Explaining the danger of the term "free thought" in both word and meaning.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Abu Malik: We say that the term "free thought" is one of the most dangerous terms that have appeared in this age.
The Shaykh : Yes.
Abu Malik: Because the word "free" is a veiled term; its outward appearance suggests good, but its inner reality contains evil. This is from the perspective of meaning. As for the word itself, it is also invalid, because the term "free thought" has never been known in Islamic history, not ever. It has never been known at any time. And since the matter is thus, the danger of this word is of great concern to us, and of very great concern, when a group emerged that adopted this term indiscriminately, without distinguishing between the truth and the falsehood. Therefore, I say that the term "free thought" leads to casting doubt upon the Book of Allah the Exalted and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And I say that this term has also led to many disbelieving thinkers and disbelieving scholars who hate Islam to cast doubt upon the Noble Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and to make people silent before them, to listen to their words, and not to refute their falsehood. We have found this in many conferences that have taken place; you find that one person, who is like a foul, stinking rat, stands up and attacks Islam, while we are silent under the pretext of what? Or under the pretext of "free thought," and that Islam includes freedom of religions, and that we should not object to such a person because this is his thought. But we present Islam in a way that he may be convinced, and this is also a matter of "free thought." So, in truth, this term is adopted by a number of our brother preachers, to our great regret, and they believed in it with all its flaws and defects, and they did not distinguish between its white and its black, and they thought that by doing so they were doing a good deed. As for the issue of studying fiqh and benefiting from these great principles established by the scholars of usul al-fiqh, the truth is that they distorted them from their proper places. And just as they did with the principles of terminology, some of the contemporary scholars who wanted to refute the hadith under the pretext that they are establishing new rules, they began to distort. And this is even more so; they began to distort the principles of the science of usul from their proper places and add new rules under their claims, saying that we are people of opinion and intellect, and that by virtue of scientific development and free thought, we have reached the point where we can add, delete, advance, and postpone as we please. This is a great calamity, O my brother Khalid. Therefore, the youth, and especially the students of knowledge, should beware of it, and they should refute every word, even the word of our Shaykh. This term, "the Islamic Shari'ah is suitable for all times and places," is also one of the calamities and disasters. This leads to this word.
The Shaykh : It is... naturally.
Abu Malik: Yes, it is important that they did not establish it. Yes, they did not establish it except to interpret it.
The Shaykh : Yes.
Abu Malik: Yes, so may Allah reward you. We agree with them that we rely on the verification and weakening of the Shaykh of the Sunnah in this age, Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani.
The Shaykh : Excuse me.
Abu Malik: But we also rely on his fiqh, and this is what they want to achieve with their free thought: to cast doubt upon the methodology.The Shaykh : In fiqh, to cast doubt upon the methodology.The Shaykh : In fiqh. So we support him and believe him in his verification, weakening, and derivation of rulings that perhaps no one has preceded him in. Therefore, may Allah reward you with good for presenting this idea under the principle of free thought, so that this dialogue would produce such words that we have quoted. And Allah the Exalted knows best.
Another questioner : Do they mean by free thought a personal understanding of the scriptural evidence?
The Shaykh : Yes, but the scriptural evidence in their claim.
Another questioner : In their claim. That is what I mean.
Abu Layla : Our Shaykh, their departure from the path of the believers, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Shall we proceed, Professor?
The Shaykh : Yes.
Abu Malik: Because the word "free" is a veiled term; its outward appearance suggests good, but its inner reality contains evil. This is from the perspective of meaning. As for the word itself, it is also invalid, because the term "free thought" has never been known in Islamic history, not ever. It has never been known at any time. And since the matter is thus, the danger of this word is of great concern to us, and of very great concern, when a group emerged that adopted this term indiscriminately, without distinguishing between the truth and the falsehood. Therefore, I say that the term "free thought" leads to casting doubt upon the Book of Allah the Exalted and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And I say that this term has also led to many disbelieving thinkers and disbelieving scholars who hate Islam to cast doubt upon the Noble Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and to make people silent before them, to listen to their words, and not to refute their falsehood. We have found this in many conferences that have taken place; you find that one person, who is like a foul, stinking rat, stands up and attacks Islam, while we are silent under the pretext of what? Or under the pretext of "free thought," and that Islam includes freedom of religions, and that we should not object to such a person because this is his thought. But we present Islam in a way that he may be convinced, and this is also a matter of "free thought." So, in truth, this term is adopted by a number of our brother preachers, to our great regret, and they believed in it with all its flaws and defects, and they did not distinguish between its white and its black, and they thought that by doing so they were doing a good deed. As for the issue of studying fiqh and benefiting from these great principles established by the scholars of usul al-fiqh, the truth is that they distorted them from their proper places. And just as they did with the principles of terminology, some of the contemporary scholars who wanted to refute the hadith under the pretext that they are establishing new rules, they began to distort. And this is even more so; they began to distort the principles of the science of usul from their proper places and add new rules under their claims, saying that we are people of opinion and intellect, and that by virtue of scientific development and free thought, we have reached the point where we can add, delete, advance, and postpone as we please. This is a great calamity, O my brother Khalid. Therefore, the youth, and especially the students of knowledge, should beware of it, and they should refute every word, even the word of our Shaykh. This term, "the Islamic Shari'ah is suitable for all times and places," is also one of the calamities and disasters. This leads to this word.
The Shaykh : It is... naturally.
Abu Malik: Yes, it is important that they did not establish it. Yes, they did not establish it except to interpret it.
The Shaykh : Yes.
Abu Malik: Yes, so may Allah reward you. We agree with them that we rely on the verification and weakening of the Shaykh of the Sunnah in this age, Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani.
The Shaykh : Excuse me.
Abu Malik: But we also rely on his fiqh, and this is what they want to achieve with their free thought: to cast doubt upon the methodology.The Shaykh : In fiqh, to cast doubt upon the methodology.The Shaykh : In fiqh. So we support him and believe him in his verification, weakening, and derivation of rulings that perhaps no one has preceded him in. Therefore, may Allah reward you with good for presenting this idea under the principle of free thought, so that this dialogue would produce such words that we have quoted. And Allah the Exalted knows best.
Another questioner : Do they mean by free thought a personal understanding of the scriptural evidence?
The Shaykh : Yes, but the scriptural evidence in their claim.
Another questioner : In their claim. That is what I mean.
Abu Layla : Our Shaykh, their departure from the path of the believers, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Shall we proceed, Professor?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.