Is it not possible to shorten the Salafi call, since the disbelievers are lying in wait for us and our scholars are still mentioning the authentic and weak hadith, the Sunnah and the innovation?

The questioner : Until when, O honorable Shaykh, will the scholars sit and say, "This is an authentic hadith, and this is not authentic, this is Sunnah, and this is bid'ah," meaning that the Salafi methodology is a long path and the enemies of Allah are lying in wait for us? Is it not possible to shorten this path?

The Shaykh : This question, in the Syrian dialect, agrees with the first question. My answer to this is an authentic Prophetic hadith. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting when he drew a straight line on the ground and drew short lines on both sides of the straight line. Then he recited the words of our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He: .
This questioner, and the one before him, and many others in this age, the reason is that they abandoned the methodology of the righteous Salaf and clung to an Islam that has no concept in our minds at all. It is merely the Islam of "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah), but as for what "La ilaha illa Allah" means, their elders do not truly know the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah," let alone their younger ones, to our great regret. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed his finger over this straight line and recited the noble verse: .
Then he said: . The short paths on the sides of the long straight path. And I say, "long" from my side, to explain the Prophetic drawing, as I will mention shortly. He (peace be upon him) said: .
I can say, without exaggeration, that such propaganda today: Have we not been content to say "authentic hadith, weak hadith, Sunnah, bid'ah, and sect," and so on? These are the short paths themselves. If it were permissible for me to say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was an artist, meaning a skilled painter, I would say so, but he is too high for us to liken him to artists or painters. For he (peace and blessings be upon him), when he drew a long line on the ground and recited the noble verse: , meaning the short paths, he drew the line that the Muslim should walk upon, which is the long straight line, and he drew short lines around it which the Muslim must not take or tread upon. This is what we hear today, as you heard just now in this question: Until when are we walking? It is enough for us to be walking and treading on the straight path, but as for when we will arrive, that is in the hand of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. Therefore, they lengthen this long line and find it long. And did not our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, burden us with more than two things? First, that we know: , and second, that we act upon: . If the Muslim walks in the path of knowledge, as he (peace be upon him) said: , no matter how long this path is, we are not burdened to take the right or the left and follow the short paths, claiming that these short paths will lead them to achieving Islam. Evil is what they think, evil is what they say. Islam, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So, the lengthening by some people today of this call to the Book and the Sunnah, and warning against bid'ah, what do they mean? That you worship Allah however you wish, or however you are ignorant? Or must you know, as He, the Exalted, said: , and then act upon what Allah has taught you? The truth is that such questions alone are a sign of evil for those who have not yet understood that their obligation is to learn Islam and act upon Islam, no matter how long the path is. And I am pleased, on this occasion, as I mentioned in some previous sessions, with the saying of one of the poets of the pre-Islamic age, who said a word from which Muslims today should take a lesson. He said:
"My companion wept when he saw the road ahead of us, *** And he was certain that we would not reach Qaysar.
So I said to him, do not let your eye weep, *** We are only striving for a kingdom, or we die and are excused.".
This was a man of the pre-Islamic age consoling his brother, saying, "Do not let your eye weep, we are only striving for a kingdom, or we die and are excused."
So we strive to walk on the path that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has commanded us. Then, if we are able to establish the Islamic state, that is good and excellent, and that is a favor from Allah, who is the One who said: . And if we are not able to reach that, it is enough for us that we have been excused and have presented what we have of ability, for Allah does not burden a soul except with what it can bear. Therefore, it is upon us to walk on the path.
And it is amazing that this verse, which every person knows, the general and the particular: . This verse alone, if they had stopped at it, they would not have gotten involved in directing such questions. What does mean? Does it mean prepare an army to defend the Lord of the Worlds? Of course, no one says this ignorance. Rather, "if you support Allah" means if you take the Shari'ah of Allah and apply it, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will support you against your enemies.
We are now hearing loud voices, with enthusiasm that blinds them to the original, which is the call to jihad. And no Muslim denies the obligation of jihad, especially jihad in Afghanistan. But those who were addressed by the words of the Exalted: , "Prepare for them," you Muslims who differ in the highest belief, which is Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, you are still differing, and before you is the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and the methodology of the righteous Salaf.
These people will not be able to do jihad. I say this frankly: the Muslims are still differing like this, so they do not care to support Allah with beneficial knowledge and righteous action. So Allah will not support them, for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, does not break His promise: . And the hadith in this area is vast and much, and very much. I will mention one hadith to you now. How will the Muslims be victorious when what came in this hadith of the news has become true for them: . This questioner and the one before him do not want us to return to the religion, which is the cure. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) described the illness of the Muslims in some of its aspects in this authentic hadith, and presented the clear and decisive cure for this deadly disease. As for the disease, he mentioned some of its dangerous types, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Every item of these four items, or every cause of these four causes, requires a stop and a long stop, but it is enough for me now to address the first cause, which is: .
The 'inah has today spread and overflowed the Islamic lands, and yet they want jihad. Do you know what 'inah is?
'Inah is derived from the "eye" of the thing, the thing itself. It is that a thing is sold while it is in its land for two prices, a lower price and a higher price... It is that a man comes to a car dealer, for example, wanting to get fifty thousand riyals, and due to the disintegration existing today among the Muslims, where the voices of some enthusiastic callers are raised, commanding them to do jihad in the path of Allah while they are disintegrated and scattered to the greatest extent of scattering. One of them wants to borrow fifty thousand riyals but finds no one to lend him a good loan for the sake of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So what does he do? He schemes. And with whom does he scheme? With the schemer. He comes to the big dealer and says, "I want to buy this car. What is its price on installments?" He says, "Fifty thousand." He says, "I bought it, but I want to sell it to you in cash for how much?" He buys it from him for forty, or thirty-five, it doesn't matter, the issue is a thousand, for example. He takes the forty thousand in exchange for what? In exchange for fifty thousand. And this is the sale of 'inah.
Then some people scheme and introduce an intermediary in the matter. He comes to a big dealer who does not have the car he wants and has a lot of money. He asks him for fifty thousand riyals as a loan for the sake of Allah, saying, "Go and buy this car, and I will pay you the price." So he goes and buys the car for fifty thousand riyals, and fifty thousand is recorded against him. The rich dealer pays forty thousand to the car dealer, and fifty thousand is recorded against him.
All of this is a scheme to eat what Allah has forbidden of riba.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned in this hadith one of the causes that have afflicted the Muslims today. As for the other causes, they are clear to you, but this one, the buy-back sale, is still considered permissible by many scholars, while the Messenger says . These other three causes are clear to you. If this other cause is added to them, what will be the outcome for these people who turn away from applying the rulings of the Shari'ah, such as not competing for the worldly life and not making lawful what Allah has forbidden through the slightest of ruses, and abandoning jihad in the path of Allah? The punishment in this world comes before the Hereafter. The remedy, the cure, is returning to the religion.
We must pause for a moment on this Prophetic remedy, which is returning to the religion!
So we say to these questioners, may Allah guide us and them: which religion did the Messenger of Allah order us to return to? Without a doubt, it is what He Blessed and Exalted said in the Noble Qur'an: . But here a question arises: Islam today has concepts, and these questioners are aware of the existing differences today, but they have become fed up with this difference due to their ignorance and lack of patience. Is it not possible to postpone the disagreement and face the enemies of Allah? It is not possible, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that if you do such and such, Allah will impose humiliation upon you until you return to your religion. So now, returning to the religion, which is Islam, is the cure. With which concept do we return? With the concept of the Salaf or the Khalaf? This is a plan that one must enter into. With the concept of the Mu'tazilah, the Maturidiyyah, the Asha'irah, the Shi'ah, or the Rafidah? These are realities that exist; we cannot say, as is said about the ostrich, that due to its foolishness and heedlessness, when it sees the hunter, it puts its head in the sand, claiming that as long as it does not see the hunter, the hunter does not see it. This is an example, and Allah knows best the truth about this animal, but the point is the example. It is not right for us to ignore this painful reality. So what does this patient do? A patient who, if you trade with one another through buy-back sales... to the end of the hadith. This means that the sick Muslim community... so what is the cure? Returning to the religion. With which concept? Therefore, we keep repeating and living upon this call, and we die upon it; we never accept a substitute for it: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, and the methodology of the righteous Salaf.
Finally, I say: he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Perhaps this much is a reminder for these two questioners, may Allah guide us and them to the straight path.