A word about the Ahbash sect.

The questioner : Another question. There is a sect that declares many of the famous Muslim scholars, known for their piety and righteousness, to be disbelievers. They are called the Ahbash. We ask our Shaykh to shed light on some of the beliefs of this sect?

The Shaykh : In my opinion, what has preceded in explaining the methodology, and the examples cited regarding some of the deviants in the current age and in earlier ages, is sufficient to demonstrate the misguidance of any sect that departs from this methodology and declares Muslim scholars to be disbelievers, whether they are from the early or the modern era. The Ahbash are, in terms of their zeal, most like the Khawarij! But they are very far from the worship of the Khawarij. They agree with them in one aspect and differ from them in another. They agree with them in the heat of their calling, and they are in clear misguidance, and the Khawarij were likewise in misguidance. It is sufficient for them that they misguidanced, or rather declared disbelievers, the fourth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, let alone the masses of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) who were with 'Ali fighting the Khawarij. But despite that, they were in worship, as he (peace be upon him) said truthfully. This is one of the scientific, unseen miracles of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). It was reported in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) one day distributed a portion among his Companions, and a man said to him: "Be just, O Messenger of Allah! Be just, O Messenger of Allah!" He (peace be upon him) said to him: Then he (peace be upon him) turned to his Companions—and here is the point—and said: The point is that these Khawarij appeared, as he (peace be upon him) said, later on. They rebelled against the Muslim community, against the Rightly Guided Caliph, and fought him, so he was forced to fight them. Nevertheless, Ibn 'Abbas testified to what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had foretold about them regarding their worship: and so on. So, in terms of being worshippers, the Ahbash differ completely from them. The Ahbash have no worship and no restraint. They mix with women and shake hands with women, and this is, of course, double open sinfulness! Why? Because many of those who are said today to be from the people of the Sunnah and the community have women who are clothed yet naked, but they do not consider this permissible in their belief. If one of them is mentioned, he says: "May Allah accept our repentance, and we are not able to control our women and daughters," and so on. But these people say there is no harm, especially in the path of the call! They claim this, and in any case, this is a deviation in morals and behavior. But their deviation in belief is more severe. First, they are from the Asha'irah, and from the extremists of the Asha'irah, those who say that Allah is in every place. This topic has been discussed previously, so there is no need to repeat it. Their Shaykh, 'Abdullah al-Habashi, I know him personally. I met him and debated with him, and he withdrew from the debate in a strange and very peculiar way. There is no need to elaborate now, as the session was long. But the man, in terms of belief, is an Ash'ari; in terms of branches, he is a Shafi'i. Then he is unsettled and wavering, taking from every school of jurisprudence whatever pleases him. And now they are more zealous for their misguidance than ever. So in this regard, they are Khawarij, and in another regard, their opposition to the people of the Sunnah is true, so they are also Khawarij. We ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to make us understand our belief according to the correct methodology of the Book and the Sunnah, and according to what our righteous predecessors were upon. We ask Him to teach us what benefits us, to increase us in knowledge, and to guide us all to what He loves and is pleased with. And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.