Discussion on following the evidence and abandoning blind imitation.

The Shaykh : If it is there, it contains the pillars of faith and the pillars of Islam. So the thing they are asking for, what are they asking for? It relates to one of the pillars of Islam, which is prayer! So if this request is clear.

The questioner: Correct.

The Shaykh : Then, regarding what relates to faith, our brother mentioned earlier that the scholars in Saudi Arabia sent them, may Allah will it, books that relate to the creed, is that not so? Until they said that from this aspect, it is as if we have been satisfied and have taken what we need. So if we want, as the brother conveyed, books, meaning methodological ones. What is meant by methodological? And this is a very important aspect. Now, in our view, Saudi Arabia is the only state that adopts, in the knowledge of its scholars, the principle of the correct Islamic creed. Its scholars are the ones who are known in the Islamic world today... But with our respect for these eminent scholars, they are Hanbalis in the other aspects of Islam! They are not very broad in their understanding of Islam as we call people to it, the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous predecessors. There are Hanbalis in Morocco, for example, Malikis in Syria, Hanafis in Anatolia and the Turks do not know Islam except that they are Hanafis, and in Egypt there are Shafi'is and some Hanafis, and in Pakistan there are Hanafis and some hadith scholars and Shafi'is and so on. So now these brothers are asking for books or methodological treatises, meaning they understand Islam as you are singing about it, even if perhaps you do not intend this meaning. They understand Islam in its principles and rules. What is Islam? If you asked a Turk, he would tell you Islam is the Hanafi school. If you asked a Moroccan, he would tell you it is the Maliki school. No, that is not Islam. Islam encompasses all these schools, and no school encompasses Islam. Islam is broader than all the schools. The schools branched off from Islam, and in them there is what is valid and what is not valid. As for Islam, as the Lord of Mankind said: So these people whom the brother referred to in... or elsewhere, they are in need of methodological books to know Islam: from where it is taken, from where it is drawn. And they asked, to realize something of the principles of Islam, which is prayer, that they pray as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And the aspect you referred to there in Britain, where everyone gives a speech and you find them different, the reason is that they do not have a unified methodology that gathers them all. What gathers them is this correct methodology: "The Messenger of Allah said." One of the strong scholars, and you must have heard his name, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), the student of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. What does he say:
“Knowledge: Allah said, His Messenger said, / The Companions said; it is not deception.
Knowledge is not: you setting up foolish disagreement *** Between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist
The Shaykh: Neither denial of the attributes and their negation, *** out of fear of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) and tashbih (likening Allah to creation). " Knowledge, he said, "The Messenger of Allah said," the Companions said. So this is the Salafi knowledge that we explained this statement upon earlier. This methodology in the Islamic world is almost lost. These people are as if they entered Islam recently. These people, before their ideas and creed were invaded by deviant principles like Sufism and so on, are in need of knowing what the methodology is. After that come the details. They are, in reality, as the brother said, either to preachers who visit them and explain to them this methodology that every Muslim should know, even if he is a Muslim, the son of a Muslim, the grandson of a Muslim, and so on. Because Islam today, as we mentioned earlier, has strayed from what it was in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And I am now giving you a real example, and you will be surprised by it, you being the first, to know the alienation of Islam in creed. Today we were in Syria, and here we hear each person sitting for an hour of clarity. What does he say? "Allah is present in every existence! Allah is present in every place." He is, in his opinion, glorifying Allah, while this is disbelief itself. You will be surprised by this statement.

The questioner: Correct.

The Shaykh : How is Allah in every existence? This is the creed of the people of existence, the unity of existence, the creed of the Sufis who say that everything you see with your eye is Allah, everything you see with your eye is Allah. Meaning this universe, with its humans, stones, animals, mountains, rivers, this universe is Allah. Allah is present in every existence, meaning the naturalistic school has returned under the name of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). While our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) taught us and made it obligatory upon us to believe in a creed that we always utter in prostration, but we do not understand what we are saying while we are prostrating: "Glory to my Lord, the Most High," not "Glory to my Lord, the Lowest." The Most High is the One who said about Himself: The angels ascend to Him, and so on. Today, Muslims in this part of this creed are far from it, greatly misguided. So our brothers in all the lands of Islam, and especially those who are considered new to Islam, are in need of methodological books first, then those that clarify to them the correct creed second, then the details come. And then, Professor, these details are the function of the scholars. The function of individual Muslims is to correct their creed, to correct their worship, prayer, fasting, and so on. Look at the difference now regarding the five pillars of Islam. Islam is built on five: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing prayer, giving zakah, fasting Ramadan, and Hajj. But every Muslim who has reached the age of accountability must first understand the meaning of "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Then he must pray. Then he must fast. But not everyone must give zakah, and not everyone must perform Hajj. Why? Because the one who wants to give zakah and perform Hajj must be wealthy. So knowing the rulings of zakah and knowing the rulings of Hajj is not something everyone must know. But whoever is wealthy, it is obligatory for him to know the rulings of zakah. Whoever is wealthy, it is obligatory for him to know that it is obligatory for him to perform Hajj and how he must perform it. From here we said that details that do not relate to every Muslim are a matter of degree. But the Muslim scholar, even if he is poor and Hajj is not obligatory for him, must know the rulings of zakah, must know the rulings of Hajj, so that if he is asked, he answers. Some of this detailed information, and a little of it, is obligatory for every adult, accountable Muslim individual. The rest is obligatory for some others of them. As for the scholars, they must encompass, to the extent of their ability, all the rulings of the Shari'ah, so that if they are asked, they answer.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.

Another questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good. You have not taught us, may Allah will it, except from one who sacrificed his life for this religion.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.

The questioner : May Allah will it, my travel to Saudi Arabia... and my brother's travel to Lebanon will produce these tapes. So I have a simple question and a request from you, or if there is no room...