What is your opinion regarding the statement of some Salafi brothers in the Netherlands who criticize the scholars of the Hijaz and say about them that they are loyal to the tyrants?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. There are some young men in the Netherlands and elsewhere who are Salafis, and praise be to Allah, we do not doubt their creed. However, they speak ill of some scholars, particularly the scholars of the Hijaz. They say, "We do not trust them because some of them flatter the tyrants." Is this correct, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : What appears to me from what I hear directly and from what is reported to me indirectly, as you just mentioned, is that those who speak about some scholars and attribute to them the act of flattering the tyrants are, without a doubt, young men. We, in turn, cannot assume ill of these young men, meaning their intentions, but we do assume ill of their knowledge. Their lack of knowledge and limited understanding, first of all, of the correct Islamic jurisprudence, and then of the Islamic morals upon which the Muslim youth should have been raised and nurtured—this is, unfortunately, what has been deprived of by the generation of youth in the present age. It is true that there is now an Islamic awakening, as they call it, but I say, first, that this awakening is in its initial stages; it has not even reached the middle stage, let alone its end. Second, this awakening is an intellectual and scientific awakening that has not been accompanied by a moral awakening. Is this clear to you? Therefore, we advise these young men to devote themselves to seeking knowledge and to be sincere to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in it, first. Then, they should refine their souls and nurture them with Islamic morals, second. If they do this, they will restrain their tongues from delving into the reputations of people in general, and even more so from delving into the reputations of scholars in particular, because scholars are the elite of the Ummah. This is my answer to your question.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And you as well.
The Shaykh : What appears to me from what I hear directly and from what is reported to me indirectly, as you just mentioned, is that those who speak about some scholars and attribute to them the act of flattering the tyrants are, without a doubt, young men. We, in turn, cannot assume ill of these young men, meaning their intentions, but we do assume ill of their knowledge. Their lack of knowledge and limited understanding, first of all, of the correct Islamic jurisprudence, and then of the Islamic morals upon which the Muslim youth should have been raised and nurtured—this is, unfortunately, what has been deprived of by the generation of youth in the present age. It is true that there is now an Islamic awakening, as they call it, but I say, first, that this awakening is in its initial stages; it has not even reached the middle stage, let alone its end. Second, this awakening is an intellectual and scientific awakening that has not been accompanied by a moral awakening. Is this clear to you? Therefore, we advise these young men to devote themselves to seeking knowledge and to be sincere to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in it, first. Then, they should refine their souls and nurture them with Islamic morals, second. If they do this, they will restrain their tongues from delving into the reputations of people in general, and even more so from delving into the reputations of scholars in particular, because scholars are the elite of the Ummah. This is my answer to your question.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And you as well.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.