The story of the three Syrian brothers, namely: "Bashir al-Bani," "Abd al-Hadi al-Bani," and "Abd al-Rahman al-Bani"

The Shaykh : It is a strange thing. I said it once recently and once long ago. Contradictions. We have three brothers in Damascus: one is a Salafi, another is a Naqshbandi, and the third is a Shaykhi from the group of "Amin Shaykho." If you listen to him, you would call him an atheist; because for him, the Shari'ah is only the Qur'an, and the hadiths are according to his own way. What he considers correct in his mind is the correct one, and so on. He had a follower named "Abd al-Hadi al-Bani." He married him to one of his daughters. He died, and Abd al-Hadi became his successor, either by his will or by the group's decision, and so on. "Amin Shaykho" was from the group of "Amin Kiftaro," who is the father of "Amin Shaykho," "Amin Kiftaro."

The questioner : "Ahmad Kiftaro."

The Shaykh : Ahmad. His father's name is "Amin Kiftaro," the father of Shaykh Ahmad, who is the Mufti of Syria now. When "Amin Kiftaro" died, they placed his son, who was young at the time, "Ahmad Kiftaro," as his successor after his father. "Amin Shaykho" was a brilliant student among the students of "Ahmad Kiftaro."

The questioner : It is "Amin."

The Shaykh : Amin, excuse me. "Amin Shaykho" was a brilliant student of "Amin Kiftaro." According to the traditions followed in the path, he had to submit to the new Shaykh, the new Shaykh "Ahmad Kiftaro." He was young, and he lived for years—I no longer remember how many—while he was a student of "Ahmad Kiftaro." I saw him once kissing his hand. He is a tall giant, and Kiftaro is not tall; he is closer to being short. After that, I heard that he separated from "Ahmad Kiftaro" and took the lead of the group. "Abd al-Hadi al-Bani" was from his group. "Abd al-Hadi al-Bani" is from the group of "Amin Shaykho" and denies the intercession of the Messenger of Allah on the Day of Resurrection, and the prophets, and so on. That is, they are exactly like the Qadiyans. They have no system except the Qur'an according to their minds and their understanding.
Their second brother is named "Bashir al-Bani," a student of "Ahmad Kiftaro." Their third brother is from our Salafi brothers, "Abd al-Rahman al-Bani," who is now in Riyadh. Three brothers, each in what? In a different drink. I found these al-Ghumaris to be more than three, but I only knew three of them. I knew them personally. This "Abd Allah al-Ghumari," I met him in Tangier. "Ahmad al-Ghumari" came to Damascus, as we mentioned. Their third brother, "Muhammad al-Zamzami," I visited him in his home more than once. Then a very sharp debate arose between him and me in the presence of Professor "al-Banna" regarding the attributes and Allah's rising above His Throne. He is an Ash'ari who denies the attributes.
Abu Malik: Is he in Syria?

The Shaykh : No, he is in Tangier. This "Muhammad al-Zamzami" is originally Muhammad al-Ghumari, the brother of Ahmad and Abd Allah. Now, between Muhammad al-Zamzami and Abd Allah al-Ghumari, there is "Ma Sa'na al-Haddad." The reason—Allah knows it—is that they love it this way, that each one be by himself alone. "Muhammad al-Zamzami" is the author of a treatise. Look at the contradictions now. What is it called? The title is a bit long. Yes, "The Great Danger for the Traveler Who Prays Behind the Resident Imam." Exactly, "The Great Danger." In his treatise, he goes so far as to say that if the traveler prays behind the one who leads...
Abu Malik: His prayer is invalid.

The Shaykh : It is obligatory for him, yes, to shorten the prayer, otherwise his prayer is invalid! What does he argue with? With the hadith of Aisha. If he does this, he destroys his own evidence. That is one of his misguidances. There is a hadith in "Sahih Muslim" that one of... his name is Musa, I no longer remember, Musa ibn whom? He asks Abdullah ibn Abbas and says to him: "When we pray behind you, we complete the prayer, and when we pray in our camps, we shorten it." As if he is saying to him: What is your opinion? He says to him: "It is the Sunnah of Abu al-Qasim." Muslim narrated it in his "Sahih."
What does al-Zamzami do? Al-Zamzami twists the hadith and says: Ibn Abbas means only the second sentence, that the traveler shortens. He brings it up for this. But the first sentence, that they pray behind them completely, this is not what Ibn Abbas means. This is denial, like the denial in the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes. Because the intended meaning of denial is reversing the meanings. Ah, and based on this interpretation, he says: The traveler must shorten the prayer behind the resident. He relies on this authentic hadith of Aisha. Abd Allah al-Ghumari refuted him in this treatise we mentioned. He weakened his hadith for that, and he authenticated the hadith of Ibn Abbas that leads to... "The Sunnah of Abu al-Qasim," meaning that the traveler must complete the prayer. So this one hit the mark here, and that one erred there. This one hit the mark by arguing with the hadith of Aisha that it is authentic, and that one erred in weakening this hadith. So, glory to Allah! I found these two contradicting each other. Their brother Ahmad is in the middle between this and that. And al-Ghumari is many, excuse me, al-Zamzami who is al-Ghumari, but because of his opposition to his brothers, he canceled this affiliation. He put a special affiliation, al-Zamzami!! Many of our brothers there, when I visited them in Morocco for the first time, told me that he is a Salafi.

The questioner : About al-Zamzami.

The Shaykh : About al-Zamzami, and I was aware of some of his works. I know from his Salafism that he is not a follower of a specific school without knowledge, and I know from his Salafism that he denies the paths. As for Abd Allah al-Ghumari and Ahmad al-Ghumari, these are Shaykhs of paths, yes. So their brother Muhammad al-Zamzami opposed them in...

The questioner : The paths.

The Shaykh : The path, yes. And then, none of them have a school of jurisprudence, and this is a good thing if they had used this methodology well. When Ahmad al-Ghumari came to Damascus, and I once said to some of our brothers while I was talking about this meeting: I have never walked with a knowledgeable man in recognition of his virtue. I have never walked with one; because there was no meeting between us, and if there was, there was not this appreciation. Except this Ahmad al-Ghumari, when he came to the Zahiriyya Library and the introduction took place between me and him, some pure hadithic researches. During the way, I saw him off to the hotel, a hotel in "al-Marjah," "al-Marjah" as they call it there. And all along the way, I was trying to know, meaning, his creed and his starting point, and so on.
The point: What I understood from him, he says: He has a book—look at the exaggeration, meaning—he says he has a book he wrote in refuting the followers of a specific school without knowledge. He took all the verses that were revealed regarding the polytheists and applied them all to the followers of a specific school without knowledge. He says it this way. He has a book like this! Yes.
Abu Malik: He means he conditioned... following a scholar without knowing his evidence, but...

The Shaykh : ... .

Another questioner : Three full brothers?

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : Three full brothers?

The Shaykh : Yes, there is one between them named Abd al-Aziz, maybe in Egypt. Perhaps they are more than four. Yes, full brothers. Their father is a master of a path, whose name is "Muhammad al-Siddiq," a master of a path.

The questioner : "Muhammad Siddiq al-Ghumari."

The Shaykh : Yes, they received the path from him, and they also received the science of hadith from him. But it appears that they are like the Shi'ah, meaning they do not have the goal of adhering to the Sunnah. Rather, they made it a means for... yes, for showing off and supporting what they are in.