Commentary on the Book of Islamic History and a Response to the Words of Muhammad Fريد Abbas by One of the Students, and the Shaykh Clarifies!

The questioner : ... the Bahrain [book] titled Islamic History ... a group of participating brothers, and I was responding to my brother Muhammad Fريد Abbas when he spoke about the Salafi movements. I said thatThe Shaykh : Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) is not a Salafi in the branches of jurisprudence or in hadith, but rather he is a Salafi in creed. I mentioned this, and I took this information from the book published by the house responsible for the seminar. The answer to this is, meaning, first I said that the Shaykh al-Islam is a Salafi in creed, and there is no dispute in that. As for your statement that he is not a Salafi in the branches, I see, and Allah knows best, that you, O Shaykh, have not looked into the reality of the madhhabThe Shaykh : in the branches, soThe Shaykh : among the examples where he differed from the madhhab, and this is by way of example, is the issue of the grandfather and the brothers.The Shaykh : (May Allah have mercy on him) differed from the madhhab in this issue. The second aspect is that he said about some of the later books of the madhhab, and specifically the book al-Insaf, which is one of the most important books of the Hanbalis, that most of what is in al-Insaf contradicts the explicit text of Ahmad, let alone the text of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). There are several examples, but I will not lengthen the discussion on that. The second aspect is that he is not a Salafi in hadith, and reality contradicts that.The Shaykh : (May Allah have mercy on him) traveled to Madinah and studied hadith withThe Shaykh : Muhammad ... al-Sufi (may Allah have mercy on him), who was famous at that time. Also, as far as I know, he studied with al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the hadith scholars in Makkah. The third point is that your statement thatThe Shaykh : is not a Salafi, I understand from it, and perhaps others do not, that the one who does not engage in the science of hadith is called not a Salafi. For example, doctors or engineers or other students of knowledge, such as those who study jurisprudence or exegesis and do not engage in authentication and weakening, it is said that they, even if they work with hadith when it contradicts their madhhab, for example, are not Salafis in hadith. So what is your answer, may Allah preserve you?

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you. Listen, my brother, may Allah guide you. Do you know Fريد al-Abbas?

The questioner : I do not know him personally.

The Shaykh : Do you hear anything about him?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : What is it?

The questioner : One of the misguides, and I think he is one of your students...

The Shaykh : Is he, as far as you know, dead or alive?

The questioner : I do not know about him.

The Shaykh : Fine. This which you quoted and you lengthened the speech and commentary, and it has become clear that you are not a questioner but rather a responder who is refuting, so may Allah forgive you. First, we were not in the seminar. The other man, whom you say you are impressed by what you read, the man is sound since eight years ago. When was the seminar held?

The questioner : 1405

The Shaykh : This which you read, you should have first verified one thing above all else: is it true that al-Albani andEid Abbasi : who is my student as you say, and he is indeed, were present at the seminar? This is the first error, and this is the error of most students of knowledge who do not verify. From another aspect, they do not know the plots of the other groups. Do you know who organized this seminar?

The questioner : No

The Shaykh : You do not know? So you do not know this or that, and then you built upon your ignorance... and what is built upon what is not valid is not valid. Second, I do not think you memorized what you read in that book as you memorize the opening chapter of the Qur'an. So I am saying you can say now that I said, based on what I read, thatThe Shaykh : Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) is not a Salafi in hadith. Can you be certain of this? I do not think you would dare to entangle yourself in this entanglement. If you had been cautious in asking this question, you should have recorded what you read on a piece of paper, and the question would be: Did you deliver this speech at the seminar? We would tell you: We did not attend the seminar, we were not invited to it, and our companion cannot attend it even if invited, because he is a prisoner, may Allah free him from his prison. And he may have passed away, so may Allah have mercy on him. This is what you should have asked: You attended this seminar and so-and-so, so we would tell you we know nothing about it at all. Second, do you believe in this speech? I have lived in this worldly life as much as I could. I do not say this is purification, but rather speaking of the blessing of Allah, I do not hide or practice hypocrisy. I say what I have. So I believe that Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab is, as I read and as I mentioned, undoubtedly an imam of Salafi creed, and he has the merit, etc., of the countless words he deserves in the field of reviving the call to the oneness of Allah in those lands first, and then the blessed call spread to other Islamic lands second. But I cannot say, whether they are true in what they quoted or not, and we do not know from where they quoted. But first, we were certainly not present at that session. If someone asked you now: Do you believe that Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab was a hadith scholar? I would tell you no, he was not a hadith scholar. And I think you are of the intellect that you understand with me that it is not necessary that if a person read hadith from a person who is famous for hadith, that he became a hadith scholar. I think you agree with me on this. So this enthusiasm that we heard from you is, unfortunately, speech from desire that has no value. First, because it is built upon something we do not know and were not present for. Second, it is not appropriate to believe that every imam of the Muslims is a hadith scholar, an exegete, a historian, a linguist, and so on. If someone told you about Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab that he is not a linguist, perhaps you would not establish for him imamate in language either, due to your enthusiasm for his tawhid and his call. May Allah forgive you, and I hope Allah will accept repentance from us all.

The questioner : ... the problem that happened to me is that this seminar published a large volume and distributed it here at the university, and it was sent by the House of Education... your words and the words ofEid Abbasi : And I am confident, for example...

The Shaykh : Confident in whom?

The questioner : The House of Education that published this book officially and is recognized. I did not know that they lied to you and that you did not attend at all.

The Shaykh : I am telling you, you lied to me.

The questioner : I am not saying this seminar lied to you and that you did not attend this seminar.

The Shaykh : I am not blaming you now, but I am clarifying to you that you should have done such and such, out of caution and prudence.

The questioner : .....

The Shaykh : Fine, and did I say that he is not a Salafi in hadith?

The questioner : By Allah, that is what I understand, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : You do not understand it, my brother. The text must be before you so that you can discuss the text. First, establish that this text is what I said and where I said it, so that we can answer it, so that we can tell you this is correct and defend it, or tell you: We ask Allah to forgive us, because this is an error, and every son of Adam errs, and the best of the erring are those who repent.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And you as well.

The questioner : I want those who have looked into this speech to know that it was not you and you did not attend...

The Shaykh : Without a doubt, I did not hear this speech except in this trip in this country.

The questioner : Welcome, Shaykh. By Allah, we love you for the sake of Allah, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : But when I saw the book, and I did not look into it until some of the brothers showed it to me, he opened it for me and said to me: Look at what he says.The Shaykh : Al-Albani

The Shaykh : In any case, forgive him if it is established: Where is our group? Let us go, my brothers....