The state of the Salafi da'wah in Iraq and the other groups, and how to respond to the other groups? (Mentioning the causes of victory)

The questioner : Our esteemed Shaykh, I want to make you aware of the state of the Salafi da'wah in Iraq.

The Shaykh : Very well.

The questioner : The Salafi da'wah, as you know, is the da'wah to the oneness of Allah (tawhid), and it is the da'wah of the Prophets and Messengers to all peoples. These Prophets and Messengers faced from their peoples what they faced, and today we are trying to hold fast to these righteous predecessors (Salaf) among the Prophets and Messengers, and to those of their Companions who followed their guidance. There are those who deliberately try to undermine these efforts, and they are very many, including the Christians and some of our Muslim brothers who have been deluded by this worldly life, so they have split into sects and parties. Among them in Iraq are the Muslim Brotherhood, who show us that they are now upon the creed of the Salaf, yet they follow the methodology of partisanship and factionalism. They accuse us of having dropped or weakened the obligation of jihad, because they believe in taking up arms against tyranny from rulers and the like. We say to them that we are upon the methodology of purification and education that we have heard from your eminence on recorded tapes. So we are in disagreement with them, and I ask your eminence to clarify this to us and to them. As for the Sufis, you know how far they are from our creed. They also accuse us of partisanship and dividing the Muslims, and they call us Wahhabis. They say we do not send blessings upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they object to us using the name "Salafi," saying that this name is a cause of division. As for the followers of the schools of jurisprudence (mudhahib), they say that you are still in your old mindset, objecting to us and saying, "This is Sunnah and this is religious innovation (bid'ah)." So I ask your eminence to let us hear, and let the people hear, your response to these sects. May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. This question encompasses many aspects, and what every Muslim must know, regardless of his affiliation or his partisanship, is that there are facts on which there should be no disagreement between two Muslims on the face of the earth, because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has explicitly stated in the Noble Qur'an that if Muslims wish to be honored, as the first Muslims were, their primary duty is to fulfill the fundamental condition mentioned in several verses of the Noble Qur'an. The most famous of these is His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): This is the condition that Muslims must support our Lord (Mighty and Majestic), and this is not achieved except by supporting His religion, for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the Strong, the Mighty, and He does not need soldiers to support Him against His enemies (Blessed and Exalted is He). Therefore, it is agreed upon by all scholars of exegesis that the intended meaning of this verse is meaning His religion, meaning against your enemy. I do not believe that a Muslim who truly believes in Allah and the Last Day is ignorant of this, let alone argues about it. Likewise, the Sunnah clarifies this fundamental condition mentioned in this verse in some authentic hadiths, which is our custom in such an occasion to remind all Muslims of. Among them is the saying of the Noble Messenger (may the best prayers and perfect peace be upon him): So, the verse, the hadith, and similar texts all converge on the fact that Muslims will remain in weakness and humiliation as long as they do not take hold of the condition that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has stipulated for Him to support them against their enemies, which is that they return to their religion. As they say, history repeats itself; the first Muslims who were with the Messenger (may peace and blessings be upon him) were not supported by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) except because of their adherence to this condition mentioned in this verse and hadith. However, the thing that many Islamic groups face, some of which you mentioned earlier, is that they think that returning to religion is merely speech that has no correct meaning. They imagine that it is sufficient for Muslims to testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah to deserve the condition from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), which is His support for them against their enemies. Meanwhile, the truth that must be pointed out is that when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned in the Noble Qur'an in the well-known verse , the religion that the Messenger (may peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned in the previously cited hadith is the religion that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) accepted for Muslims as a religion and a law in the first covenant, and it is the one that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) completed and bestowed upon His servants as a favor in the well-known verse . If this religion is understood correctly, it is the cure for lifting this humiliation that, unfortunately, has settled upon all Muslims, without excluding any government or people. The reason is that they have deviated from this religion, which is the cure mentioned by the Messenger (peace be upon him) at the end of the previously cited hadith: And there is no doubt that what you pointed out, that the foundation in Islam is tawhid (the oneness of Allah), is undoubted. But this is so self-evident that it is not sufficient, because Islam is comprehensive of all matters of life and treats them completely. If we suppose that a people among the Muslim nations achieved tawhid and stopped there, that does not mean they deserve Allah's support. Rather, they must encompass the religion first in knowledge and then in application, as He said (Exalted is He): But the foundation of all these deeds is pure tawhid, otherwise the Muslim's deed will be in vain, as our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) said: This address is to the Muslim nation in the person of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), for it is impossible that our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would fall into any shirk (associating partners with Allah). Rather, the address is to every individual of the nation: And as He said regarding the polytheists: And there is no doubt, with great regret, that most Muslims today are far, far removed from correct tawhid.