The regulated da'wah of the Tablighi Jama'ah is an innovation and a calamity that has not been found in the history of Islam, except for the last fifty years or so.

The Shaykh : None of these people who have been afflicted with this departure can produce a group that made this departure fifty years ago, let alone a century ago, let alone one that came to us in the time of the Messenger, in the time of the Companions, in the time of the Successors, or in the time of the mujtahid imams. As we mentioned to you, there are many hadiths: he sent Mu'adh alone, he sent Ali alone, he sent Abu Musa alone, he sent Dhiyyah al-Kilabi alone. Where did he send fifty people? Where did he send twenty people? Where is that? It is nothing but an innovation that these brothers have introduced. Therefore, we advise them to return to seeking knowledge and to apply the hadith with which this session was opened, to the end of the hadith that I mentioned. By doing so, they will gain understanding in the religion and convey it to those around them. Then, we add to what we mentioned and to what we are pointing out now: what about these people who cite the hadith ? They go to Europe, yet there are Muslims here who need this kind of teaching. By my Lord, there are people in the villages and in the desert who cannot even read Surat al-Fatihah. In fact, I say, and I say again, these people have made it their habit that after the imam finishes the obligatory prayer, one of them stands up and delivers a speech with a phrase they have invented, ignoring the "khutbat al-hajah" (sermon of need) that we always remind you of, constantly and forever. "After that, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), etc." I have never heard any of them say this. As for this catchphrase, they are indeed holding onto it. By Allah, I do not memorize it; perhaps one of the attendees here memorizes it. What do they say?

The questioner : That our prosperity and success.

The Shaykh : Yes, we have no prosperity except by following the Sunnah of the Messenger.

The questioner : It is obedience to the commands of Allah and on the path of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).

The Shaykh : This is beautiful speech. First, it is beautiful in its meaning. But I am, if Allah wills, among the most knowledgeable people that they do not know the Sunnah. If they knew the Sunnah, they would stick to the mosques, the houses of Allah, and study the Qur'an among themselves. This is what one who knows the Sunnah does. It is just a phrase, a word that he says: "We have no prosperity or success except by following the Qur'an and the Sunnah." It is a word of truth, but it is not of the truth to begin the sermon with such a phrase that their shaykh or one of their shaykhs composed. As for our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), who legislated, on the tongue of the legislation of Allah, on the tongue of his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), this sermon that constantly reminds Muslims that every innovation is misguidance and every misguidance is in the Fire, why do they not preserve this Sunnah when they say, "We have no life except by the Sunnah"? It is nothing but sweet, beautiful talk, and then take what you wish or what you do not wish of violations of the Sunnah. This is enough regarding the phrase . But I do not want to go far from another question that says: "Since the first thing that al-Dawsi did when he embraced Islam was that he did not know much of the Qur'an, but the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to him: We are now asking: they cite this. First, this does not contradict us; it does not contradict our statement: We do not say that it is not permissible for one to go and convey to his people what he knows of knowledge. I said earlier: learn a verse, go to such a place, to such a village, to such a desert, and remind them of what you have learned. This hadith, and I say with reservation, if it is authentic, is for us and against them, not for them but against them. Because the Messenger says here to al-Dawsi: "Go and convey to your people." What does he convey to them? What he learned from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Like that man whose hadith we mentioned to you: when he asked the Messenger about what Allah had made obligatory for him every day and night, he said: "Five prayers every day and night." He said: "Is there anything else upon me?" He said: He said: "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, except that you do voluntarily." He said: "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I will not add to them or subtract from them." If the Messenger said to him: This is a word of truth, and we say it: everyone who learns something and is certain of it must convey it to his people. So citing this hadith is proof, and Allah knows best, that the one who wrote this question or this paper did not understand what we are saying regarding the known da'wah of Tabligh today.
We are conveying the message, and I did not come from Oman to here, traveling a distance of approximately four hundred kilometers, except for the sake of da'wah. So we do not fight da'wah; rather, we support da'wah. But the prescribed da'wah is by the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah. So what is in this hadith of al-Dawsi? Other than what we say: whoever knows something, it is obligatory upon him to convey it. But do not add to this da'wah anything that was not from the da'wah of the Messenger, neither from this one nor from any other. The Messenger (peace be upon him) did not say to al-Dawsi: "Take five or ten with you and go and call." No, you go and call, while the others sit and learn in the mosque. Why was the mosque built? Not only for prayer, but also for knowledge and education. And you know that the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not become scholars, or jurists, or the heroes of the world in correct scientific culture, except from the mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). As we said earlier, the mosques were full of lessons and scholarly circles. Now, there is nothing of that in them. So we advise these brothers, whom we believe mostly want to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but as we have always mentioned, constantly and forever, drawing near to Allah requires two conditions. First, sincerity to Allah in that, and this is what we believe of this group and of every Muslim, if Allah wills. The second condition, and this is what we do not believe of the group, is that it be according to the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). If I asked the writer of this, I say frankly: I do not know the status of this hadith right now. Is it authentic or weak?
I do not know it. If I asked this man, the writer of the question, is it an authentic hadith? In my opinion, he would not be able to say that it is an authentic hadith narrated by al-Bukhari or narrated by Muslim. Why? Because the group does not revolve around the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him). And we have often heard one of them take *Riyad al-Salihin*—we have it in Oman or in Damascus, Syria—and read two or three hadiths, depending on his energy and the energy of the group. But by Allah, the one who is reading does not know what he is reading, does not understand what he is reading, let alone those around him. What is the benefit? We read the hadith and did not explain it!
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If he understands it in the religion, then we take *Riyad al-Salihin* and read the hadith, and we move on to the second hadith, and we do not understand anything except what we hear with this ear, and what comes out of the other ear is what constitutes knowledge! That is why we sincerely advise the believers, advising one another, to occupy themselves with seeking knowledge by studying the Qur'an and its exegesis from a reliable tafsir, such as the tafsir of al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir, and what has been abridged from it in a sound manner, and by studying the Prophetic hadith, like this book, *Riyad al-Salihin*. This is one of the rare books in which the author intended to collect authentic hadiths, although it is not free from some hadiths that contain weakness. However, the hadiths collected regarding morals, conduct, patience, fear of Allah, humility, and the like, are something very beautiful. But we read it like this, as they used to say in Sham: they used to read the hadith. Why? They said for the blessing, for the blessing, not for acting upon it. Why? They used to read the hadith in *Sahih al-Bukhari* which contradicts their prayer, for example, a hadith in *Sahih al-Bukhari* and *Muslim* from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise his hands when he said the takbir for prayer, then when he bowed he raised his hands and said the takbir, and then when he said "Allah hears the one who praises Him," he raised his hands and said the takbir. The reciter is a Hanafi who reads this hadith but does not act upon it. Why? Because his school of jurisprudence says there is no raising of the hands when bowing and rising. Why are you reading the hadith? For the blessing. Glory be to Allah, how was the blessing that you do not act upon what you read? We read the Qur'an for the blessing, for example, Yes, you read this verse and do not give charity. Why do you read the Qur'an? For the blessing.
Glory be to Allah, when was the blessing in contradicting what you read of the words of Allah or the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? So this book, *Riyad al-Salihin*, by Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), we advise reading it, but with reading, understanding, and study, and not in the way they say, "We read it only for the blessing." There is no blessing in ignorance. Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) says: So it is not enough for us to read the Qur'an for the blessing and then not understand what we are reading, except for a few words, and very few. This is our advice to our brothers.

The questioner : Last question, if you please ... .

The Shaykh : That is enough, the time is perhaps ... .

The questioner : It is...

The Shaykh : Okay, please proceed.

Another questioner : Allah knows best.