Commentary on the term "Athari"
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The Shaykh : No, of course not. You know, attribution is sometimes based on what preceded us.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Ali 'Abd al-Hamid.Al-Halabi : The one who calls himself or styles himself as an Athari, and I do not know why our brother Hamdi al-Salafi deviated from what preceded him, from attributing himself to the Salaf to attributing himself to the Athar. There is nothing in this that is not in that, yes?
The questioner : The Athar is broader than the Salaf.
The Shaykh : No, the Athar is like attributing oneself to the hadith; it does not confer any other distinction, like if one said, "My hadith is the Athari hadith." But being a Salafi, attributing oneself to the Salaf, gives a very clear meaning to the school of thought, yes? As for following the Athar, as we always say, it is not sufficient in the present age for the call to be limited to following the Book and the Sunnah only; rather, a third thing must be added to that: following the righteous Salaf. This is because all the Islamic sects, with their flaws and defects, are such that only one is saved from them, as came in the hadith. They all claim to belong to the Book and the Sunnah, they all claim it, but only one claims to attribute itself to the Salaf.
The questioner : Is it truthful in its claim?
The Shaykh : No, even to be false in its claim. Look, Professor, there are two issues here: the issue of attribution and the issue of the truthfulness of the attribution. So all the Islamic sects attribute themselves to the Book and the Sunnah. Here, the issue arises of whether they are truthful in this attribution or not. But in verbal attribution, no one attributes themselves to the righteous Salaf except one sect. Is that clear to you?
The questioner : Yes, it is clear.
The Shaykh : And this alone draws your attention to the importance of this attribution. For some reason, the other sects turned away from it. Let us see what you have.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Ali 'Abd al-Hamid.Al-Halabi : The one who calls himself or styles himself as an Athari, and I do not know why our brother Hamdi al-Salafi deviated from what preceded him, from attributing himself to the Salaf to attributing himself to the Athar. There is nothing in this that is not in that, yes?
The questioner : The Athar is broader than the Salaf.
The Shaykh : No, the Athar is like attributing oneself to the hadith; it does not confer any other distinction, like if one said, "My hadith is the Athari hadith." But being a Salafi, attributing oneself to the Salaf, gives a very clear meaning to the school of thought, yes? As for following the Athar, as we always say, it is not sufficient in the present age for the call to be limited to following the Book and the Sunnah only; rather, a third thing must be added to that: following the righteous Salaf. This is because all the Islamic sects, with their flaws and defects, are such that only one is saved from them, as came in the hadith. They all claim to belong to the Book and the Sunnah, they all claim it, but only one claims to attribute itself to the Salaf.
The questioner : Is it truthful in its claim?
The Shaykh : No, even to be false in its claim. Look, Professor, there are two issues here: the issue of attribution and the issue of the truthfulness of the attribution. So all the Islamic sects attribute themselves to the Book and the Sunnah. Here, the issue arises of whether they are truthful in this attribution or not. But in verbal attribution, no one attributes themselves to the righteous Salaf except one sect. Is that clear to you?
The questioner : Yes, it is clear.
The Shaykh : And this alone draws your attention to the importance of this attribution. For some reason, the other sects turned away from it. Let us see what you have.
Source
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The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.