The Shaykh’s warning about a newly emerged group originating from Egypt that considers only the Qur’an and the Sunnah and does not accept the interpretation agreed upon by the Companions.

The Shaykh : Therefore, we now find in the Muslim world a group that has newly emerged, appearing to us from Egypt and then spreading its ideas and poisons in much of the Muslim world. They claim to be upon the Book and the Sunnah, and their claim is exactly like the claim of the Khawarij, for they too claimed to adhere to the Book and the Sunnah, but they interpreted the Book and the Sunnah according to their own desires, paying no attention whatsoever to the understanding of the righteous predecessors, especially the Companions among them. I have met many individuals from these people, and on a recent trip to Jordan for the second time, I debated one of their leaders. He explicitly stated that he does not consider the interpretation of a verse, even if it came from dozens of Companions. If an interpretation of a verse came from dozens of Companions, he does not accept that interpretation if he does not see it himself. This is the one who says such a thing, yet he cannot read a verse without mispronunciation, error, and mistake in it. This is the reason for the deviation of the old Khawarij, who were pure Arabs; so what do we say about the modern Khawarij of today, who, if they are not truly non-Arabs, are Arabs who have become non-Arabic in their conduct, not non-Arabs who have become Arabized? This is their reality. These people explicitly state that they do not accept the interpretation of a text at all unless the predecessors agreed upon it. This is what their spokesperson says, as a cover-up and misguidance. So I said to him, “Do you believe it is possible for the predecessors to reach consensus on the interpretation of a text from the Qur’an?” He said, “This is impossible.” I said, “So do you want to adhere to the impossible, or are you hiding behind it?” He shrank back and fell silent.