There is a group in Alexandria called the Salafis, and their basis in jurisprudence is the Hanbali school; do you advise joining them for the sake of learning?

The questioner : A questioner asks: There are brothers in Alexandria Governorate who possess great knowledge, and we do not certify them before Allah, and people call them Salafis. They call themselves the Salafi school, and their methodology includes a part of the curriculum consisting of a collection of Salafi books by all the scholars, headed by the four schools of jurisprudence. There is also a brother with knowledge in the same place who has students, and they are students of knowledge, but they are devoted to studying the Hanbali school and Hanbali jurisprudence as represented in the book *Al-Udah*. So to which group should I go to learn my religion? Knowing that the Hanbali brother retracts from anything in the school that contradicts any authentic hadith. Please inform us, may Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : What I understand from the question is that the brother referred to, who studies the Hanbali school, is not actually a Hanbali in the common understanding of the term. Rather, he has taken his study of the Hanbali school as a means to gain understanding of the religion, and has not made the study of the Hanbali school an end in itself where he stops and remains. If this is what I understand from the question, then I see no obstacle to this questioner joining the circle of this man and his like, if it is as stated in the question that when it becomes clear to him that the Hanbali school contradicts the authentic Sunnah in a certain issue, he turns away from the school of Ahmad ibn Hanbal in that issue and follows the authentic hadith in it.
However, there is a subtle point that must be noted and pointed out: Does this person who studies the Hanbali school have a primary concern with studying the other schools? And does he have a secondary concern with tracking the hadiths found in the chapters of hadith books related to jurisprudence? If so, let him hold fast to it with his teeth.

The questioner : He is, may Allah know best, like that. He has a library containing all the books, and the library is in Alexandria.

The Shaykh : I do not know, but first I answer to the extent of what I understand from the question; then I clarify to the extent that my conception of the person in question helps me. If the matter is as described, he is the student of knowledge to whom journeys are made. But if he stops in his study of the Hanbali school, and only rarely does it become clear to him of an error in the school in a certain issue, and only then does he return, then this is turning the truth upside down, as is done with the four schools of jurisprudence. He would have made the means an end and the end a means. The requirement for a student of knowledge, let alone scholars, is that their understanding of the religion be in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and not in the sayings and opinions of men; this is the requirement. But I return to say: If he has taken the Hanbali school as a means to gain understanding of the religion within the limits of this school, while expanding in the study of the other schools and tracking the evidence in each of them, and then chooses what is closest to the truth in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah, then he is the one.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.

The questioner : Meaning, to complete your question which you clarified, someone else asked: I hear from some noble brothers—we do not certify them before Allah—that there are necessary conditions before starting to seek knowledge, such as learning the Arabic language, memorizing the Qur'an, and grammar? I have already answered that.

The Shaykh: Yes.