(Whoever says: I am a Jew or a Christian; he is as he has said) How is this interpreted?

The questioner: ; meaning here, how do we interpret this hadith ... ?

The Shaykh: He said it intentionally, if one was angry or ... the same rule ... .
Al-Halabi: The truth, O Shaykh, is that if all these texts are not regulated by the rule, it becomes a great deal of confusion.

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!
Al-Halabi: Yes, by Allah.
Abu Malik: In - O Shaykh - I am doing this to remind our brothers ... I say that we used to hear in the past from many Islamic groups that held that democracy is disbelief, and that whoever adopts democracy and does not know how to adopt it is among the people of disbelief, refuge with Allah - the Exalted - . Then the situation changed and reversed, and they began to say other than what they used to say; therefore, I want the advice I advise myself and my brothers with, which is that it is not befitting us except to be upon ... sound, ; it is not befitting us to change or alter no matter what the circumstances are; why? For two reasons: As for the first reason, our methodology is clear and is not established except upon evidence from the Book and the Sunnah and the correct, precise understanding that we knew from our righteous predecessors. And as for the second reason, what I fear - may Allah not allow it! - is that the situation changes and reverses to an outcome - may Allah not allow it - other than what we hope for; then the matter will be as it was, other than what will be, except what Allah has decreed ... .

The Shaykh: There is a report from Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, something very strange, I mentioned it in some tapes when we spoke about the Gulf War, "So we saw people who were in the recent past saying a statement, then they returned to saying a contradictory statement. They were supporting a person, and lo, they abandoned him. And they were abandoning a person, and lo, they supported him." So I was amazed by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, and there is no amazement; for he was a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He used to say, and the covenant with this text is far from me, but at least I will try to recall the meaning, and perhaps my brother Ali or one of our other brothers will recall its wording. He says: "If one of you wants to know whether the fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) has struck him, whether the fitnah has struck him or not; let him look: if he is saying something contrary to what he used to say previously, then the fitnah has struck him."
Al-Halabi: Well - O Shaykh - , the matter is as you said in ... the first, but it is "let him look: what was lawful, he used to forbid yesterday, and what was forbidden, he has made lawful today."

The Shaykh: This is it, it is true for many ... .

The questioner: There is a narration slightly more general from Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him): "True misguidance is that you know what you used to deny and deny what you used to know."

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!
Yes.