What are the deviations of the Tablighi Jamaat and what is the remedy for them?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The questioner asks: What are the deviations of the Tablighi Jamaat and what is the remedy for them?
The Shaykh : The remedy is knowledge. As we always advise them, instead of going out in this manner which has no basis in the Sunnah, and which they have made a followed practice, they should sit in the mosques and learn hadith, Islamic jurisprudence, and the recitation of the Qur'an as it was revealed. Many of those who speak among them—and this is in reality a bad practice they have introduced for people—encourage them to speak, yet they are not proficient in reading a verse, let alone in reading a Prophetic hadith or interpreting a verse or hadith in a way that is accurate. Thus, what is reported in the science of hadith terminology applies to them: that a student of knowledge must learn the Arabic language so that when he reads a Prophetic hadith, he does not make grammatical errors or distort it, but reads it as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) pronounced it. Otherwise, he falls under the generality of his statement (peace and blessings be upon him):Musnad Ahmad 469Hasan (Darussalam) We, even though the Book is before them, and he reads from the Book, yet he is not proficient in reading what is in the Book. The Book is also vocalized, marked with fathah, kasrah, and dammah, and yet these people we hear in many mosques are not proficient in reciting the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), let alone interpreting it, let alone explaining the rulings and jurisprudence contained therein, which the listeners sitting with him are in great need of, derived from the Sunnah. Therefore, the remedy for these people is to return to the scholarly circles in the mosques that we mentioned earlier, and to choose a scholar of recitations, a scholar of tajwid, a scholar of jurisprudence, a scholar of hadith, and a scholar of tafsir. Then, after they have learned, if one of them feels that he is in a position and capable of calling people, it is obligatory for him to call people.
As for them, they call themselves the Jama'at al-Da'wah, the call to Islam, the Tablighi Jamaat, the conveying of Islam. But this Islam must be understood by this conveyor so that he may convey it properly; otherwise, one who lacks a thing cannot give it.
This is a known fact. Therefore, we advise them because we find sincerity and activity in the call to Islam in many of them. But what was said in the past applies to them: "Sa'd led the camels, and Sa'd was wrapped in his cloak *** This is not, O Sa'd, how you lead camels" This is not, O group, how the call to Islam should be. The call to Islam requires scholars, capable scholars, especially if they leave these lands for the lands of disbelief and misguidance in Europe and America. There, desires and doubts will come to them that did not occur to them in the Islamic lands. So where will they find the answer to them? One who lacks a thing cannot give it.
I believe that these people of the Tablighi Jamaat, if they want to be truly conveyors of Islam, it is not sufficient for them to be students of knowledge; rather, they must be scholars and must be mujtahids. Mujtahids means they derive the rulings of the Shari'ah from the Book and the Sunnah. Why? Because they go to lands where their customs, traditions, and morals, and their problems, are different from what we have. So where will they find the answer? They have no answer.
Rather, one of them may get involved and think that he has some knowledge, so he issues a fatwa, just as those Companions issued a fatwa to that wounded man, and they killed him. They issued a fatwa without knowledge, so they went astray and led others astray, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim:Sahih al-Bukhari 100 This is a reality that exists today.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : Many people, and peace be upon you, issue fatwas without knowledge, so they go astray and lead others astray. Therefore, those who want to set out for the call, I say, I repeat what I said earlier.
The questioner : Please proceed.
The Shaykh : It is not sufficient for them to be students of knowledge; they must be scholars who derive rulings from the Book and the Sunnah. Otherwise, they will not be able to convey Islam, especially in those lands. And I conclude these answers considering that now the tooth is working, and when the tooth works, the lesson is ruined, so I will say.
The questioner : The questioner asks: What are the deviations of the Tablighi Jamaat and what is the remedy for them?
The Shaykh : The remedy is knowledge. As we always advise them, instead of going out in this manner which has no basis in the Sunnah, and which they have made a followed practice, they should sit in the mosques and learn hadith, Islamic jurisprudence, and the recitation of the Qur'an as it was revealed. Many of those who speak among them—and this is in reality a bad practice they have introduced for people—encourage them to speak, yet they are not proficient in reading a verse, let alone in reading a Prophetic hadith or interpreting a verse or hadith in a way that is accurate. Thus, what is reported in the science of hadith terminology applies to them: that a student of knowledge must learn the Arabic language so that when he reads a Prophetic hadith, he does not make grammatical errors or distort it, but reads it as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) pronounced it. Otherwise, he falls under the generality of his statement (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever says something about me that I did not say, let him take his place in Hell.
من قال عليّ ما لم أقل فليتبوّأ مقعده من النارAs for them, they call themselves the Jama'at al-Da'wah, the call to Islam, the Tablighi Jamaat, the conveying of Islam. But this Islam must be understood by this conveyor so that he may convey it properly; otherwise, one who lacks a thing cannot give it.
This is a known fact. Therefore, we advise them because we find sincerity and activity in the call to Islam in many of them. But what was said in the past applies to them: "Sa'd led the camels, and Sa'd was wrapped in his cloak *** This is not, O Sa'd, how you lead camels" This is not, O group, how the call to Islam should be. The call to Islam requires scholars, capable scholars, especially if they leave these lands for the lands of disbelief and misguidance in Europe and America. There, desires and doubts will come to them that did not occur to them in the Islamic lands. So where will they find the answer to them? One who lacks a thing cannot give it.
I believe that these people of the Tablighi Jamaat, if they want to be truly conveyors of Islam, it is not sufficient for them to be students of knowledge; rather, they must be scholars and must be mujtahids. Mujtahids means they derive the rulings of the Shari'ah from the Book and the Sunnah. Why? Because they go to lands where their customs, traditions, and morals, and their problems, are different from what we have. So where will they find the answer? They have no answer.
Rather, one of them may get involved and think that he has some knowledge, so he issues a fatwa, just as those Companions issued a fatwa to that wounded man, and they killed him. They issued a fatwa without knowledge, so they went astray and led others astray, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim:
Allah does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray.
إن الله لا ينتزع العلم انتزاعا من صدور العلماء ولكنه يقبض العلم بقبض العلماء حتى إذا لم يُبق عالما اتخذ الناس رؤوسا جهالا فسُئلوا فأفتوا بغير علم فضلوا وأضلواThe questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : Many people, and peace be upon you, issue fatwas without knowledge, so they go astray and lead others astray. Therefore, those who want to set out for the call, I say, I repeat what I said earlier.
The questioner : Please proceed.
The Shaykh : It is not sufficient for them to be students of knowledge; they must be scholars who derive rulings from the Book and the Sunnah. Otherwise, they will not be able to convey Islam, especially in those lands. And I conclude these answers considering that now the tooth is working, and when the tooth works, the lesson is ruined, so I will say.