A discussion of the "Tabligh Jama'ah," that it is a modern Sufi call, and that they have caused more harm than benefit!

The questioner: Regarding ... they call some of the youth.

The Shaykh: They call to a call for Islam, meaning what?

The questioner: Yes, ... .

The Shaykh: I understand, okay; do these people who call to Islam know Islam?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh: So to what are they calling? To what are they calling?

The questioner: They learn ... .

The Shaykh: They learn in their own homes and countries, because one who lacks a thing cannot give it. So this "Tabligh Jama'ah," I said this long ago and I still say it now, far and very far away, unless they change as we hope. "Tabligh Jama'ah" or "the call of the Tabligh Jama'ah" is modern Sufism, and Sufism is always based on ignorance of Islam. Therefore, they have harmed the Muslims more than they have benefited them. So when I say "more than they have benefited," you understand well that they do benefit, and many people of knowledge and virtue take this aspect and look down on—though I cannot say they ignore—the first aspect. They harm more than they benefit. And our Lord (Mighty and Majestic), when He forbade intoxicants, mentioned that there are benefits for people in them, but their evil and sin are greater than their benefit. So it is not permissible for anyone to promote the Tabligh Jama'ah based on the good effect that appears to them in some aspects and some people. Rather, we must look at the outcome of this call, which is launched coupled with ignorance of Islam. Sufism, from ancient times until this time, has benefits, but its case in that regard is like the forbidden intoxicants: it has benefits, but it has defects and many sins.
We were in Damascus, and we used to see a great crowd around some of the great Sufi shaykhs. We used to hear and believe that what we heard was established and correct; that many of the open sinners and wicked people repented and turned to Allah from their open sinfulness and wickedness because of this Sufi preacher. So it is not possible for us to deny that these Sufis have an influence in correcting the deviation of some people, even if it is only some correction. But what is the outcome of this? The outcome of that is that they correct from one side and corrupt from another. What do you imagine of a person where people truly repented and turned to Allah through their preaching and lessons, and so on, but their minds were filled with serious deviations from the correct Islamic creed?
From what happened to me long ago, perhaps thirty or forty years ago; we prayed the night prayer in Ramadan in a mosque that was neglected regarding prayer, because in the other mosques they pray the night prayer in twenty rak'ahs in twenty minutes. So we used to pray the night prayer in about an hour of time, within the limits of the Sunnah that we follow. Then I would go to my shop, where I used to repair watches at that time, and our gathering for the beginning of the call would be in this shop. One of my brothers came to me and mentioned to me that he attended a lesson by Shaykh So-and-so, and there is no harm in naming him because you hear his name, and he is "Ahmad Kiftarou," who is the Mufti of the Syrian Republic now. And before that, he inherited the succession of the sheikhdom—the sheikhdom of the Naqshbandi order—from his shaykh "Muhammad Amin," and he was his successor after him. He used to give the path to everyone who came to him. He used to teach, so my friend told me that he heard tonight a lesson by Shaykh Kiftarou, saying that he was narrating from the stories he narrated to him, and he is a skilled storyteller who captivates the minds. He is very similar, with a difference between him andThe Shaykh : the Egyptian "Kashk." "Kashk" is a truly serious preacher who captivates the minds, but—unfortunately—his knowledge is mixed with myths, weak and fabricated hadiths, and the like. This one is also, meaning his knowledge is completely deviant from the Sunnah, and he is a Sufi and a shaykh of an order, and that is enough! But he has methods by which he controls the hearts of the attendees, and he benefits from that—sometimes—as I mentioned. He mentioned in the lesson—my friend is still telling me—; he mentioned in the lesson the following story:
He claimed that a shaykh from among the shaykhs said one day to one of his disciples: "Go and bring me your father's head." He said to him: "Understood," and he went and severed his father's head from his body, and came to his shaykh happy and delighted; why? Because he obeyed his shaykh, even if it meant killing his father!! BecauseThe Shaykh : he sees what the disciple does not see! So he smiledThe Shaykh : laughing in his face, saying to him: Do you think that you actually killed your father? He said to him: Then what? He said to him: No, poor man; your father is traveling, and this is your mother's companion!! I am ordering you to kill your father? This is not reasonable, but this is your mother's companion!!
He narrated this story, with all its misguidance and deviation, to build upon it what follows: the disciple must, if hisThe Shaykh : shaykh orders him with something contrary to the Shari'ah, to execute this order; becauseThe Shaykh : he sees what the disciple does not see, and knows what the disciple does not know! Do you not see how he said to the disciple: Kill your father; and behold, he showed all obedience to the shaykh, but he did not kill his father, rather he killed his mother's companion!
Our friend narrated this story to me while we were sitting in the shop after the night prayer. Our Lord sent a relative of his named Abu Yusuf, who is his maternal cousin. He passed in front of the shop, so my friend stood up and called out to him: "O Abu Yusuf, O Abu Yusuf, pay attention." He turned back, stopped in front of the shop, and remembered the advices he was given that this man is a Wahhabi, that this man is a follower of a fifth school of jurisprudence; it is not permissible to associate with him, or to enter his place, and so on. So he stood pale until his relative influenced him and he submitted to his desire and entered. Then my friend began to discuss with him, saying to him: How did you find the lesson tonight, O Abu Yusuf—meaning the lesson ofThe Shaykh : —? He said to him: What Allah willed! "Tajalliyyat"—this is an expression among us in Syria—"Tajalliyyat"! Some of our witty brothers, when they heard such a word, would associate it with another attribute; they would say: "Tajalliyyat Baqla." Baqla is a Christian in the Eastern Gate of Eastern Damascus, it is the neighborhood and district of the Christians, and he is a seller of intoxicants, and he wrote on a sign in large letters: "Tajalliyyat Baqla," meaning intoxicants. So some of our brothers, when they hear "What Allah willed! Tajalliyyat," they say: Yes, indeed, "Tajalliyyat Baqla"! He said to him: Okay; what is your opinion of what you heard, the story ofThe Shaykh : and his order to the disciple to kill his father? They began to discuss. Our friend, meaning it is not correct to say that he is a student of knowledge, rather he is a listener, so he cannot roam and speak in this research. And I was behind the table where I work on repairs, so I stood up to him, meaning I found that I had to intervene in the matter. I tried to summarize with what I have of knowledge to clarify to him that this is first a composite and fabricated story, fabricated in a blatant way. And second, this is a clear violation of the Shari'ah. For example, I said to him: O Abu Yusuf—may Allah be pleased with you—; how does it enter your mind that he ordered the killing of this man, who appears to be his father, but in the hidden reality thatThe Shaykh : he knows, who is he? His mother's companion, so he is an adulterer, and the adulterer deserves killing; how does this justification and this reasoning fromThe Shaykh : turn in your mind? First, if this shaykh ordered this disciple to kill this man because he is an adulterer; why did he leave his mother, who is also an adulteress—and she is married—and she deserves killing by one saying? As for the man, he might be unmarried, so he does not deserve killing. So suppose he is married; why did he order the killing of this man and leave the adulterous mother? How does it enter your mind that this speech is correct? And then, does the shaykh have the right to execute the legal hudud punishments, which it is not permissible for anyone to perform except the rulers, the authorities? And I kept advising him with these things, and he was like a deaf stone, not responding.
Finally, I said to myself: I must strike what they call in our area the sensitive chord; I said to him: Now, O Abu Yusuf, ifThe Shaykh : ordered you to kill your father; would you respond to him? Would you kill him? Here was the witness, he said: I have not yet reached this station, and he turned away without adding anything. What do you understand from this person? He prays and fasts, and so on, and the directivesThe Shaykh : The blessed one, meaning he benefits from it, but this is waiting for him to reach the station where if it is said to him: "Sacrifice your father," he says: "I am present and I respond."The Shaykh : So these people reform in one aspect, but they corrupt more in another aspect. Therefore, the Tabligh group, unless they combine their calling with correct knowledge based on the Book and the Sunnah, their harm is greater than their benefit, and it is not permissible to support them in their current state. For this reason, I always and forever advise them to sit in the mosques and learn. First: reciting the Noble Qur'an; the recitation, they do not master the recitation of the Qur'an! Second: that they reflect upon the Qur'an and understand it. Third: that they gain knowledge of the Sunnah. They do not know! Their situation in this regard is the same as the Muslim Brotherhood; this one is Hanafi, this one is Shafi'i, this one is Maliki, and this one is Hanbali, and perhaps there is a Shi'i and a Rafidi among them!! And what is intended is what? Grouping and gathering, and everyone— as they say in our region of Sham— says: "Everyone is on his own religion, and Allah will help him." As for adjudication to the Book and the Sunnah, as He— the Exalted— said: .
Yes.