In the Afghan jihad, they initially have a bad opinion of every stranger; is this action permissible?

The questioner : My question is: there in Afghanistan, they have a rule that they have a bad opinion of whoever comes at first glance.

The Shaykh : Of whom?

The questioner : Of whoever comes at first glance.

The Shaykh : You mean the stranger?

The questioner : Yes, they have a bad opinion of him. So, is the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community to have a bad opinion or a good opinion?

The Shaykh : (He laughs, may Allah have mercy on him) And what is the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community? The original principle is: But in reality, due to the corruption of the times, an Ummaric wisdom applies, which is: "Prudence is having a bad opinion of people." But this does not contradict the hadith; rather, it means that you should not submit to people today to the extent of assuming that all of them are Muslims; because the reality of these Muslims today reveals, with great regret, that the majority of their Islam is formal, formal and not practical. Therefore, among them are liars, talebearers, and so on, let alone that the majority of them abandon prayer. Therefore, the Muslim's dealing with them must be based on having a bad opinion of them. What does having a bad opinion of them mean? It is not that you conclude in your heart that so-and-so is a liar or a false messiah, etc. No, but you proceed in your dealings with him with caution only. The position of the Afghans is like the position of all peoples, meaning some of them are like others. The stranger means a person you do not know and are ignorant of, so it is very natural to take a position toward him that is tinged with a little or a lot of caution. What is behind that? That is how they do it.

The questioner : We have heard that the Shi'ah, meaning, this bad opinion came out of this issue, a great religious innovation emerged, which is that they do not pray behind the imam, behind any imam; because they have a bad opinion of him originally, waiting for the Mahdi because they have a good opinion of the Mahdi. So a great religious innovation emerged from this issue.

The Shaykh : No, this is not from the category of having a bad opinion, my brother. This is not from the category of having a bad opinion of Muslims. This is from the category that they know that these people are not from the Shi'ah.

The questioner : Even if he is a Shi'ite, I think it is in al-Muwatta', in Nail al-Awtar, it says that the Shi'ah do not pray behind the imam because they have a bad opinion of him originally, even if he is a Shi'ite.

The Shaykh : No, I will complete it for you. They say that the prayer is not valid behind a non-Shi'ite, and then the prayer is not valid behind any Shi'ite; because they condition the imam to be infallible. They condition in the imam that he be infallible. So here, you do not present the issue on the basis that they have a bad opinion of the Sunnah. No, even the Shi'ah do not pray behind each other, unless the imam is clothed in the garment of infallibility. And this is from their misguidance. As for the Sunnah, what Allah wills for it, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding the imams, and the hadith is in Sahih al-Bukhari: Therefore, it was from the belief of the people of the Sunnah, which the later generations inherited from the earliest generations, is praying behind every righteous person and every open sinner, and praying over every righteous person and every open sinner. Meaning, if a Muslim dies, he is prayed over, whether he was righteous or an open sinner. Likewise, if a Muslim leads the Muslims, they pray behind him even if he is an open sinner, because his open sinfulness is upon himself, and his badness in his prayer does not harm those who pray behind him, and so on.