-Qays:
My companion wept when he saw the path before him, and he was certain that we would be caught by Qaysar.
So I said to him: Do not let your eye weep, we are only trying for a kingdom, or we die and are excused.
"We are only trying for a kingdom, or we die and are excused." A disbeliever, one who associates partners with Allah, who worships idols, rebukes his companion. What is it to us? It is upon us to try... upon Allah, we try for a kingdom, or we die and are excused. The Islamists now, some of them want to climb the ladder as it is, and they want to establish a Muslim state, while they have not yet established the state of Islam in their hearts, as their first leader (may Allah have mercy on him) commanded them.
In conclusion to this speech, a word of fairness: it is not permissible for us to conceal knowledge, nor to ... regarding individuals who may be with us in much of our da'wah, yet may differ from us in some of our methodology. Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as He said: ; I know, from my own experience in this long era in which I have spent more than half a century in knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah, and in associating with many groups from other Islamic groups who do not practically adopt our Salafi methodology, that I know many of their leaders, let alone those below them, who adopt the Salafi methodology in creed and thought, but—regrettably—do not apply it practically nor call people to it. This is because their methodology has deviated from this da'wah, for this methodology was based on what I describe as calling for increasing the number of people and gathering them, then educating them, and after that, no increase and no education. More than half a century has passed for them, and their voice has become hoarse, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is their leader, and most of them, up to this era, except for those whom Allah has provided with a righteous community like this community here or there, have known the correct creed and believed in it, but they have accepted it only for themselves, and they do not see it as beneficial for their da'wah to call people to it. Why? Because it contradicts the foundation of their da'wah, which is based on the principle of "gather, then educate." As for the da'wah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), it is the opposite of that: educate , and then it is no concern of yours who will believe and who will disbelieve. This is our da'wah, and this is our way. We cannot assert with certainty that the Muslim state will be established, which all Muslims agree is obligatory to realize, but they differed in the means and causes. So whoever takes the means that came from the Shari'ah, and which that caller summarized in this essential speech: "Establish the state of Islam in your hearts, and it will be established for you on your land"; that is: as He (the Exalted) said: .
This is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds ... .