Discussion of the occasions for using severity in rejecting shirk (associating partners with Allah) from the biography of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : He used severity here because the matter was shirk (associating partners with Allah), and because shirk was taking place in the home of one of the great monotheists who believed in Allah and His Messenger. And none believed in the Messenger except out of flight from shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Therefore, Islamic zeal took hold of him, and he cut that thread, which was an amulet, in retribution for the sanctity of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This has parallels in his Sunnah (the Prophet's way), peace and blessings be upon him. How many times have I repeated to your ears the story of that man who said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he heard his sermon, "What Allah wills and what you will, O Messenger of Allah." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him, and he was severe in his rejection of him, saying to him in a form of rhetorical questioning, By your saying "What Allah wills and what you will," this Arabic expression means that the will of the Prophet is alongside the will of Allah. And Allah says, So the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is before everything, before the will of the angels, the prophets, the messengers, the righteous, and all people. And whoever has a will, he only derives it from the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And if Allah had willed, He would have removed it from every willer He created. Therefore, the Messenger (peace be upon him) hastened to reject him. Some people today say, "If a man makes a mistake, you must take him aside and speak to him gently, and explain to him that this is a mistake, and not expose him in front of everyone." We say this is sound in general, but not sound in detail. And in detail, always and forever, the evidence is this: our Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is the master of gentleness and the lord of gentleness, and there is no one gentler than him in the world. And yet, he used severity at times, placing it in its proper place. Therefore, the noble Aisha described him, and the meaning of her hadith was that he (peace and blessings be upon him) was easy-going, he was soft, he did not get angry or flare up unless the sanctities of Allah were violated. If the sanctities of Allah were violated, nothing stood before him. This is how a Muslim must be, in any case. And as we said earlier, we try to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as much as possible, and perhaps we will attain from his ocean, peace and blessings be upon him, from the ocean of his good style and his calling with gentleness and severity, a simple room by the grace of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). For this reason, it is not permissible for us to mislead people and make them understand the opposite of what the biography of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) gives us, which is that at times severity must be used. At times, correcting a mistake must be done publicly, not secretly. And unfortunately, this is something we cannot do today, all of us or most of us, except for very few. Announcing that so-and-so made a mistake because he made a mistake publicly. The mistake that occurs secretly, we correct it secretly. The mistake that occurs publicly, in the presence of witnesses, must be corrected and pointed out also in the presence of witnesses. Otherwise, if a man among people makes a mistake and you take him aside and tell him his mistake in secret, those who heard from him will not understand anything and will not know the truth. And it is not possible for everyone to come and we teach them the same instruction as the previous explanation. So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to rectify the conditions of the Muslims and to return them to what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions were upon in belief, character, and action. And with this amount, it is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.