The Obligation of Establishing Practical, Guiding Scholars, and a Comment on the Words of Professor "Muhammad Ra'fat" Regarding the Organization of the Salafis.

The Shaykh : The professor—may Allah reward him with good—touched upon the matter of organization and what relates to it... = -- ... -- = the organizers, and by that I mean the practical scholars; therefore, in my belief, the work must be directed by all Islamic groups, regardless of their differing methodologies, objectives, and goals, toward establishing these guiding scholars. There is no doubt that when we—the Salafis—mean establishing guiding scholars, we mean establishing true scholars who know the Book and the Sunnah, and the authentic Sunnah, and who understand these two sources, the Book and the Sunnah, with a correct understanding according to the methodology of the righteous Salaf. Achieving such scholars in this form is, without a doubt, one of the most difficult things to achieve in our present age.
From this, you will find that most Islamic groups are directed toward matters that we do not say are unimportant, but I say that they are not more important than that important matter. All of them do not focus on establishing these true guiding scholars who know the Book and the Sunnah. If others have fallen short in this, then it becomes an individual obligation upon us to perform this duty. And when we know the greatness and seriousness of this duty and that we are unique in performing and achieving it, we will have presented to the Muslim community something that no one else has presented. In my opinion, the reality is that anyone who thinks about the seriousness of this reality or this goal will absolutely not think about what the other groups focus on, or about those among us—the Salafis—who seek what they call organization. Whoever knows this great goal and thinks about striving for it and achieving it will not even consider establishing something they call organization today.
So, we are in need of achieving this important goal, which is establishing the scholars who guide this lost Ummah. This is the first thing we lack. The other thing is that we may find individuals among the scholars, but we lack in them the fundamental driver that yields the benefit that the Muslim community expects from such scholars, which is sincerity, which is sincerity. There may be individuals, or tens, or hundreds scattered in this vast Muslim world who are truly scholars of the Book and the Sunnah and on the methodology of the righteous Salaf, but some of them, or many of them, lack this characteristic which is the foundation of the religion, as the Lord of the Worlds said in the Noble Qur'an: .
Therefore, it is also necessary that it be among our goals and among the matters we constantly and eternally focus on, for ourselves and for others, to achieve in ourselves beneficial knowledge and to also achieve in ourselves the sincerity which is the true attribute by which the Muslim earns the pleasure of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in every righteous deed he performs.
Finally, this question came to my mind: What is the fruit of this organization that some of our young people today are deceived by, and they want an organization like it? What is the fruit of that organization? As you heard explicitly from the brother "Muhammad," we do not deny anything called organization, because our gathering here is an organization. But the organization that has become a matter as if it is one of the fundamental necessities, as if the life of the Muslim in a healthy Islamic life must be organized in a specific system—we say, or I personally ask: Many groups have been established on different systems and methodologies, so what were the fruits of these organizations? An organization that has perhaps passed half a century of time; what did the individuals of these organized groups benefit from?
We have tested them; one of them lives, and take this as an example; one of them lives and does not know where his Lord is (Blessed and Exalted is He) during that long time. If he is asked: Where is Allah? He does not know how to answer like the maidservant. So what is the benefit of this organization? Suppose the Islamic state is established, and suppose the Shari'ah limits are implemented, and that is what every Muslim hopes for, but these people die without knowing where their Lord is. Or as that astute, intelligent prince said when he heard those scholars, the Shaykhs, whose heirs our scholars today are, when he heard them describing their Lord: that He is not described as being above, or below, or to the right, or to the left, or in front, or behind, and it is also not said that He (Blessed and Exalted is He) is inside the world or outside of it. When the intelligent, astute prince heard the description of these Shaykhs of their worshipped Lord, he said: These are a people who have lost their Lord!
This is a bitter, very regrettable reality that the Muslim world lives today with its scholars, its students, its parties, and all its associations. Only one group is safe from it, characterized by the fact that it is an unorganized group. What is your opinion now? He said: "You will know them by their fruits." There is a wisdom that is narrated, and its authenticity does not concern us, because wisdoms may be imaginary to bring real matters closer to people. This wisdom says that Isa (peace be upon him) once addressed the disciples, admonishing them, reminding them, and warning them of the false prophets and the prophets who will prophesy while being among the liars. At the same time, he informed them that true prophets would come. They said: How do we know the truthful from the liar? He said: "You will know them by their fruits." What is the fruit of the false prophet? He calls people to worship him, to submit to him, to collect wealth for him, to take the front of the gatherings, and so on. As for the truthful prophet, our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is sufficient for you as an example; he proved to the polytheists, before many of them became Muslims, that he did not want from them wealth, or status, or anything else except that they worship Allah alone and associate nothing with Him. "You will know them by their fruits."
So those are organized people, some of whom have passed a third of a century, some half a century, and some less or more, and yet they are a people who have lost their Lord! And there are scattered groups in this Muslim world who are not organized as those who seek the so-called organization want them to be; they are the ones who know their Lord, because they followed the Book of their Lord and the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So take this as a lesson: if the intention of organization is for a person to waste his life so that he does not know what he must believe regarding his Lord, his Prophet, and matters related to the unseen, the resurrection, and the rising; if the intention is to live without knowing anything of this because of the organization that occupies him from these necessary truths; then this organization is not of organization in any way. And if one devotes oneself to study, each according to his capacity, but on a correct methodology that leads him to save himself from falling into shirk (associating partners with Allah) or the misguidance in which others have fallen, and then there is no organization; then it is not a loss for him that he does not have such an organization.
However, we say—as we have always said and will always say—that we are now responsible for ourselves, that we must save ourselves. This does not mean that we do not care about others, but from what we have learned from the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , we are required today, when we see the lesson in the state of others, to take the lesson for ourselves: to correct our beliefs, to improve our morals, and to raise ourselves, our families, our children, and those over whom we have authority or guardianship. After that, a time will surely come when our faith and religion will compel us to care for the Muslims as a community. This requires us to strive to establish the caliphate that follows the methodology of the Prophethood. However, there is no way to establish this caliphate before correcting concepts and before training souls and purifying them from bad morals, from showing off, and from seeking fame. These are the traits that spoil a Muslim’s obedience and worship of his Lord.
This is what came to my mind to speak about on the occasion of that kind word from the brother "Muhammad Ra'fat," which I hope Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will make beneficial for us all.

The questioner: ... .

The Shaykh: Go ahead.