Evaluating People by the Scale of Islam
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Our esteemed Shaykh! We are turning to you with this question, which is: Among the scholars known for their goodness and struggle in the da'wah in this era is our esteemed Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abd al-Khalq (may Allah preserve him). We hope you will share what you know about this Shaykh? This is part of the trust we bear toward this Shaykh, and may Allah reward you with good?
It is not our business in this meeting to speak about a specific individual;But we say: First: Every person who has a sincere standing in the Muslim community, from the beginning of the community to its end, is undoubtedly to be praised for the good he has done.
And secondly: Every person, no matter how much knowledge and piety he attains, is not free from slips, whether the cause is ignorance, heedlessness, or something else; but the fair person, as Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the introduction to his book: The Rules: (The fair person is one who forgives a little error of a person in much of his correctness) and no one takes the slips and overlooks the good deeds except that he resembles women.
For if a woman is treated well for her whole life and then sees one bad thing from you, she says: I have never seen any good, and no man likes to be in this position -Meaning: like a woman - taking one slip and overlooking many good deeds.
And this rule,Meaning: that we do not speak about specific individuals, neither in our teaching sessions, nor in the meetings, nor in the questions that come to us,I say: this is the rule we follow, and we ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to keep us firm upon it; because speaking about a specific person may stir up partisanship and bias, and it is obligatory to attach matters to descriptions, not to individuals,So we say: whoever did such and such deserves such and such, and whoever did such and such deserves such and such, whether it is good or bad, but when we want to evaluate a person, we must mention the virtues and the faults; because this is the just scale, and when we warn about a person's error, we mention only the error; because the occasion is one of warning, and it is not wise in an occasion of warning to mention the virtues; because if you mention the virtues, the listener will remain wavering, so for every occasion there is a fitting speech.
So whoever wants to speak about a person in terms of evaluation, it is obligatory for him to mention his virtues and his faults, this if the public benefit requires it, otherwise refraining from the faults of Muslims is better.
And as for whoever wants to warn about an error, he mentions the error, and if it is possible not to mention its speaker, that is also better; because the intended purpose is guiding the creation.
It is not our business in this meeting to speak about a specific individual;But we say: First: Every person who has a sincere standing in the Muslim community, from the beginning of the community to its end, is undoubtedly to be praised for the good he has done.
And secondly: Every person, no matter how much knowledge and piety he attains, is not free from slips, whether the cause is ignorance, heedlessness, or something else; but the fair person, as Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the introduction to his book: The Rules: (The fair person is one who forgives a little error of a person in much of his correctness) and no one takes the slips and overlooks the good deeds except that he resembles women.
For if a woman is treated well for her whole life and then sees one bad thing from you, she says: I have never seen any good, and no man likes to be in this position -Meaning: like a woman - taking one slip and overlooking many good deeds.
And this rule,Meaning: that we do not speak about specific individuals, neither in our teaching sessions, nor in the meetings, nor in the questions that come to us,I say: this is the rule we follow, and we ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to keep us firm upon it; because speaking about a specific person may stir up partisanship and bias, and it is obligatory to attach matters to descriptions, not to individuals,So we say: whoever did such and such deserves such and such, and whoever did such and such deserves such and such, whether it is good or bad, but when we want to evaluate a person, we must mention the virtues and the faults; because this is the just scale, and when we warn about a person's error, we mention only the error; because the occasion is one of warning, and it is not wise in an occasion of warning to mention the virtues; because if you mention the virtues, the listener will remain wavering, so for every occasion there is a fitting speech.
So whoever wants to speak about a person in terms of evaluation, it is obligatory for him to mention his virtues and his faults, this if the public benefit requires it, otherwise refraining from the faults of Muslims is better.
And as for whoever wants to warn about an error, he mentions the error, and if it is possible not to mention its speaker, that is also better; because the intended purpose is guiding the creation.