What is your opinion of Shaykh al-Mu'ti?

Abu Ishaq: Did you meet al-Mu'ti?

The Shaykh : No, I did not meet him.
Abu Ishaq: Well, did you read his book?

The Shaykh : I read some of it.
Abu Ishaq: What is your opinion of it?

The Shaykh : He is not a critic; he is in the style of Abu al-Banna 'Abd al-Rahman, meaning he is a transmitter, not a researcher or verifier; that is one aspect. And then, it seems he is bound by a school of jurisprudence.
Abu Ishaq: Ah, he is Shafi'i.

The Shaykh : Yes, Shafi'i, meaning he was not influenced by hadith. So he deals with hadith as a science, like one who studies law as a science...; and so on. Most of those who engaged in the science of hadith throughout the centuries were, first, not verifiers; they accepted whatever came to them; then they were not influenced by what they learned from hadith. So you would see this one is Hanafi, that one is Shafi'i, and... the Maliki, and the fourth is Hanbali. And the same problem still exists today regarding some of those who engage in the science of hadith, like these Ghumariyyah, for example. And the one you are asking about is like them; he does not judge by hadith in matters where people differ, as he is not a verifier of it. I think some of his letters came to me, but as is my habit, I do not have the inclination to reply to letters.
Abu Ishaq: He sent youThe Shaykh : al-Mu'ti.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
Abu Ishaq: Well, the gist of the letters, meaning...

The Shaykh : That is old, and it appears, as they say in our region in the Levant, "before my scent came out." The scent may be pleasant, or it may not be, depending on people's tastes. And this reminds me that I have a letter on the descent of 'Isa (peace be upon him) in the end times by this Ghumari, 'Abd Allah.
Abu Ishaq: Iqamat al-Burhan.

The Shaykh : And on it is a signature and a gift to the professor. I do not know if Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani added to it now, for he has turned his back on us. Why? Because my scent came out to them that I am a Salafi.
— laughsThe Shaykh : And the students—

The Shaykh : So he saw my old books, like al-Silsilah and others, and he suspected something, so he sent me this book as a gift. Then, of course, he did not return, because he smelled the scent that I am a Mujassim Wahhabi. And he said in what he called al-Radd al-Muqni', that this is not only Wahhabi, but it is worse than that; it is such and such, it is such and such, it is such and such, and so on. So, glory be to Allah, the blessing of the science of hadith is in correcting the character of the hadith scholar first, then his thought and his school of jurisprudence second. So if you see a hadith scholar whose character has not improved and whose thought has not become straight, understand that his hadith, or his study of hadith, is for a worldly matter. What is this worldly matter? Speak about its types and causes, there is no harm. It may be, for example, for money, it may be for fame. And among the sayings of the Sufis is "love of fame cuts off fame." So these, for example, in the Maghrib are Sufi order followers who have a lodge, yet they engage in hadith. How is this? They did not benefit from hadith at all, unfortunately, neither in character nor in thought. So this is truly a problem with those who engage in hadith: that they are not influenced by it.
Abu Ishaq: I asked you about Brother Muhammad 'Amr while we were eating, meaning I just want to record this because it will please him. Your opinion of...

The Shaykh : I am not recalling it right now. What I am recalling is what I gave you earlier and you also recorded it. But if I need to elaborate, I need to go back to the letter again, because my memory of it has become forgotten.
Abu Ishaq: But the general summary of what you remember of...

The Shaykh : I believe he is a researcher and good, and he has a good future, in my opinion, and Allah knows best.