Clarification that Taqlid is not a religion.

The Shaykh : Therefore, we say: Taqlid is not a religion. It is obligatory for every Muslim to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and to strive to do so. But the ignorant person asks the scholar. If there are scholars who claim knowledge and claim that they understand, and when it is said to him: "Allah said such and such, and His Messenger said such and such," he turns away and keeps his distance. Our problem is not with the common people; because we say that the common people do not understand, and their path is to ask the people of knowledge. Our problem is with these preachers whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned in more than one hadith. He saw, on the night he was taken up in ascension (peace and blessings be upon him), people being taken by their jaws, like this, with iron hooks of fire, hooks of fire. When the Messenger (peace be upon him) heard that from Jibril, or saw that, he asked Jibril, saying: . So they say: "We follow the Book and the Sunnah." But when the Book and the Sunnah come, they say: "We do not understand the Book and the Sunnah." So who understands the Book and the Sunnah? If no one remains who understands the Book and the Sunnah, this means the abolition of Islam; because the Messenger of Islam says... the call, but what kind of call is this when we have not yet understood it? Rather, we explicitly state that we cannot understand it from the Book and the Sunnah, but only through the path of the scholars.
It is like adding a bundle of straw to a camel's load, as they say. I wish they would say: "We take the Shari'ah from the mujtahid scholars who understood the Book and the Sunnah." They are, without doubt, more knowledgeable than the later generations. But this does not mean that we judge... as ignorant, and impose ignorance upon them. Ignorance is not engaging in knowing the Book and the Sunnah. This is exactly the case of the Christians with their priests and monks, in terms of the news from the heavens on one hand, and the reality on earth on the other hand. As for the news from the heavens, all of you read the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) regarding the Christians: . As for the reality, the common Christians do not know what is in the Gospel and what is in the Torah. This is specific to their priests and monks, so that these priests and monks can control the common Christians and the Christian peoples, and enslave them other than Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is well known. The last thing that reached us reached everyone, and something else reached some of the special ones. You have known that the Jews were acquitted of the charge of crucifying their god, Isa, as they claim. They purified their record due to the intervention of politics and the imposition of a specific politics on the head of the Christians to issue this acquittal. In the Gospel, there is an address to Peter: "What you bind on earth is bound in heaven," and likewise his deputy, who is the Pope. This is deification, and this is the lordship that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned in the Qur'an: . The last thing that reached us is that the nuns in... recently, the Pope issued a decision to accommodate the present age; that is, the display of adornment by women, by permitting the nuns—whom we used to regret until recently that their clothing and covering were more modest and more lawful than the clothing of many Muslim women!!—and behold, the Pope issues a decision that it is permissible for the nuns to uncover the forelock of their heads—the front of their heads. Why? Because the present age no longer tolerates this rigidity in this wrapping and this extreme veiling. So he legalizes what he wills and forbids what he wills. Is it permissible for Muslims to do such an action?
Far be it from Allah! And what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned in the previous verse in our Book is nothing but a warning to our scholars not to follow the path of the priests and monks, by appointing themselves as legalizers and forbidders other than Allah, Lord of the Worlds (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is from the side of the scholars. And from the side of the common people, let them not be deceived by blind taqlid of those who legalize and forbid. And this—regrettably—I say it frankly: it has come true in us as well, just as it came true in the Jews and Christians. The news of Allah from the heavens has become a reality. And the news from the heavens from the Messenger of Allah says: . Did this happen among the Muslims? Yes, we hear today the preacher lying to the people: "So-and-so declares Muslims disbelievers," as if their inner state says: "Amen." Where are you regarding the saying of the Lord of the Worlds: ? This verse is abrogated. What abrogated it? No, it is not the abrogated one; the entire Qur'an is abrogated!! Because no one acts upon it, and it is not permissible for anyone to read the Qur'an or the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) except for the sake of blessing!! And so this deep ignorance settled upon the hearts of the Muslims, and they became unaffected by what they recite from the Book of Allah and what they study from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). How so, when we used to hear—and still do, regrettably—them saying: "We follow the hadith of the Messenger of Allah." And if the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which explains the Noble Qur'an, is read for the sake of blessing, and they mean by that not for understanding it or comprehending it, contrary to the saying of the owner of this hadith, who is the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): . Not for understanding the religion, they read it as you heard, for the sake of blessing; even though the hadith explains the Qur'an and clarifies it. If they claim that they only read the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) for the sake of blessing because they are unable to understand it, then I wonder! When they read the Qur'an, why do they read it? They also claim it is for the sake of blessing!!
And among the wonders—and this is one of the contradictions—they read in the books of al-Ghazali and his like that there is a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And I say in advance: this hadith is attributed to the Messenger but has no basis. But look at the meaning they transmit. They read in the book "Ihya" that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, or some of the Salaf: "Often the one who recites the Qur'an is cursed by the Qur'an." To whom does this hadith apply—if it is a hadith—more than to those who read the Qur'an and then do not contemplate it?
I say this on the occasion of the verse I mentioned last: . Is this verse abrogated? No, my brothers, it is present in the Qur'an and is decisive. The scholars of tafsir mention the context and the reason for which the verse was revealed, and the like of that. But since the masses of Muslims, the special ones among them as well as the common people, read it for the sake of seeking blessing, this Qur'an no longer has any effect in the hearts of those who recite it. And the Messenger (peace be upon him) says in an authentic hadith: . So this Qur'an has become a proof against the masses of Muslims. Why?
We have passed nearly half a century in which lies continue to vary; every year there is something repeated and something newly invented. None of these people has come to me or to some of our brothers, among whom the truth can be known, to ask: "Are you declaring Muslims disbelievers because they follow the schools of jurisprudence?" Not a single one has come to ask at all. So, for them, this verse is as if it has been abrogated. It is true that you say that the one who prays upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) after the call to prayer is better than the one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse with his mother?! Listen, people, this is not imagination; this is reality. This is reality. "Al-Tamaddun al-Islami" magazine is printed, and there is an issue published containing this news. A man who is still alive was content to apologize in the magazine, but he did not apologize to the people who were accused of this false charge. It was published in some letters that there was a mu'adhdhin in a place he named who was calling to prayer, and one of these people—meaning the Salafis—said to him: "Do not pray upon the Messenger; for committing unlawful sexual intercourse with your mother is better than praying upon the Messenger after the call to prayer!" So one of the noble shaykhs... and he is Shaykh Muhammad Bahja Baytar (may Allah have mercy on him), wrote to "Al-Tamaddun al-Islami" magazine a statement that this story is a pure lie, and that we know the mu'adhdhin, and so on. Therefore, we ask the one who published this news to hasten to refute it. So the poor man hastened. And in reality, when I mention these people, I am between one who laments for them and fears for them, and one who holds a grudge against them and is angry. Why?
How does it enter the mind of this person that he finds a Muslim in the world who prays and fasts, and says that a man committing unlawful sexual intercourse with his mother is better than praying upon the Messenger after the call to prayer?! He wrote this and published it in a letter. When Shaykh Bahja (may Allah reward him with good) saw this, he immediately wrote to Al-Tamaddun al-Islami magazine: "By Allah, one of them told us this news; so as long as the news is not true..." And such news is repeated. But are you not angry at this person? Without a doubt, you are. But this is better than these people who throw lies and continuous slander on the pulpits and do not fear Allah.
If these people, out of concern for their positions, do not fear Allah, then let those who hear these words beware of participating with this falsifier and this liar against the believers in his sin. And let them beware of transmitting such news, because of what we mentioned of the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): .
We say: The principle is to follow the Book and the Sunnah, as we have mentioned for all people. But people differ in the way of reaching knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah: the scholar by his knowledge, and the uneducated or ignorant person by asking the people of knowledge. And the students of knowledge are between these two, progressing and following the path so that they may be able to know what Allah said and what the Messenger of Allah said.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : (Peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : What did I say...? Remind me, my brother...

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ...so you do not work with us on these matters!! Keep it to yourself. I thought I had made a mistake in something.