What is your opinion on the state of the Salafi da'wah in general, and specifically in Kuwait, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia?

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. What is your opinion on the state of the Salafi da'wah in general, and specifically in Kuwait, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia?

The Shaykh : I say: The Salafi da'wah is now, unfortunately, in a state of turmoil. I attribute the cause of this to the haste of many young Muslims in claiming knowledge. They presume to issue fatwas and declare things forbidden or permissible before some of them, as we have heard often, can even read a verse from the Qur'an, even if it is right in front of them in the Noble Mushaf, let alone that they often make mistakes in reciting the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The well-known proverb in some lands applies to them: "He became a raisin before he ripened." Do you know what "hassaram" means? Is this word used among you? It is the grape when it begins to become a green berry; this is hassaram, and hassaram is very sour. So before it ripened, he made himself like a raisin, meaning like the grape that has ripened and been turned into a raisin. Therefore, the arrogance of many of these people and their haste in claiming knowledge and writing, while they have not yet reached the midpoint of the path of knowledge, is what has now made those who claim to belong to the Salafi da'wah, unfortunately, into sects and parties.
Therefore, the cure is also that these Muslims should fear their Lord (Mighty and Majestic), and that they should know that not everyone who begins seeking knowledge should take the lead in issuing fatwas, declaring things forbidden or permissible, and authenticating or weakening hadiths, except after a long period of time in which he becomes experienced in knowing how to issue fatwas and how to derive rulings from the Book and the Sunnah.
In this regard, these da'iyah or Salafis must adhere to the fixed criterion that I previously mentioned during my discussion of beneficial knowledge and righteous action. We said that beneficial knowledge must be based on the methodology of the righteous Salaf. So when many of today's Islamic da'iyah deviate from adhering to this fixed criterion, which Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) referred to in his previous poetry when he said:
Knowledge is what Allah said, what His Messenger said, and what the Companions said.
So failing to pay attention to what the righteous Salaf were upon leads people, after they had agreed, to the division that separates them, just as it previously separated many Muslims, making them into sects and parties: .
This is my opinion on this reality. If they are sincere, as we hope, they should hold fast to the correct scholarly principles, and one who has not reached the level of knowledge in a correct manner should refrain from presuming to do so, and should leave knowledge to its scholars.
I am pleased, in this regard, with some narrations that have come in the books of hadith, which I believe are from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the great scholars of the righteous Salaf. He said: "I found in this mosque—and he probably refers to the mosque of the Blessed City—such and such a number of Companions—I have forgotten the number—and one of them, when asked..." Did I say something?

The questioner : I said seventy.

The Shaykh : Seventy, that might be the case. The important point is: "I found in this mosque seventy of the Companions, and one of them, when asked about an issue or asked for a fatwa, would wish that another of the present scholars of the Companions would take it upon himself."
The reason for this is that they feared they might make a mistake, thereby causing others to make a mistake, so one of them would wish not to bear this responsibility and that another would bear it.
But now, the phenomenon is exactly the opposite, unfortunately, and this is due to a clear cause, which I always and forever mention. It is that the openness we feel now to the Book, the Sunnah, and the Salafi da'wah is a recent development. Not much time has passed since this openness, which they call the awakening, for these people to reap the fruit of this da'wah, this awakening, and this openness in themselves, meaning that they are raised on the foundation of the Book and the Sunnah, and then, consequently, they overflow with this correct upbringing based on the Book and the Sunnah, overflowing with it to those around them, from the lowest to the lowest. So the cause is that the effect of this da'wah has not yet appeared because it is new to the era we are living in. Therefore, we find the opposite phenomenon to what we mentioned earlier, which 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla narrated about those Companions who were cautious about being asked and wished that others would be asked, and they did not answer a question except because they knew that it was not permissible for them to conceal knowledge, but deep in their hearts they wished that someone else would take it upon themselves.
But now, you find in many Salafi communities—let alone others—that one of those who is thought to be more knowledgeable than those present is asked, and then you find so-and-so beginning to speak while he is not responsible, and so-and-so beginning to speak while he is not responsible. What drives these people? It is the love of showing off, it is selfishness. I am here, meaning: I have knowledge, and what Allah wills! What does this indicate? It indicates that we have not received the Salafi upbringing. We were raised on Salafi knowledge, and each according to his ijtihad and effort toward this knowledge, but as for the upbringing, we have not yet achieved it as a Salafi Islamic community. Therefore, these groups and these clusters and these parties, in every party we find such division, and its cause is nothing but the lack of correct Islamic upbringing.
... For more than twenty years I have said: The cure for this Ummah to return to its glory, and for its state to be realized, is that there is no way except to begin with what I summarize in two words: purification and upbringing. Unlike many groups who seek to establish the Muslim state—in their claim—by seizing power; whether that is by a peaceful path as they say, through elections, or by a bloody path, such as military coups and bloody revolutions, and the like. We say: This is not the way to establish the state of Islam on the land of Islam. Rather, the way is the way of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who called in Makkah—as you know—for thirteen years, then completed the da'wah in al-Madinah. There, after he purified for himself men from those who followed him and believed in him, who were not affected by the blame of any blamer in the matter of Allah, he began to lay the foundations of the Muslim state.
And history—as they say—repeats itself. There is absolutely no way, and I am certain of what I say, and the practical experience of nearly the last century indicates that there is no room at all for achieving a correct Islamic renaissance, and behind it the establishment of the Muslim state, except by achieving these two goals: purification, which is a reference to correct knowledge, and upbringing, which is that the person is raised on this correct knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah.
We are now in an intellectual awakening, but we are not in an upbringing awakening. Therefore, we find that many individuals from some da'iyah are beneficial for knowledge, but not for character. Why? Because he raised himself on knowledge, but he was not in a good environment where he was raised from the softness of his nails. Therefore, he lives and exists carrying the morals he inherited from that society in which he lived and found himself, and it is a society that is certainly not an Islamic society. But he was able, by his person or by the indication of some scholars, to take a correct intellectual direction. But this knowledge has not shown its effect in his character, his behavior, or his actions. So the cause of this phenomenon, which we are now discussing, is that we have not matured intellectually except for a few individuals.
And secondly, the individuals, more than that, have not been raised with a correct Islamic upbringing. Therefore, you find many beginners in seeking knowledge appointing themselves as a president, a president of a group or a president of a party. And here comes an old wisdom to express the effect of this showing off, which says: "The love of showing off cuts off the showing off."
So its causes return, therefore, to the lack of correct upbringing on this correct knowledge. Yes.