The Shaykh’s remarks on a man who claims to be a Mu'tazili.

The questioner : Regarding a person named Amin Naif Abu Yasser al-Mu'tazili.

The Shaykh: Is this the Syrian?
Abu Layla : You came last time.

The Shaykh : Ah, this man is crazy, crazy, yes.

The questioner : Now, our Shaykh is calling to his religious innovation in the current time. Among the issues the youth fall into is prioritizing reason over revelation. I wish our Shaykh would clarify this for us, because during the conversation he speaks of prioritizing reason, so he prioritizes reason over revelation.

The Shaykh : What do you mean by prioritizing reason?

The questioner : He argues by asking which is older, reason or revelation?
The questioner: Allow me, our Shaykh, to clarify Hossam’s point of view.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: Hossam means, may Allah know best, that reason has precedence, precedence as a proof in knowing... that is how they claim it.

The Shaykh : It means, as is reported from Muhammad Abduh, if reason and revelation conflict, reason is prioritized over revelation. This is your interpretation.

The questioner : ... it means you hold that reason precedes revelation in the matter of establishing...

The Shaykh : What does he say...

The questioner : ... absolute reason.

The Shaykh : No, I am speaking about Abu Hudhayfah... I am speaking about Abu Hudhayfah. Did you believe in Hudhayfah’s words or did you disbelieve in them?

The questioner : laughsThe questioner : They say that.

The Shaykh : I know, but you are interpreting their words. Do you believe in this interpretation? I do not think so.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : This is it, see how...

The questioner : No, my interpretation does not indicate my belief. My interpretation is correct, is that what you want? Is that it?

The Shaykh : No, that is not what I want.

The questioner : My interpretation is what you want. Among the issues he raises, let me clarify my point of view. Among the issues he raises is that he says, where is revelation in the past, before the existence of revelation, in knowing the Creator? So some of the youth fell into Mu'tazilah, they became Mu'tazilah, from his group.

The Shaykh : Ah, and he says I am a Mu'tazili. He openly declares his misguidance and says I am a Mu'tazili and takes pride in it. My brother, the problem with the youth today, as they say about us in Syria, "a stick gathers them and a stick scatters them." They no longer know knowledge and the people of knowledge, so whoever speaks and declaims and rambles, what is he? He is listened to and heeded. This is an error. From here comes the confusion and turmoil, and so on. We met with him after much insistence. He knew us at that time. Our brother Abu Ahmad told me, Abu Siyah, this means something. He had called me on the phone and asked to meet with me after I was surprised to see him in some of the mosques. Let us leave aside some of our Egyptian brothers, I think, yes. And as is the custom, we hardly finish eating or praying before some of the youth gather around us and start giving a speech on one occasion or another, or asking a question and answering it, and so on. I was sitting, and around us were brothers, this number or more, and this man stood up, stopped, and spoke, objecting to me. I no longer remember now what the issue was.
Abu Layla : About the scholars of the Ummah, and from this speech... partisanship and such.

The Shaykh : The point is, if he really has nothing but shouting, as for giving and taking and such, it is absolutely impossible. So I spoke with him, and perhaps I also raised my voice, perhaps a little.
Abu Layla : By Allah, our Shaykh, I think you remained silent until he finished his speech.

The Shaykh : That is it, but later, the point is, the gathering dispersed after a long time. He would call me on the phone and greet me as usual. Who is it? He would say, so-and-so, I did not remember him, then he reminded me. He would say, I want to meet with you to discuss topics, perhaps he named them. After I remembered who he was, I told him, No, I am not inclined to meet with you. He said to me, why? I told him, if you stop the shouting, otherwise I will call you Abu Siyah. Scientific research does not accept shouting; it requires patience, calmness, and long temper, and so on. How many years have passed since this issue?
Abu Layla : It could be four years.

The Shaykh : Four years. The point is, I no longer remember the details. We needed a meeting. We gathered at my house, and a group attended, among them Professor Abu Malik. He started speaking with his known philosophy and doubting the indication of the texts. This is the doubt of the philosophers: that the indication of the texts is all speculative, and therefore they prioritize reason over revelation. I told him, what is this speech, my Shaykh? I think I brought him an example like . He stood up and answered me with an answer, I seek refuge in Allah. He told me there is no verse except that it contains two aspects. I stood up and brought him this verse, does it have two aspects? ?! And he started speaking of the East and the West, and so on. He had brought with him two people, perhaps more foolish than him, may Allah know best. They started defending him. In summary, the session turned into a session of shouting, because this is his hobby, his job, his skill, and his specialty. The gathering dispersed with absolutely nothing. Therefore, we advise the youth, my brother, not every time a shouter shouts or a barker barks, we listen to him and heed him. Therefore, I sometimes like the strictness of some of the Salaf in what? In their prohibition of sitting with the people of innovation. They even feared for themselves. This is one of the wonders.
It is well known: doubts are snatching.

The Shaykh : They feared for themselves, lest he attach his doubts from this arguer with falsehood to the heart of whom? The scholar. So what about the general people?! Therefore, it is not permissible, my brother, to heed these people. Rather, it is said to them, there are scholars and students of knowledge with whom you can gather and understand. We do not know this speech you are speaking. If we sit and listen every day to religion, every day to an opinion, this is a sign of the instability of correct faith in the hearts of people.
Abu Layla : Our Shaykh, since this tape has more than one crazy person in it, the third crazy person is Yunus, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar.
Abu Layla : I was at Ahmad al-Salik’s yesterday, our Shaykh. He told us, yes. He asked Ahmad...

The Shaykh : He was present there.

The questioner : No, I was at Ahmad al-Salik’s. So he asked Ahmad al-Salik for some of the youth to gather with them, yes. So he refused. I told him, of course, his opinion.The Shaykh : May Allah preserve him, not to sit with these people. The evidence for that is the session of our brother Ali, may Allah guide him, with al-Saqaf. How did it turn out after that.