The Methodology of the People of the Sunnah and the Community

The Shaykh : ... So whoever’s struggle is for the sake of Allah, upon the Book of Allah, upon the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, and upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf, these are the ones to whom the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, applies: I repeat this great principle to your ears, which every Muslim group must establish their calling upon: the Book and the Sunnah, and the methodology of the righteous Salaf. If that is the case, then I say, based on my knowledge of all the groups and parties currently existing on the Islamic land, that all of them, except for one group—and I do not say except for one party, because this group does not form a party, does not form a bloc, and does not show partisanship except for the aforementioned principle, namely the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, and the methodology of the righteous Salaf—I know well that other than this group, they do not call to this principle which I clarified earlier and repeated over and over to your ears. Rather, they call to the Book and the Sunnah only, and they do not associate with the Book and the Sunnah our previously mentioned phrase: “and upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf.” And thus, the importance of this third condition, “and upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf,” will become clear to you. Its importance will become clear to you in terms of the transmitted legal texts from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), both in the Book and the Sunnah, and in terms of the reality of the Islamic groups, indeed the Islamic sects, from the day the dispute began to stretch its neck or show its horn among the first Islamic groups, meaning from the day the Khawarij rebelled against the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, and from the day of the one who called with the call of the Mu'tazilah, and those who came after him imitating him in their deviation, and so on from the known sects, whose names were known in the past and whose designations are renewed in the present with modern names. All these sects, whether old or new, there is no sect among them that says and declares: “We are not upon the Book and the Sunnah.” All these sects, despite the differences among them, whether this difference is in beliefs and principles or in rulings and branches, these people who are divided in their religion, all of them say, as we say, “the Book.” But they differ from us; they do not say our saying, which is the completion of our calling: “and upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf.”