Is it permissible to apply the absolute texts regarding declaring someone a disbeliever and declaring someone an innovator to specific individuals without referring to the contemporary scholars?
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The questioner : We heard, may Allah honor you,The Shaykh : your tape on innovations and declaring people innovators, the previous tape, may Allah preserve you and benefit us with your knowledge, and there is, may Allah bless you, a questionThe Shaykh : Excuse me, and declaring what an innovator?
The questioner : About innovations and what...
The Shaykh : No, no, I do not want you to repeat your words.
The questioner : I say, O Shaykh, we heard your tape on innovations and innovators, this last tape reached us in Saudi Arabia and we were...
The Shaykh : My brother, a word of declaring someone an innovator came from you, so who is the innovator? And who is the innovator?
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, withdraw it, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : We withdrew it, okay.
The questioner : There is a question, may Allah bless you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It concerns the previous tape. As is not hidden from you, the Salafi call relies on the Book and the Sunnah with the understanding of the righteous predecessors. Just as it is not valid to argue with some verses and hadiths without referring to the understanding of the righteous predecessors of them, so it is not permissible to take the statements of the predecessors, such as their saying that the Jahmiyyah are disbelievers, or their saying that whoever says the Qur'an is created is a disbeliever, without referring to their understanding in applying them to the specific individuals existing in their time. So is it permissible, may Allah bless you, for ordinary people to take these generalizations and apply them to a specific person in this time? Or is it necessary to look at these generalizations with the understanding of the scholars of the people of the Sunnah and the community in this era? So whatever they applied to specific individuals, is it permissible for us to apply it? What do you say, may Allah preserve you?
The Shaykh : I say that this question, unfortunately, is repeated often in the present time, and my answer is understood from my previous answers over the long years regarding those who are, without doubt in our view, from the misguided sects, if not to say in general that they are from the disbelieving sects. Because the sects about which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us and that they are all in the Fire, they are all in the Fire without doubt. But some of them will remain in it forever, and some of them will be saved from it, each according to his error. If his error is explicit disbelief and the argument was established against him, then he persisted in his disbelief, he is in the Fire, remaining in it forever. Otherwise, he is in the Fire under the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), which encompasses every person, except for one who is a disbeliever who associates partners with Allah. Here I must make a short pause, perhaps you do not distinguish with me between disbelief and associating partners with Allah, and you believe with me that every disbelief is associating partners with Allah and every associating partners with Allah is disbelief. If that is the case, I proceed to complete the answer. Otherwise, I must make a pause here.
The questioner : No, we do not see a distinction, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : You do not see a distinction?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. So I say, whoever dies from the misguided sects as a disbeliever, and the argument was established against him and the clear path became apparent to him, then as Allah the Exalted said:[An-Naml 27:14] This type is the one who deserves to be declared a disbeliever, in whole or in part, as a group or as a specific person identified by name, after this description is verified in him. So I say, and I know the explicit declaration of many of our scholars and our worthies of declaring the Shi'ah, indeed the Rafidah, disbelievers. And I say on such an occasion that we declare them disbelievers in general, not in detail. And using the Syrian expression, I say, and some of our brothers testify to what I say, and in many gatherings, it is not permissible to declare disbelievers "in bulk." Do you understand this term? Rather, it is by specific individuals and persons. So whoever falls into disbelief, it is not necessary that the ruling of disbelief be applied to him except after the argument is established against him. Is that clear? If this is clear, then it is even more obvious that you know the answer to your question.
The questioner : About innovations and what...
The Shaykh : No, no, I do not want you to repeat your words.
The questioner : I say, O Shaykh, we heard your tape on innovations and innovators, this last tape reached us in Saudi Arabia and we were...
The Shaykh : My brother, a word of declaring someone an innovator came from you, so who is the innovator? And who is the innovator?
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, withdraw it, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : We withdrew it, okay.
The questioner : There is a question, may Allah bless you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It concerns the previous tape. As is not hidden from you, the Salafi call relies on the Book and the Sunnah with the understanding of the righteous predecessors. Just as it is not valid to argue with some verses and hadiths without referring to the understanding of the righteous predecessors of them, so it is not permissible to take the statements of the predecessors, such as their saying that the Jahmiyyah are disbelievers, or their saying that whoever says the Qur'an is created is a disbeliever, without referring to their understanding in applying them to the specific individuals existing in their time. So is it permissible, may Allah bless you, for ordinary people to take these generalizations and apply them to a specific person in this time? Or is it necessary to look at these generalizations with the understanding of the scholars of the people of the Sunnah and the community in this era? So whatever they applied to specific individuals, is it permissible for us to apply it? What do you say, may Allah preserve you?
The Shaykh : I say that this question, unfortunately, is repeated often in the present time, and my answer is understood from my previous answers over the long years regarding those who are, without doubt in our view, from the misguided sects, if not to say in general that they are from the disbelieving sects. Because the sects about which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us and that they are all in the Fire, they are all in the Fire without doubt. But some of them will remain in it forever, and some of them will be saved from it, each according to his error. If his error is explicit disbelief and the argument was established against him, then he persisted in his disbelief, he is in the Fire, remaining in it forever. Otherwise, he is in the Fire under the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), which encompasses every person, except for one who is a disbeliever who associates partners with Allah. Here I must make a short pause, perhaps you do not distinguish with me between disbelief and associating partners with Allah, and you believe with me that every disbelief is associating partners with Allah and every associating partners with Allah is disbelief. If that is the case, I proceed to complete the answer. Otherwise, I must make a pause here.
The questioner : No, we do not see a distinction, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : You do not see a distinction?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. So I say, whoever dies from the misguided sects as a disbeliever, and the argument was established against him and the clear path became apparent to him, then as Allah the Exalted said:
And they rejected them, while their [inner] selves were convinced thereof
وجحدوا بها واستيقنتها أنفسهم
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.