There are responses in the arena between scholars or between students of knowledge that lead to accusing intentions and purposes; what is your response?

The questioner : O Shaykh, there are responses now in the arena directed at students of knowledge and scholars, and the notable thing in these responses is the accusing of intentions, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Indeed, by Allah.

The questioner : What is your response to this, or your interpretation...

The Shaykh : That they fear Allah. What is our response to this? That they fear Allah in their Muslim brothers, and that they purify their intentions and hearts, and that none of them harbors hatred against another. As Allah commanded you. We say, O Professor, always and forever, the problem of the Islamic world now is their distance from two things, but one of them has taken the path, while the other has not. You must have heard in some of my cassettes and some of my words that reform begins with purification and education. You must have heard of it. So purification is in some of this, but there is no education in the Islamic world. This is the problem. You find students of knowledge who are supposed to be of the best good character, but they have not contained anything but some knowledge, so it became an argument against them, not for them. What is the solution? There is no solution except Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And whoever among the scholars is eager to walk on these two pillars, purification and education, let him establish those around him on this foundation from the softness of their nails, so that when they grow up and mature, they grow up on correct knowledge and correct education. As for these elders who came to the obligation of purification and took a large or nearly large share of it, they are very rare. Among them, there is one who has purified himself from bad morals, envy, and hatred, and may Allah protect us. Today, the matter is very apparent, even among some of the special ones, even among some of the special ones, until I find myself compelled sometimes to say, by the apparent meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted. And when I say by the apparent meaning, I mean what I say. I said apparent because in the apparent meaning of the verse, there is no command to enjoin good and forbid evil. But do you know the hadith of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) when he rebuked some people and mentioned to them that they interpret it other than its interpretation? And he mentioned the hadith that commands Muslims to enjoin good and forbid evil—in the name of Allah. So the apparent [phenomenon] is widespread now in the recent period in Saudi Arabia, and before that in many Islamic countries. This, in fact, has no cure except from the possible causes and seeking refuge in Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that He rectify the conditions of the Muslims. Otherwise, there is absolutely no justification for the callers to the Book and the Sunnah, and those who belong to the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih, to divide into two factions, or into factions, where some of them oppose each other, as if there were Salafis and their enemies, the Sufis, and they are one group, all of them saying, "I am upon the Book and the Sunnah." Even if some of them do not accept belonging to the Salaf al-Salih. This is one of the problems that occurred with you, where some of the young students, as I heard a cassette of his, does not permit saying, "I am a Salafi," and that whoever insists on that must be asked to repent, or else be killed. Did you hear this?

The questioner : He retracted his statement.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. May Allah reward you with good. This is what we want.

The questioner : And between his intention and what he said. First, I mean the issue of partisanship.

The Shaykh : May Allah guide him.

The questioner : Then he said, “And I repent from this wording.”

The Shaykh : May Allah reward him with good. That is the suspicion of him, but if this indicates anything, as they say today, that the heat of youth overcomes them. In the end, it is not easy for a person to say, "If one belongs to the Salaf al-Salih, he must be asked to repent, or else be killed," and he argues with the words of Ibn Taymiyyah. Where is this from that? Do you have this cassette?The questioner : I was informed of this tape by…The Shaykh : Abdullah al-Adil. I was in Riyadh a few days ago and he informed me of this cassette, but I will, if Allah wills, if I get a copy, send it to you, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.