He was asked about the division among the Salafis.

The questioner : There is currently division among the Salafis.

The Shaykh : What is there?

The questioner : Division.

The Shaykh : Division, yes.

The questioner : For example, the Salafis in Kuwait see the organization and this hierarchical structure that we mentioned, but the Salafis in Jordan, as we have seen them, many of them say to you, "No, this hierarchical structure is forbidden because it is imitating capitalism." In fact, a few days ago, one of the students of knowledge told us that, saying, "This is the doing of the communists and Marxism." The question is that the Salafis' view of organization differs in Kuwait from Jordan from Saudi Arabia.

The Shaykh : There is no organization, my brother. We are the reason for the difference. It is that there is organization there, there is a party-like grouping, and here there is not even the obligatory organization in which no two people differ, and which should be mentioned by our brothers in every land of Islam. Many of our brothers do not notice the difference between one region and another. For example, there is a Syrian saying: "Hasan struck it with an 'Alawi stick." They do not distinguish, for example, between Kuwait and Syria, so they ask, "Why is the da'wah not active in Syria as it is in Kuwait?" This is, of course, a question out of place. But I struck it with an 'Alawi stick, meaning I found a great difference. However, if we go down a little, they do not notice the difference between Kuwait and this country. So in Kuwait, for example, there is no Sufi pressure, there is no traditionalist pressure; on the contrary, the banner of the Salafi da'wah is the prevailing one, because Kuwait is a modern country. Whereas Damascus, the land of the Levant, as you know, is the land of scholars. But when knowledge began to decline, it reached taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) and rigidity in the madhhab (school of jurisprudence), and they entered Sufism, so the da'wah there is fought from many sides. The fighting is not limited, for example, to the state, but also from the masses, from the imams who follow without knowledge, and from the Sufi imams. So the da'wah there will be fought from multiple directions. Therefore, it is not to be expected that its launch there will be as it is in other lands, as is the reality, and praise be to Allah, in Kuwait. So the organization that must be established, in which no two people differ, is establishing circles of knowledge. This is necessary. But who establishes these circles? The people of knowledge. And where are the people of knowledge in such lands where it is supposed to be many?

Another questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Therefore, now in this country, the first step in the path of seeking knowledge, do you understand? So if there were several scholars here, and it is obligatory for them to hold circles to teach people the Islamic sciences—not just tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), hadith, and comparative fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) as they say today, but also what is called by the scholars the "auxiliary sciences" upon which the understanding of the Book and the Sunnah does not stand—we are poor in this town in this type of scholars. Therefore, the organization that exists in another country is not to be expected to be possible to achieve here. How so, when the organization intended by some understandings is political organization and scientific grouping? The obligatory organization to be achieved in the path of seeking knowledge and creating an elite of students cannot be achieved here because, unfortunately, we are poor in scholars. Perhaps the situation is better with you than with us in this regard. And I say "perhaps," and I do not say "may it be."

The questioner : Your presence in the Levant, is this from seeking the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): ?

The Shaykh : I did not understand the question?

The questioner : Your presence in the Levant, meaning because of the hadith.

The Shaykh : My presence or my departure?

The questioner : Your presence, you are still in the Levant.
Al-Halabi : In the lands of the Levant, are the virtues mentioned in it, your presence in it, is this the question?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So you mean my migration from Albania and my presence in the Levant, you mean this.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Because I am confused by the word "my presence."
Al-Halabi : It means the lands of the Levant.

The Shaykh : I understand, I understand. But my presence, when is it? After the migration, you mean this?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : It is so, but in truth, this is not attributed to me, but rather to my father (may Allah have mercy on him), because when I left with him, I was nine years old. So he is the one who migrated us from Albania to Damascus. Therefore, I say on such an occasion that every father has a virtue over every son of his, no matter what the fathers are in their commitment to religion or in their seeking of knowledge. My father has a virtue over me in particular in two aspects. The first aspect, I mention this on many occasions, including this one. The first virtue is that he migrated us from Albania to the lands of the Levant, and you know from my previous answer that the motive for him was what I mentioned from the hadith . The second thing in which he has a virtue over me is that when I graduated from primary school, my desire was to learn the trade of carpentry, and I actually started learning carpentry. But my learning of this carpentry, on most days, I could not work because of the difference in seasons; there might be snow, or severe cold, or strong winds, and so on. So I would visit my father, and my father, at times, one day he offered to me and said, "My son, I see the trade is not a trade; most of the days you are unemployed. What do you think about working for me?" I said, "As you wish." And I actually entered his service and learned the trade, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) put blessing in it, and this trade was one of the reasons for my free time for seeking knowledge. So he has a virtue over me, in addition to the right of parents in general, that he migrated me and my whole family from Albania to Damascus, and that was the reason for my learning the Arabic language, and this brought much good to me. As for the migration, it is not from me. And perhaps you have taken the answer to your question.
Abu Layla : Our Shaykh, one of the brothers mentions.

The Shaykh : No, allow me. Did you take the answer?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay, yes.
Abu Layla : One of the brothers now mentions why you are holding on, for example, in Jordan or generally in the lands of the Levant, why do you not go to other lands?

The Shaykh : Like what, for example?
Abu Layla : Like what was offered to you in some of the Saudi lands or Kuwait or such, that you sit there, and India and Pakistan, you refused this, meaning.

The Shaykh : This offer was late. I migrated from Damascus to here when I saw that Damascus had started to deviate, especially after the Ba'athist rule. So I found here better than that land, and I migrated to here. As for when they offer to me after I say, "In the Levant, we have settled," here meaning I established here and built the house and built the library, and so on, and then I have reached old age.

The questioner : May Allah prolong your life.

The Shaykh : The time has passed, the time has gone. So when a person finds in a place that things are proceeding according to the Shari'ah, he should not change his situation unless he finds something better than what he is in, and we have not found that until now regarding my personal circumstances. Do you have anything else?