What is your opinion of those who say that the Asha'irah are from the people of the Sunnah, but they are not from the pure people of the Sunnah?

The questioner : One of the questioners asks, saying: What is your opinion of the statement of some that the Asha'irah are from the people of the Sunnah, but they are not from the pure people of the Sunnah? And there is another statement that says the Asha'irah are from the people of the Qiblah, not from the people of the Sunnah. What is your opinion of these two statements?

The Shaykh : We say that the Asha'irah agree with the people of the Sunnah in some ideas and beliefs, and they do not agree with them in many others. In my opinion, such a statement with detail in such an issue does not benefit us, neither a little nor a lot. Because if we say that the Asha'irah are not from the people of the Sunnah absolutely, or if we say that they are from the people of the Sunnah absolutely, or if we bring the detail that reality bears witness to, what is the intent of the negation and affirmation? If we say that the Asha'irah are not from the people of the Sunnah, we will establish in their place people whom we are certain are not from the people of the Sunnah, namely the Mu'tazilah. For example, no two people differ, and no two goats butt heads, that they are not from the people of the Sunnah. We have agreed that they are a sect from the Islamic sects that are not from the people of the Sunnah. So what is the difference between those we have agreed are not from the people of the Sunnah and those in whom we may differ, saying that they are from the people of the Sunnah absolutely, or that they are not from the people of the Sunnah absolutely, or as I believe and see in reality, that they are from the people of the Sunnah in some issues and from the people of the Mu'tazilah in some issues? What is the fruit of this disagreement? If the intent when we say that they are from the people of the Sunnah is that they are on the right path from their Lord in everything they believed and wrote down, this is an error, without doubt or hesitation. And if it is also said absolutely on the opposite side that they are not from the people of the Sunnah, meaning they erred in everything they spoke about regarding creed, we also say this is an error, because they agree with the people of the Sunnah in many issues in which the people of the Sunnah differed from the people of the Mu'tazilah. And if the intent is to clarify the reality of this sect that includes more of those known as the people of the Sunnah and the community, we understand the intent is to define the Muslims generally about their reality, their nearness and distance from the true people of the Sunnah. And we must say with the detail that reality bears witness to that they are with the people of the Sunnah in much of their faith in the hadiths of the attributes and the verses of the attributes, and that they are not with them in many other verses and hadiths of the attributes. At that time, we have spoken justly and have not wronged these people; we have not exaggerated about them, nor have we been lenient with them. We did not say that they are not from the people of the Sunnah absolutely like the Mu'tazilah, nor did we say that they are from the people of the Sunnah like the people of hadith. Rather, we said that in some of what they hold, they are with the people of the Sunnah, and in some of what they hold, they are against the people of the Sunnah. And at that time, we have not wronged them from one side, nor have we mislead the people with them. If we say that they are from the people of the Sunnah, they will take the figurative interpretation that... upon the Asha'irah, even in this time. In that, there is misguidance for the masses of Muslims. But if we take the middle path and explain their reality to the people, then at that time we have combined justice with them and not wronging them, with clarifying the truth to the people so that they do not get entangled and become Asha'irah with them in some of what they hold in some beliefs that contradict the correct Sunnah.

Another questioner : Do we say that they are from the people of the Sunnah in the general sense, and not in the specific sense?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is what I believe.

The questioner : It was precise when he said they are not from the pure people of the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : Fine, yes.

Another questioner : If we look at the Asha'irah from the aspect of creed regarding Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), the Last Day, the creation of the Qur'an, and the like, if we look from this Ash'ari angle, we can classify them as sharing with the people of the Sunnah in many things and differing in the known things. But the calamity and the affliction that struck the Asha'irah is that many of them adopted the Sufi methodologies. So I see that many of the Asha'irah who became Sufis in the way of Ibn 'Arabi, in the way of the Tijaniyyah in the present era, in my opinion, are lower than the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah. And it is not permissible to count them, if they are in this state of exaggeration in Sufism which includes that the awliya (close friends of Allah) know the unseen, they manipulate the universe, they are called for aid, and so on, if they add these vile innovations to their Ash'ari creed, then in my opinion they are worse than the Mu'tazilah and the Khawarij, and it is not permissible to attribute them to the Sunnah in any way. And Allah knows best.

The Shaykh : No, there is no contradiction, but I want to draw the Doctor's attention, may Allah bless you, you are not speaking about the Ash'ari methodology, and our speech is about the Ash'ari methodology. You are speaking about individuals from them. And our topic is specific to the Ash'ari methodology. Is the Ash'ari methodology, as a methodology, a Sufi methodology? The answer is no. But are there Sufis among the Asha'irah, and partisans and fanatics of Ibn 'Arabi? The answer is yes. But also a second question comes: Do you see that there are no Sufis among the Maturidiyyah? The answer is yes, there are. But is there Sufism in the Maturidi methodology in creed? The answer is no. So then we must define the speech when we speak about the methodology of a group of Muslims; we describe it with what is in it. As for individuals from the Muslims, they have other deviations. We do not say this is the methodology of the sect to which they belong. For example, now, are there not those who claim to be Salafi who commit violations of the Shari'ah?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : It must be that some of that exists, but their committing of such violations is not correct to attribute to the Salafi methodology.

Another questioner : No, but the Salafi does not worship with this falsehood that he committed, and he sees that it is open sinfulness and forbidden.

The Shaykh: Correct, correct.

Another questioner : But this one worships with these misguided paths as if they are religion.

The Shaykh : He, may Allah bless you, the intent is, does this mean is this a methodology, or is this the action of an individual or individuals?

Another questioner : No, they have become methodologies; Sufism has become methodologies.

The Shaykh : Let us not speak about Sufism; let us speak about the Asha'irah as a methodology. Is it Sufi? The answer is no. Or are there Sufis among the Asha'irah? Yes, there are. This is what should be said.

Another questioner : No, I say that the origin of these questions is that some people lump these groups together and want to count them as from the people of the Sunnah, even if they are Sufis, and say that this Ash'ari group is with us, meaning they are from the people of the Sunnah, so we do not speak about them. And this speech divides and tears apart and wastes the Muslims?

The Shaykh : Look, Doctor.

Another questioner : They want to dye these people with the dye of the people of the Sunnah without meaning to leave room for the critic and the speaker and the caller to what they have, may Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : Let us say a word of truth now. Is it correct for us to say that the Sufis are from the people of the Sunnah?

Another questioner : They say they are from the people of the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : No, they are not. Is it permissible for us to say about the Sufis that they are from the people of the Sunnah? Meaning, is it known among the Muslims that the Sufis, their methodology is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah?

Another questioner : There are many Sufis whom Ibn Taymiyyah counted as from the people of the Sunnah.
The Shaykh: We are speaking about the group, we are not speaking about individuals. I am speaking about the Sufi group. Is their methodology the methodology of the people of the Sunnah? The answer is no. But are there individuals from them who hold fast to the Sunnah? It is possible that this exists. Likewise, the Asha'irah: Are the Asha'irah, as a methodology, from the methodologies of the people of the Sunnah or not? The answer, as we said earlier, is that in some of what they hold, they agree with the people of the Sunnah, and in some other, they differ from the people of the Sunnah and meet with the Mu'tazilah. As for there being Sufis among these Asha'irah, this is a personal action and is not an adoption of a methodology. It is not from the Ash'ari methodology. This is only a matter that occurs to individuals, as we said earlier that some Salafis act with actions that contradict the Shari'ah. So we do not say that this is the methodology of the Salafis; rather, it is the action of individuals from them.

Another questioner : May Allah reward you. Now, these are methodological matters. What are the actions of individuals? You will not find a Niyabandi or a Barelvi who is not a Sufi. This Shaykh Abd al-Samad and the brothers know them. You will not find, for example, in Morocco anyone who is not a Salafi but is also an Ash'ari and a Sufi at the same time. It is rare for one to escape the snares of Sufism and Ash'arism.

The Shaykh : O Shaykh, may Allah reward you. In Hanafi jurisprudence, it is stated that if the Sufis remember Allah in a place, that place must be dug up and the earth removed to the outside. These are Hanafis; these are Maturidis, and yet they are against the Ash'aris—excuse me, against the Sufis. And one of their scholars said:
O generation of religious innovation, the worst of generations! You have brought forth an impossible matter.
Did our God say to you in the Qur'an: Eat like animals and dance for Me?
And one of these Hanafis, Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim,Al-Halabi : authored a treatise refuting them, titled *Al-Rahs wa al-Waqas li-Mustahilli al-Raks*, meaning "The Stomping and the Dancing for Those Who Permit Dancing," i.e., the dhikr. So these are Hanafis, and they fight the Sufis with the fiercest fight. But there are some among them who are Sufis. I tell you, there are, but it is not their madhhab. My father, for example, was a Hanafi, and unfortunately, he was a fanatic. Perhaps you have heard of what used to happen between me and him. But he was not a Sufi. He had deviations, of course, that leaned toward religious innovation and the like, but he was not a Sufi. So these are individual actions, not stemming from the madhhab itself. If one is an Ash'ari, it is necessary that among the implications of his belief is, for example, the figurative interpretation of "The Most Merciful rose above the Throne." That is his madhhab. But if one is an Ash'ari, it is not necessary that he be a Sufi, because that is not among the implications of the madhhab.