The Shaykh’s clarification of his first scholarly encounter with the Tahrir Party.

The Shaykh : The first time the scholarly friction began between me and them was when this person, who had gathered me with Shaykh Taqi al-Din in that school, came to me one day with a pamphlet in his hand, perhaps two pages or more, I no longer remember, regarding the prohibition of renting land. He said to me: “This is a pamphlet from the Tahrir Party, what is your opinion of it?” I read it, and it followed the path of some of the old jurists who held the view that renting land is forbidden. It is undoubtedly an old and disputed issue, but the opinion that settled among the majority of scholars from the Companions to this day is that renting land is permissible. I do not think there is a need now to detail the argument and the correct jurisprudential opinion on this issue. The point is that after I read the pamphlet and gave my companion a summary of my opinion, he said: “Well, what do you say to responding to them?” I was not initially enthusiastic about responding to them. I said to him: “My brother, the Tahrir Party is extreme, meaning a party that is fanatical, like the madhab-based fanaticism for a school of jurisprudence. I do not see any benefit in wasting time.” He encouraged me and said: “No, there are people in the Tahrir Party who are enlightened and want to know the issues with their evidence.” He persisted with me until I agreed to respond. And at that time, an article on the same subject was published in the Muslim Brotherhood magazine, the Muslim magazine that was published in our region in Syria in the time of al-Siba'i (may Allah have mercy on him)...

The questioner : Sayyid Ramadan?!

The Shaykh : Sayyid Ramadan, but here this was in the time of al-Siba'i. The article was published by an Indian writer, Saud Abu Saud, do you remember such a thing? Al-Mas'ud?

The questioner : Mahmoud Abu al-Sa'ud?

The Shaykh : Who?

The questioner : Mahmoud Abu al-Sa'ud?

The Shaykh : I do not think his name is Mahmoud, but he is an Islamic economic writer!

The questioner : It is Mahmoud Abu al-Sa'ud.

The Shaykh : It is Mahmoud, Egyptian?

The questioner : Yes, in economics!!

The Shaykh : Yes, yes.

The questioner : Mahmoud Abu al-Sa'ud.

The Shaykh : That is it.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So he wrote an article on the same subject, and it ended with the same conclusion. I saw it as beneficial to write a response to both articles, the one in the magazine and the one in the newsletter. I gave it to my friend, and it reached the party. And as they say about us in Syria: “You are one day and he is another day,” meaning we did not receive an answer from them, neither negative nor positive. But the important thing is that the friction began between me and the group, because they are truly very active, and they have a strange enthusiasm in arguing, with recklessness. So I criticized them and addressed their errors, illusions, and ignorance of correct jurisprudence and hadith. In particular, many discussions arose between me and them regarding their claim that it is not permissible to act upon ahad hadith in matters of creed! So I would respond to them in discussions and important lectures and the like. And they, with their activity, would pick up these evidences and send them to Shaykh Taqi al-Din. I would find the response to them without attribution in a magazine they had rented in Tripoli of Syria. I do not know what its name was! I do not remember! They rented it and turned it into their propaganda. So I would see that under the heading of “Ahad Hadith” in the response to my words, later these responses were collected by them in some of their books.