Explaining the danger of behavioral and doctrinal deviation, and clarifying that the latter is more dangerous and severe.

The Shaykh : But there is a great difference between one Muslim and another in two respects, one of which is more important than the other. And peace be upon you. The first is regarding the creed: a Muslim whose creed is deviated from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and from what our righteous predecessors were upon, including the four Imams. This deviation is the most dangerous. The second type of deviation is behavioral deviation, which encompasses actions and character. This second type is understood by all people; deviation from Islam in behavior, action, and character is known to everyone, the scholar and the ignorant alike. The one who drinks intoxicants, the one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse, and the one who cheats—this is a manifest deviation known to all people, whether they are scholars or ignorant. But the first deviation is more dangerous for two reasons, and by the first deviation I mean what I mentioned just now, which is the deviation of the creed. The explanation of why it is more dangerous is that the righteous among people fall into it—the righteous in the second respect we mentioned, the righteous in their behavior, their actions, and their morals, but they are deviated in their creed, out of ignorance, of course. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, the scholars fall into it, or those who think that they are at least among the scholars. Thus, it becomes clear that this deviation is more dangerous than the second deviation. The second deviation is a behavioral deviation that is exposed and known to all people; there is no difference in that between their scholars and their ignorant, nor between their righteous and their wicked, for even the wicked one knows that he is deviated. But the deviation in the creed is more dangerous because the righteous fall into it, and indeed the scholars fall into it, and they may be sincere. The clearest example we have of this deviation, first in its nature and second in its danger, is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), as it came in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed a war spoil one day among the Companions, and a man said to him... Ah, one of the Companions said a man... These are the most worshipful of people. He said to the Companions: One of you will belittle his prayer compared to their prayer, and his fasting compared to their fasting, yet they will emerge from the religion as the arrow emerges from the quiver. For this reason, we find Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) applying this dangerous hadith that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said about the Khawarij to people who were worshipping, when he saw them sitting in the mosque in circles. The story, as narrated by Imam al-Darimi in his Sunan with a sound chain, is that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) came one morning to the house of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and found the people sitting at the door waiting for him. He said to them: Has Abu Abd al-Rahman come out? They said: No. So he sat... I saw something in the mosque just now that I disliked, and praise be to Allah, and I saw nothing but good. There is a point here: something I disliked, and it is good. How can this be? The one who knows the religious innovation and the Sunnah digests this statement, but the one who does not know says it is impossible, saying this is contradictory speech. He said "What did you see?" He said "If you live, you will see it. There were people in the mosque in circles, and in the middle of each circle was a man saying to those around him: Say Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah) thus, say Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) thus, say Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) thus. And in front of each of them was a pebble with which he counted the glorification, the praise, and the magnification." Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said to Abu Musa "Did you not disapprove of them?" He said "No, I was waiting for your command or your opinion." He said "Did you not order them to count their sins, and did I guarantee for them that nothing of their good deeds would be lost?" Then he entered the house and came out veiled, and went to the mosque until he saw the circles as described. He uncovered his face and said "Woe to you! What is this that you are doing? I am Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." They said, trembling: "By Allah, O Abu Abd al-Rahman, these are pebbles with which we count the glorification, the praise, and the magnification." He said "Count your sins, and I am the guarantor for you that nothing of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you! How quickly you will be destroyed! These are the garments of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they have not worn out, and these are his vessels, and they have not been broken. By Him in whose hand is my soul, you are either more guided than the Ummah of Muhammad—meaning the Companions of the Messenger—or you are holding fast to a rope of misguidance."

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I have no objection. They said "By Allah, O Abu Abd al-Rahman, we did not intend anything but good." He said "How many are there who intend good but do not attain it." They said we did not intend anything but good. Most of the innovators have this intention; it is truly good, we did not intend anything but good. But the answer is crushing. He said "How many are there who intend good but do not attain it. Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) told us

They would pass clean through their religion just as the arrow passes through the prey.

إن أقواما يمرقون من الدين كما يمرق السهم من الرمية

Sahih Muslim 1068a

" And he applied the hadith of the Khawarij to these who went out against the Sunnah and innovated in the mosque an innovation. The one who witnessed the story said "And indeed we saw those people fighting us on the Day of al-Nahrawan." And the Day of al-Nahrawan was the day of Ali's fighting of the Khawarij. So these people of the circles of remembrance became among the Khawarij and fought the Commander of the Faithful, and they were all killed; none of them escaped except one or two. And so we say that the small religious innovation leads to the large religious innovation. So the point is, do not forget what the original discussion was? That so-and-so is a Salafi. What does it mean to be a Salafi? The meaning of Salafi, as they say in our dialect in Syria, which is Turkish, means a Muslim... meaning a complete Muslim, meaning after all the honor, in brief, a Muslim in creed and behavior. This is the meaning of Salafi. So it does not mean that he is only enthusiastic about some Sunnahs, Ah, and perhaps corrects some creeds, but his behavior is ruined and desolate. This is not the meaning of Salafi, because Salafiyyah means Islam in its correct general concept, that is, as the Salaf understood it. So the Salaf did not separate between the creed and the behavior; they were upon the Book and the Sunnah in both respects. And so it is not befitting for us to cheat by saying that so-and-so, by Allah, is a Muslim. We want to see if his behavior is upon Islam? Ah, his behavior being upon Islam is not enough; we want to see his creed, so that he is not like the Khawarij about whom it was said . Therefore, in truth, it is obligatory for us who belong to the righteous predecessors to know this reality: that it is not a matter of me being a Salafi in the sense that I follow the Sunnah and oppose the madhhab, and then he opposes all the madhhabs. From the aspect of behavior, from the aspect of morals, this is not a Salafi.
Another questioner: ...

The Shaykh : Yes?
Another questioner: ...

The Shaykh : No.
Another questioner: Ali

The Shaykh : It is not by claim
Another questioner: He always sits with them...

The Shaykh : Always, what does he do?
Another questioner: ...

The questioner : He makes a presentation, meaning

The Shaykh : ... a presentation
Another questioner: I said... we told him a lot, he did not respond to us

The Shaykh : But he means, my knowledge is that he is not...
Another questioner: ...

The Shaykh : He says it like this
Another questioner: ... his students
Another questioner: ... we told him a lot, meaning, and that was it, this service came, ... we told him the scholars explained it to him, meaning

The Shaykh : He is not satisfied
Another questioner: Ah, he said he is forced, meaning

The Shaykh : What did the brother mention about him?
Another questioner: Because I asked him

The Shaykh : Until the matter became confused for me
Another questioner: He mentioned Ali on the basis that he used to frequent Ali and spoke to Ali about him, backbiting about Ali. I spoke... once

The Shaykh : Okay, that's it, what does he want other than this?
Another questioner: ...

The Shaykh : Why did you mention Ali?
Another questioner: I told you I asked Ali about him

The Shaykh : You asked Ali about him?
Another questioner: Ah, I saw him with him

The Shaykh : Yes.
Another questioner: I told him... we went and spoke to him, meaning

The Shaykh : Okay,