Abu Usamah’s Criticisms of the Method of Da'wah

The questioner : My master, regarding the criticisms and observations.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : There was a critique or evaluation of the da'wah, so I say that no da'wah on earth has reached the level of perfection. There is a measured degree of perfection on earth that every person reaches, but he does not reach the level of absolute perfection, for that belongs to Allah.
If the following of the Salafi da'wah specifically is based on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they are the source of judgment, then it is a da'wah with no harm; it is a good da'wah based on good foundations and good principles, and we hope that Allah will reward us for that. The other matter.

The Shaykh: Do you allow me?

The questioner: Go ahead.

The Shaykh : The phrase "no harm" was perhaps a slip of the tongue.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. Proceed in what you are doing.

The questioner : Yes, the other matter is that our brothers among the Salafis, or those who affiliate with this da'wah, truly learn, and truly stay in the mosque, and truly wait from prayer to prayer. I see them studying the Qur'an and the Sunnah, but the criticism is that they do not convey what they learn so that it bears fruit.
The third matter, as I mentioned to you yesterday, is that some of these people—I do not say all of them—base their da'wah or their method of da'wah on force, harshness, and violence. As you know, this severs the ties between Muslims and places discord, conflict, contention, and hatred among Muslims, as the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us.

The Shaykh: (peace and blessings be upon him).

The questioner : And I am exactly like you. My role model is the Beloved Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). I did not affiliate with a party; rather, my role model is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
We take what came from him, and we refrain from what he forbade, if Allah wills, to the extent of my ability.

The Shaykh : You have done well.

The questioner : The truth of the matter is that when you ask me to critique a da'wah that is established, has a foundation, and has principles, and as you mentioned, is based on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him), it is not my right to critique it if it is based on these foundations, because there is no critique needed. The da'wah is based on the Book of Allah, which is the primary source of legislation, and on the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who clarified what is from Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, and who is the best of all His creation.
So, as I see it, it is a good da'wah, if Allah wills, based on a good foundation, if Allah wills, as you mentioned. But the followers lack knowledge; they lack knowledge because, I am going around in circles about an incident, and I will explain to you. Sometimes I stand and speak about an issue that concerns Muslims, and one of them stands up without knowledge, in front of people. And if the advice, as you mentioned, is sincere, then advice does not involve publicizing; rather, advice is between you and me if we want to advise each other and reach the truth and what is required. And I never get angry, because I am always with the truth, and I never get angry, but rather I benefit.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.

The questioner : Even if I found a small child from whom I could benefit, I would sit with him in the street to benefit. I would dissolve my personality for Islam. So, the da'wah, praise be to Allah, is a good da'wah, if Allah wills, and we hope that Allah will establish it, if Allah wills, on its good foundations. But the observations between us, and as I told you yesterday, and I asked and begged you, that these people and these followers should follow the path that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explained.
And I cited an incident yesterday. I had a lesson, and I explained that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knowing how much the tyrant on earth tyrannized, arrogated himself, and claimed divinity besides Allah, saying, "I am your supreme Lord," and yet the call to him was

The Shaykh:

The questioner : With Allah’s knowledge in His knowledge, it remained that he would not remember and would not fear, because it is written with Allah thus.
But this is the method of the da'wah of the prophets. Allah the Exalted commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : So the path is one and does not change; it is the path of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh: Do you allow me?

The questioner: Go ahead.

The Shaykh : I mentioned to you at the beginning of this blessed session, if Allah wills, that the question is about the da'wah, not about the method, because the method is agreed upon by all Muslims that it must be as Allah the Exalted said: And I remind my brothers on many occasions, and recently I mentioned that. There is a hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that a man from the Jews entered upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying, "As-samu 'alayk, O Muhammad." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The Lady Aisha behind the screen shouted at the top of her voice, and she was almost torn in two, saying, "And upon you be the curse and the wrath, brothers of the apes and pigs." The Jewish man sat for a while, and when he left, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Aisha: She said, "O Messenger of Allah, did you not hear what he said?" He said to her: I returned to him what he said, and the matter ended So, what I want to draw your attention to is two matters, and this is for the sake of the mutual advice we are currently engaged in. The first matter is that you know well, just as people differ in knowledge—there is an ignorant listener, there is a student of knowledge, and there is a scholar—so they also differ in character. And the only one who was perfect in character was Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So you may see a scholar who excels the world in knowledge, but he is narrow in character, narrow in character. And therefore, the hadiths came with patience, forbearance, and turning away from anger, and there are many, many hadiths in this meaning. So if this is a fact, or if these are two facts—that people differ in knowledge and differ in character—then if we see a person who is correct in his da'wah and in his knowledge, but he is wrong in his behavior, this requires us to do two things. The first is that we remind him and advise him to improve his method as he has improved his knowledge, so that the benefit appears and the fruit is picked. The other thing is that we do not stay far from him, as long as we say that this da'wah is a da'wah of truth. So we will be with him in this aspect, and we will not be with him in the other aspect, which is: we will be with him in this correct scientific aspect based on the Book and the Sunnah and what the righteous Salaf were upon, and we will not be with him in his method, but we will be with him in improving his method, and we will remind him with something like his saying: So, may Allah bless you, as long as you see that this da'wah is the da'wah of truth, why are you not one of them, combining the two matters? I say this based on what I hear, and I do not testify to this or that until we try, as you have tried. Did you see how it is?
But as long as you want the correct knowledge and the correct method, and you think, at least, and I hope your thought is the thought of a believer, that you are on this da'wah and on this correct knowledge and good method, why, my brother, are you not with them in their da'wah, because it is the da'wah of truth first? And why are you not a helper to them in improving their method? That is, why do you not adopt this da'wah, which is the da'wah of truth, and the Ummah today is in most need of this da'wah? And you must have read, before you heard from me, .
So why not? I am saying now that I am turning the role back on you, and I say, why, O Professor, O Abu Usamah? Why do you not improve your method in da'wah? Why is your good method, with your correct knowledge, not a flavor for those you criticize for their method, so that you attract them to the da'wah of truth with a good, beautiful, and fine method?
I see what has reached me, but I have not witnessed it, and therefore I do not testify to anything I have heard, either in your favor or against you, but I hope for you and for them rectitude.

The questioner : If Allah wills.

The Shaykh : Da'wah and method, but as I heard from you, you criticize them for their bad method and you approve of the da'wah and that it is correct, as you testified just now. You see them always attending the mosques, maintaining the prayer, and studying the Qur'an, and so on.
But their method is crude; their method has harshness, and so on. Why, then, do you not stand up to call people to the da'wah of truth with your truthful method? And then they will all gather around you, and you will earn the reward of one who guides to good, which is like the one who does it.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, if Allah wills. This is established, and we always, if Allah wills, call to the truth by the permission of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. And as you mentioned, your father was Hanafi.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : And you did not accept that, and you did not follow a madhhab, and you did not follow a school of jurisprudence, but rather you exerted independent legal reasoning with your own method.

The Shaykh : Excuse me, I did not say you exerted independent legal reasoning. Please.

The questioner : Perhaps I know that this is an exertion of effort on your part.

The Shaykh : I beg of you. No, no. You should convey what you hear from me; do not truncate it. Allow me to say: do not convey what is in your mind about me. I do not convey to people what is in my mind about you; that is not permissible for me!

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : I only convey what I hear from you. I am now going to convey to everyone in Oman and outside Oman that we met with a noble man, known as Abu Usamah, and so on. He agrees with us in the call to the Book and the Sunnah and in the methodology of the pious predecessors, but he takes exception to our brothers for the same thing I take exception to them for, which is harshness and severity in style. However, I do not convey to them what is in my mind about you. Therefore, is the reward for kindness anything but kindness? You tell people what you hear from me. I am a follower of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) only.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : I do not worship except Allah, and I do not follow except the Messenger of Allah. As for how I arrive at following the Messenger of Allah alone, and how I arrive at worshipping Allah alone, we have entered into a discussion regarding style. I did not discuss this style with you, and I hope to be given the opportunity to research this style, because I will tell you, and you are the one who opened this door for me, and may Allah reward you with good: How can you know the call of the truth, the call of the Book and the Sunnah, when you are either a Hanafi, a Shafi'i, a Maliki, or a Hanbali? And the short experience we had with you regarding prostrating on the knees or on the hands?
You make me feel that you carry the call of the Book and the Sunnah in your mind, but you are unable to implement it. I may be that man as well. Therefore, do not speak as one who hopes for something without commanding it. Do not speak about style; we are speaking about the goal now. My goal is that I do not worship except Allah, and I do not follow one man in this world, who is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
I saw you just now beginning to enter into labyrinths in matters I am ready to enter into, and that is more pleasing to me than fleeing from them. But this is not the place for that now. Its place is two words that are light on the tongue but heavy on the scale: that we do not worship except Allah, and we do not follow except the Messenger of Allah. If you are with us in your style and your ability and your capacity, our brothers are living with you here, and I am far from them, so you perform this duty as I perform this duty. I perform both duties: I advise them to hold fast to the Book and the Sunnah within the limits of what we know and I advise them to improve their style. So I am with you and you are with me, as it was said: "When a shoe fits its foot, it embraces it." So So this is a word of agreement, may Allah bless you, O Abu Usamah. We met on the correctness of the call and on the obligation to improve the style of the call. Therefore, we say: These are helpers for you in this call, and you are a helper for them in this call with your knowledge within the limits of what you know, and with their knowledge within the limits of what they know. And every one of you must improve his style, and in that is good for this society, which, as you described just now, Islam is in a state of estrangement in it. And as it was said: "Every stranger is a relative to the stranger." So we are strangers, and we must cooperate in goal and style. And now, so that there is no hardship on you, if you want to hear the statement regarding the Wahhabis, I have no objection at all.

The questioner : The speech is long and correct, but we will summarize it, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : What do you want, Abu Ahmad?

Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And may Allah do the same for you, if Allah wills. Yes.