A question regarding collective organization in Kuwait, and about 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq.

The questioner : This is a question related to the current topic. As is known, our reality in Kuwait is such, and explicitly so, because the religion of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has nothing hidden and nothing revealed. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described His prophets as saying, "Indeed, I am to you a clear messenger," meaning He clarifies to people what He has brought. So, the situation with us is that the organization exists in the form you are aware of, but its extent varies from place to place based on the willingness of the youth in the area to these ideas or their lack of willingness. In some areas, for example, they do not know anything about such matters, truly how things proceed in the circles of the association and so on. But they have their methodology and their way in seeking knowledge, and their results and outcomes all flow into the larger bag, which is the organization itself. So what is your advice, O Shaykh, regarding the reality of the person now in Kuwait in such circumstances? Does he, for example, turn a blind eye to what he sees as a reality that is relatively contrary to the evidence and to the public interest, in order to get closer to the youth and to mix with them and so on? Or do they speak out about what they see as the truth, and consequently they are labeled with one or two terms, such as being called a "Jahimi," and then their papers are burned in the arena?

The Shaykh : My brother, we say that it is not permissible for Muslims to divide and to insult one another. Second, it is obligatory for every Muslim who knows the truth to speak out with it. Third, his speaking out with it should be based on the known Islamic principle: . Fourth, and perhaps lastly, be a wronged servant of Allah and do not be a wronging servant of Allah. Let them be wronging toward you, but do not you be wronging toward them. This is what I advise, because I read in the biography of Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) that he debated with one of the scholars on an issue and they differed. After a day or more, he met him, greeted him, shook his hand, and said to him, "Do you not want us to remain loving and affectionate toward each other despite the disagreement on an issue?" He considered this a virtue in the right of Imam al-Shafi'i. And so, it is not befitting for Muslims to increase in division or separation because of disagreement on an issue or issues, as long as what unites them is the primary foundation, which is the Book and the Sunnah, and what was upon the Salaf al-Salih (the earliest generations). As for our brother 'Abd al-Rahman, I knew him well. And when I say "I knew him," I am pointing to something, because the person, as we said today in some gatherings, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And so, he (peace and blessings be upon him) frequently used to say, "O Stabilizer of hearts, stabilize my heart upon Your religion and Your obedience." 'Abd al-Rahman, when he was a student in the university and I was there as a teacher for the subject of hadith and the jurisprudence of hadith, I did not know of him any inclination toward clustering or what is called today "organization," which is the partisanship that is not permissible in Islam. Perhaps the days have changed him after us, if this expression is correct, much or little. But with all this, his writings still indicate that he is still with us on the methodology to which we always call people, which is the Book and the Sunnah. We differ with the majority of the Islamic sects present in the arena today, and they are upon the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih. But he may differ with us greatly. And I spoke a word on the subject in a tape and sent it to him, but this, in truth, should not create distance between us, between our ideas, and between our cooperation with one another. And so I told you in some detail just now, and the summary of that is: be a wronged servant of Allah and do not be a wronging servant of Allah. No matter what they say about you, be sincere and be striving to bring the truth closer to those you think have strayed from the straight path, even if he is originally with you. It is like that.

The questioner : O Shaykh, I would like to say a few short words. We are also among the most eager of people. We do not pray the Friday prayer except with Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman, in fact.The Shaykh : 'Abd al-Rahman's report on the creed and on the oneness of Allah, and his explanation of it from the reality of the Noble Qur'an, is in a way, O Shaykh, what Allah willed, there is no strength except with Allah, that he is unique in it in a very strange way.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.

The questioner : And he makes people love it and raises them upon it. And also from the aspect of his evidence, he has no taint of following a scholar without knowing his evidence at all. But the whole matter is...

The Shaykh : This is it, my brother. And so, who is it whose traits you are satisfied with in their entirety? It is sufficient for a person to be noble if his faults are counted, as was said in old times. Therefore, the obligatory thing is to cooperate with him. And even if he is severe with us in this expression and harsh, we must be soft with him, perhaps he will incline toward the truth with us, if Allah wills. I heard very strange words. Did he speak about the hadith more than what I heard from you?

The questioner : But there is another hadith in which he details it.

The Shaykh : Okay, what is his argument in this statement?

The questioner : The previous statement.

The Shaykh : The one I heard from you just now.

The questioner : Yes, he mentioned that this hadith, the obligatory thing for Muslims, is obedience and loyalty to the imam. If there is no imam, then the obligatory thing for them is to strive to renew the allegiance. The man flees with his religion from the trial to the valleys of the mountains. Then he said this expression that I read to you.

The Shaykh : What is this?

The questioner : In another place, he has a statement in the book "The Legitimacy of Collective Work." In the same hadith, he says that the intended meaning of "adhere" is: adhere to the group of Muslims and their imam, adhering to their belief and their jihad. The expression has a kind of lack of clarity. "Adhere to their belief and their jihad" means he says that the intended meaning of adhering to the group is not adhering to the imam himself, but adhering to his jurisprudence and his independent legal reasoning, and it is not adherence in any way. He says, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And it is said that the group of Muslims is everyone who gathered upon an imam in one time, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman in the long hadith of trials: . And the adherence here is not adherence to their belief and their religion, but adherence to them is adherence to their jihad and their jurisprudence, because this is the meaning of adherence, by the evidence of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . And also his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . And also his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . And all these hadiths are...

The Shaykh : In any case, my brother, this is called figurative interpretation. Where does it go with the question of Hudhayfah: "If there is no imam for him"?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Meaning, the methodology of an imam is changed by figurative interpretation? It is a disaster, figurative interpretation. The hadith says: "If there is no imam for him, what does he do?" It commands him to leave all the sects. And this does not mean that he does not work for Islam. His statement from the aspect of correctness is that if there is no imam, it does not mean that he does not work for Islam. But at the same time, the hadith is explicit that it is not permissible at that time for groups and parties to cluster and for them to increase in division, increase in partisanship, and so on. But the Muslim at that time must work, each according to his capacity, in the path of restoring Islamic life, which necessarily requires an imam. As for partisanship and clustering, this contradicts Islam, and the hadith of Hudhayfah is a decisive text on the subject, because the question is: "If there is no imam for them, what do we do?" What does the hadith say? .

The questioner : And this means that these groups, as groups of calling, are included within the blameworthy sects mentioned in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah.

The Shaykh : This is a different matter. We ask about this before this issue: Are the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah among the sects? We say first that it is not permissible to declare every single person who belongs to a school of thought as either saved or doomed individually. Rather, we look at the methodology. Then, if we find it deviating from the correct path, we cannot say that every person who deviated from the correct methodology is in the Fire. This is because we all believe that the methodology of the disbelievers is disbelief, and there is no sin greater than disbelief, as is the well-known general principle. The statement of the Exalted in the Noble Qur'an: However, a disbeliever, or even more than a disbeliever, may be excused by Allah, and his reckoning is with Allah the Mighty and Majestic. But we say this person is a disbeliever if we see that he has committed disbelief. And if we set the disbeliever aside and take an individual from among the people of misguidance, we say this person is misguided, but we do not rule specifically that he is in the Fire, because he may be excused by Allah Blessed and Exalted is He. This is what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) indicated in his books, despite his severe criticism of the misguided sects, such as the Mu'tazilah and the Khawarij, and the like. Accordingly, we say that we do not permit saying that a specific group is among the misguided sects, especially if they adopt the methodology to which we call and by which we testify to Allah, but they differ in some aspects of the style of da'wah or in their understanding of some texts from the Book and the Sunnah. This is a matter from which no one is safe, which is what we testify to Allah Blessed and Exalted is He.

The questioner : Your words, O Shaykh, to which you referred in your speech, that you sent him a message. I listened to it and saw that you quoted a phrase in which you mentioned the word "group" in the singular form. You said that mentioning the group in this context in the singular form implies that he approves of the other groups. We do not know; perhaps before the issuance of this message, the legitimacy of collective work was established. I mean, this is a quick look at the book, meaning that he explicitly stated this with clear words in other places.

Another questioner : The Shaykh's transfer was to political work before this message.

The questioner : Before the message was published, because I was surprised, as this message contains clear and explicit phrases regarding the multiplicity of da'wah groups.

The Shaykh : In any case, we have not strayed from the truth.
Al-Halabi : His intention is that this is an inference he drew, and there are explicit texts.

The questioner : In fact, the multiplicity of da'wah groups has advantages that are many times greater than the disadvantages of the multiplicity.

The Shaykh : We seek help from Allah. We ask Allah to guide us and him.