What is the Salafi call? Is it obligatory for every Muslim to be a Salafi? And what is the evidence for that?

The questioner: O our Shaykh, there has been a lot of talk about the methodology of the Salaf, and the people, or many of the attendees, need to get to know the Salafi call. What is the Salafi call? Is it obligatory for every Muslim to be a Salafi? And what is the evidence for that?

The Shaykh: We tried to avoid what we ended up falling into [The Shaykh : (laughter); because this is the same topic that was discussed recently, and I would have preferred if the tape with our brother Abu Abdullah was available for you to hear. If there is something left in the mind that requires an answer, we will answer it; otherwise, repeating answers is something that becomes tedious for beginners due to the frequent questions directed at them. So, do you have the tape, of course?

The questioner : In my opinion.

The Shaykh: Do you have it?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh: Try listening to the tape?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Yes, he is speaking, meaning. Today, just now, you accepted the adhan from the tape [everyone laughs].

The questioner: He asked about what is now called the contract of authenticating the registers. You wrote that you...

The Shaykh: No, no, I mean I am giving you the choice. I must answer, but this question was directed one or two nights ago and it is recorded. If you wish, you can listen to it if it is clear; otherwise, we will resume answering the question. I did not want to move on to a second question and cancel the first one. I did not want that.

The questioner: ... a concise answer. May Allah open up for you.

The Shaykh: Okay; good, if Allah wills.

Another questioner: By Allah, this is my opinion too.

The Shaykh: We say - after praising Allah, and sending prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah - (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and his family and his Companions, and whoever follows their guidance and path until the Day of Judgment - :
The question raised just now is actually the topic of the hour, and the reason for that is that the Salafi call has taken the path that was destined for it by Allah - (Blessed and Exalted is He); because it is the true path, and it is the path of the believers to which our Lord - (Mighty and Majestic) - referred in the Noble Qur'an in His saying - (Mighty and Majestic) - : . And whoever has knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah and understands them correctly has no doubt whatsoever that the path of the believers mentioned in this noble verse does not refer to the path of the believers in this time. The reason for that is apparent with the slightest explanation; therefore, we will not prolong the speech on it; because you live in a society called an Islamic society, but it contains many matters from which Islam disowns itself, as the wolf disowns the blood of the son of Ya'qub, as it is said in old Arabic proverbs. Then, in addition to that, we find these Muslims differing greatly, with a new difference on top of the old difference they inherited from their fathers and grandfathers; so the matter became, as it is also said: "a bundle of straw on a camel's load," a difference upon a difference. As for the old difference, it is of two types, and this may be hidden from some Muslims today who have not concerned themselves with seeking knowledge. The difference existing today is divided into two types: a type related to 'aqidah (creed), and a type related to rulings.
And what is meant by 'aqidah is: belief in the scientific unseen matters that have no relation to human actions; unlike the legal rulings, which have a relation to human actions. So the scholars agreed to divide what the Shari'ah brought into these two types: 'aqidah and rulings. The Muslims differed in the past in both types; in 'aqidah and in rulings. All of you have heard of an old sect known as "the Mu'tazilah," or - for example - the other sect known as "the Khawarij," and today there is a group from them known as "the Ibadis" who live in Algeria and in other Islamic Arab countries. Also, from these sects is what is known as "the Murji'ah," and another as "the Jabriyyah." All these are old Islamic sects; their names may have passed away or been extinguished, but their effects and ideas remain and are inherited in the minds and hearts of many Muslims today, and the matter may have developed into other names. From these names that those who are called today "the people of the Sunnah and the community" have agreed upon are three schools:
The school of the people of Hadith, such as the school of Imam Ahmad, the Imam of the Sunnah - (may Allah have mercy on him) -; the school of the Maturidiyyah, named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi; and the school of the Asha'irah, named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari. These are three schools adopted by the Sunni Islamic society, and we do not need to address the other sects like the Shi'ah and the like. These three schools are specialized in 'aqidah, while there are the four schools, which are known to all Muslims, and they are specialized in legal rulings as we said just now; so they are four schools. There is no doubt that the difference referred to just now, in its two types - the difference in 'aqidah and the difference in rulings - cannot be revealed from Allah - (Blessed and Exalted is He); because difference is not of the nature of Islam, but rather it is what contradicts Islam and opposes it completely. How could it be otherwise, when our Lord - (Blessed and Exalted is He) - says in the Noble Qur'an, reminding the Muslims of a verse that this Qur'an is from Allah; and not from the Messenger of Allah, as the disbelievers used to claim in the past, and many of them still claim that same claim? Allah - (Mighty and Majestic) - said: .
If this Qur'an were, as the disbelievers claim, from other than Allah; meaning, originating from the Messenger of Allah - (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) - who was the unlettered one; and yet the stubborn disbelievers, the Jews, the Christians, and others, said: He received it from the People of the Book!
So Allah - (Mighty and Majestic) - responds to all these disbelievers by saying: . Thus, this verse is an explicit text that difference cannot be from Allah; because Allah - (Mighty and Majestic) - made one of the proofs that this Noble Qur'an is from Allah that there is no difference in it. Thus, where difference exists, there is no ruling of Allah in this difference; rather, the ruling of Allah is in one aspect of this difference; as came in the authentic Sunnah, such as His saying - (peace be upon him) - : . Thus, there is right and wrong, and there is truth and misguidance. And our Lord - (Mighty and Majestic) - says in the Noble Qur'an - also - : ; so when we hear two or more opinions, whether that is in 'aqidah or in a legal ruling, that this is from Islam, it is not befitting for the Muslim to believe that; rather, he should disown the difference; because if he believes that it is from Allah, he would negate Qur'anic texts, the clearest of which in explanation is the previously mentioned verse: . We give a clear example for all people: there is a matter with which worshippers are afflicted; and that is that one of them performs wudu' and then a drop of blood or drops of blood come out of him. So you hear contradictory opinions to the greatest extent of contradiction; some say: this blood does not invalidate the wudu' at all; some say: it invalidates the wudu' at all; and some say: with detail; if it is much, it invalidates, and if it is little, it does not invalidate.
These are three opinions on a single issue. How can this not be disagreement? If this is disagreement, as is the reality, can it be said: This is the Islamic Shari'ah? Three opinions and rulings are issued on a single issue, such that it is said: Your wudu' is valid, your wudu' is not valid, or your wudu' is valid if the blood is little, or not valid if it is little. This is impossible. These opinions are attributed to their holders, but it is not permissible for us to attribute them to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who said: ; so what do we say if there is disagreement in some matters of creed—not rulings—creed related to the unseen, or matters of the unseen? I give you two sensitive and very important examples, because they relate to our reality today, in which disagreement often occurs.
The first example: Is the human being, in his capacity as one who is obligated, compelled or given choice? You hear many people say: The human being has nothing in his hand; the human being is compelled, he is not given choice. The meaning of being compelled is that he is forced. The meaning of being given choice is that he has a will by which he acts.
These are two schools of thought, not lay opinions. They are two schools from the sects we mentioned earlier. For example, the Mu'tazilah say that the human being is given choice with absolute choice. Up to this point, the statement is correct, but the completion of the statement is what refutes the falsehood: he is given choice with complete choice such that he does what Allah does not will; that is, he is as if he creates his actions and deeds by himself without the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His choice!!
The Mu'tazilah mixed truth and falsehood. The truth is that the human being has choice, and the falsehood is that they denied the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for the human being's voluntary actions. This contradicts the explicit, noble Qur'anic text: . Opposing this school is the school of the Jabriyyah, the Jabriyyah who say: The human being is compelled, he is not given choice, he has nothing in his hand. And a recent, loathsome, hateful Sufi tone emerged, claiming to reconcile the two views; so what did they say? They said: He is chosen in appearance, compelled in reality. Some of them even said: When Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said to Adam and Eve: what? He said this to them in appearance, but in reality He commanded them to eat; because this is the divine decree and destiny of Allah.
I do not want to go into details, but it is sufficient for me to say that these are two schools: the school of the Jabriyyah and the school of the Mu'tazilah, and both are at opposite extremes. The true school is that the human being has choice in many deeds, he has absolute choice in many deeds, and he has no will or choice in some of these deeds. Wherever choice exists, obligation exists, and wherever choice is absent, obligation is absent; because compulsion and obligation are opposites that do not coexist. But these are two schools that appeared in the Islamic sects: the Mu'tazilah and the Jabriyyah.
There is the true school, as we said: that the human being has a will and has choice, but with the condition that this choice is by the will of Allah, not against Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as is understood from the words of the Mu'tazilah. Therefore, it came in some hadiths that , the Qadariyyah are the Mu'tazilah, meaning: they are the deniers of divine decree, even though Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned in the noble Qur'an more than one verse that explicitly states that everything is by divine decree, and everything is recorded. The Messenger said: , a hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari". So the difference, or let us say: the sects here in one issue are three: the Mu'tazilah, opposed by the Jabriyyah, with the people of hadith taking the middle position. And the Maturidiyyah are with them in this issue that the human being has choice, but this choice is by the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His choice. This is the truth in this issue. So what is the position of the Muslim regarding this example? And the example is not intended in itself; there are dozens, indeed hundreds of examples in which scholars differed in the past; .
I mentioned earlier that I would not lengthen the examples, but I will limit myself to two examples, one of which I mentioned earlier, and now I mention the second, which is very sensitive and important; because most Muslims today, both specialists and laypeople, have strayed from the straight path in this issue. It is the answer to a question, this question was legislated for us by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) so that we, who try to follow him (peace and blessings be upon him) in everything he brought from Islam, can be armed with it. This question came in "Sahih al-Imam Muslim" from the narration of one of the Companions, known as Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him), and he is naturally not Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan the Umayyad, whose caliphate and history are well known.