The Shaykh’s clarification of his method of responding to some of the party’s ideas, and his request to meet al-Nabhan, and his repeated refusal of that

The Shaykh : In these discussions, the matter of the group became clear to me: they are not on the basis of knowledge, but rather they have a goal of prohibiting and permitting, so they commit the lowest and the highest means in order to reach this goal. When the discussions increased, and Shaykh Taqi al-Din began to frequent Damascus, in one of them he was attending our gatherings, and we considered him one of us, meaning in terms of creed and methodology. Perhaps you have heard of him if you do not know him; his name is Abd al-Rahman al-Maliki?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Do you know him personally?

The questioner : Yes, yes, I do not know what his news is now.

The Shaykh : He is in Morocco in Tangier. I met him three years ago when I made my first trip there. He is still, unfortunately, calling for the Liberation Party. The important thing is that this man was attached to my lessons. After a while, I learned that he had adopted some of the ideas of the Liberation Party. I said to him: I want you to arrange a meeting for me with Shaykh Taqi al-Din, and get an appointment for me with him. He said: Okay. They consider it a gain if someone requests a meeting with them; they consider it a catch, hehe. So he said: Okay. By Allah, after a day or two, I do not remember exactly, he said: By Allah, the Shaykh told me: I apologize to the Shaykh, that he is not free. So, in my honesty and leaving all pleasantries, I said to him: Tell the Shaykh that I do not accept this excuse. And I know that the Shaykh, if he is not more eager than me to meet people and discuss his call with them, then he is not less than me in that. So he meets with any person in order to convey his call. So I impose myself on any person and accept a meeting with me. He conveyed my point of view, and the answer came back the same, adding: that we benefit from the Shaykh’s knowledge, and so on and so on, and at the first opportunity that presents itself, I will go to him myself. Of course, I also rejected this excuse, but this is the reality. Until, I do not remember exactly, months certainly passed, and I was in my shop when I was surprised by the Shaykh’s arrival. But now it seems to me that it was not a long time ago!

The questioner : Meaning the early fifties?

The Shaykh : It is difficult for me to specify for you; it might be the early fifties. How old is the party?

The questioner : From the beginning of the forties, or the fifties approximately...

The Shaykh : The early fifties?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : No, not the early fifties; it was after a few years. The important thing, Professor, is that I was surprised while I was in my shop. You know that I used to work my hours!

The questioner: Yes, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes, of course, this incident was before I went to the Islamic University to teach, and about seventeen years have passed since then.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So the story is twenty, twenty-five years old. I was surprised byThe Shaykh : , and my shop was unusual, meaning like my story; it faced my hours, inside it was a library with two sections, meaning: my hours outside and the library inside. So I was sitting in my library, and when he entered, I saw him, I stood up to receive him and seated him near me. He said: I came to apologize. I was informed by so-and-so, Abd al-Rahman al-Maliki, and so on and so on. And the truth is, do you not know him at all?

The questioner : No, by Allah, I do not.

The Shaykh : No, and sweet words, of course this is a basic condition for politicians, meaning, and we benefit from your knowledge, and we do not do without the knowledge of your excellence, and the same cliché, meaning. But my times and my circumstances now do not help me, so I hope you will accept my excuse. In addition to that, he said: if you have observations on the party, we request that you write them to us, and we look at them with an eye of reverence, appreciation, and benefit. Clear diplomacy, meaning. So I met him and said to him: O Professor, believers are sincere, and the benefit is mutual. So it is not enough that you benefit from my knowledge; I must also benefit from your knowledge. And this benefit is not realized except by meeting, especially since I previously entered with you in an experience of this pattern of the suggestion you propose. So I wrote a response to what you went to regarding the prohibition of renting land. And you must have looked at it and studied it and found objections to it, or found agreements with it, and so on. But nothing reached me at all: neither what encourages me to continue in what I went to, nor what diverts me and turns me away from something of what I had gone to. Therefore, perhaps you gained benefit: either you increased in faith in what you are upon, or you corrected your position somewhat. As for me, I am exactly as I was; I did not benefit at all. Therefore, I also want to benefit from you, and this does not happen except by a meeting. He said: I apologize, and peace be upon you. And upon you be peace.