The Response to Those Who Say: Your Religion Is a Fifth Religion
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Mockery is of two types: One of them is the explicit mockery for which the verse was revealed,And it is their saying: "We have not seen anyone like these Quran reciters of ours, with greedier bellies, or more lying tongues, or more cowardly in battle," or similar words from the mockers,As some of them say: "Your religion is a fifth religion,"And the saying of the other: "Your religion is a mess," and the other saying, when he sees those who enjoin good and forbid evil: "The people of religion have come to you."
This is a matter of mocking them and the like thereof, which cannot be counted except with difficulty, and it is greater than the words of those for whom the verse was revealed?
To those who say: The fifth religion; some of them may express this as the fifth school of jurisprudence;Because he says: "You are the Wahhabis. There are four schools of jurisprudence: the Hanafi, the Maliki, the Shafi'i, and the Hanbali, and you are a fifth school,"Meaning: Expressing it as the fifth religion is something only the common people say; because it is not an independent religion, but a school—in their claim—independent, and this is a lie. This is only spread by the enemies of the call to the oneness of Allah to distort it.They said: Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab came with a fifth school that departed from the consensus of the Muslim community; because they believe that what the four schools agreed upon is consensus, and they are mistaken. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) followed the Hanbali school, and his books in creed, the oneness of Allah, and jurisprudence are all based on the principles of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him).
And he did not come with a fifth school, but you know that the enemies distort the call and the caller. What did the enemies of the messengers say?They said: [al-Saffat: 15] So they attacked the call,And they said about the caller: "He is" [Sad: 4] So they attacked the caller.
Similarly, these people attacked what Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) called to, namely the oneness of Allah,And they distorted the reputation for two reasons: The first reason: to deter the common people from adhering to it.
The second factor: To make it acceptable to wage war against this man and those who followed his path, claiming that he brought innovations from the schools of the Muslims and thus deserved to be fought and killed, and all of this is a lie about Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab.
In any case, even those who mock those who enjoin good and forbid evil—also—one may hesitate in declaring it disbelief; because a person may mock the one who enjoins without mocking the command itself, and the one who forbids without mocking the prohibition itself,And I give you an example: If a person from the recognized scholars here in the country forbade you from something, and another person from those who are not known forbade you, would the value of the prohibition from the two men be the same? No.
You respect the first, and the second you may not respect, not because you did not respect the wrong, but because you do not care about this forbidding man and you do not take from him.
Now a small student of knowledge comes and lifts his garment to the middle of the calf, and you find some of the common people mocking him and thinking he made a mistake, and a person from the recognized, trusted scholars makes his garment to the middle of the calf, do they mock him? No.
So the mockery of those who enjoin good and forbid evil in our time is not like the mockery of Muhammad and his Companions; there is a great difference between them; because Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is protected from error, and those who enjoin good and forbid evil in our time are not protected from error. But the one who mocks the good itself, this is the one who becomes a disbeliever. As for mocking the one who enjoins it, we cannot declare him a disbeliever; because he may mock the man without mocking what he called to. This is a matter we must be alert to, and we must know the difference between mocking the Messenger and his Companions, and mocking those who enjoin good and forbid evil here.
It is said to the mocker: Are you mocking the good that they enjoined, as if they ordered you to pray in congregation and you said: "What is this? This is a delay, this is a regression, they want us to return to the Middle Ages and the like of that," then this is disbelief. Or is he mocking the man himself? The man himself may be someone a person does not accept, and Allah knows best.
This is a matter of mocking them and the like thereof, which cannot be counted except with difficulty, and it is greater than the words of those for whom the verse was revealed?
To those who say: The fifth religion; some of them may express this as the fifth school of jurisprudence;Because he says: "You are the Wahhabis. There are four schools of jurisprudence: the Hanafi, the Maliki, the Shafi'i, and the Hanbali, and you are a fifth school,"Meaning: Expressing it as the fifth religion is something only the common people say; because it is not an independent religion, but a school—in their claim—independent, and this is a lie. This is only spread by the enemies of the call to the oneness of Allah to distort it.They said: Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab came with a fifth school that departed from the consensus of the Muslim community; because they believe that what the four schools agreed upon is consensus, and they are mistaken. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) followed the Hanbali school, and his books in creed, the oneness of Allah, and jurisprudence are all based on the principles of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him).
And he did not come with a fifth school, but you know that the enemies distort the call and the caller. What did the enemies of the messengers say?They said:
This is not but evident magic
إِنْ هَذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌa magician and a liar
سَاحِرٌ كَذَّابٌSimilarly, these people attacked what Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) called to, namely the oneness of Allah,And they distorted the reputation for two reasons: The first reason: to deter the common people from adhering to it.
The second factor: To make it acceptable to wage war against this man and those who followed his path, claiming that he brought innovations from the schools of the Muslims and thus deserved to be fought and killed, and all of this is a lie about Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab.
In any case, even those who mock those who enjoin good and forbid evil—also—one may hesitate in declaring it disbelief; because a person may mock the one who enjoins without mocking the command itself, and the one who forbids without mocking the prohibition itself,And I give you an example: If a person from the recognized scholars here in the country forbade you from something, and another person from those who are not known forbade you, would the value of the prohibition from the two men be the same? No.
You respect the first, and the second you may not respect, not because you did not respect the wrong, but because you do not care about this forbidding man and you do not take from him.
Now a small student of knowledge comes and lifts his garment to the middle of the calf, and you find some of the common people mocking him and thinking he made a mistake, and a person from the recognized, trusted scholars makes his garment to the middle of the calf, do they mock him? No.
So the mockery of those who enjoin good and forbid evil in our time is not like the mockery of Muhammad and his Companions; there is a great difference between them; because Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is protected from error, and those who enjoin good and forbid evil in our time are not protected from error. But the one who mocks the good itself, this is the one who becomes a disbeliever. As for mocking the one who enjoins it, we cannot declare him a disbeliever; because he may mock the man without mocking what he called to. This is a matter we must be alert to, and we must know the difference between mocking the Messenger and his Companions, and mocking those who enjoin good and forbid evil here.
It is said to the mocker: Are you mocking the good that they enjoined, as if they ordered you to pray in congregation and you said: "What is this? This is a delay, this is a regression, they want us to return to the Middle Ages and the like of that," then this is disbelief. Or is he mocking the man himself? The man himself may be someone a person does not accept, and Allah knows best.