What is your opinion of those who accuse the Salafis of harshness in da'wah?

The questioner : The Salafis, the Salafis in all their categories, are known for this, and it may be true: harshness and a lack of gentleness, meaning harshness in spreading the da'wah. If you think this is true, and this is what I see, what is your comment on such a thing?

The Shaykh : First, there is an observation in your words, which is your saying, "and it may be true." Is that so?

The questioner : I say, and you considered it true.

The Shaykh : First, I said, "and it may be true," meaning what is said about them regarding harshness. I said it may be true.

The questioner : Yes, I apologize.

The Shaykh : Did I say this or not?

The questioner : I said it, I said it, yes.

The Shaykh : So here is the observation: we draw the attention of our brothers when they speak in such terms. We say this is the talk of politicians; they may not mean it, but as it is said, "Our speech is in the heart, and we have only made the tongue a sign of the heart." So when a speaker says about a matter, "it may be so," it is met with "it may not be so," is that right?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Now, two matters respond to your question here, and after that we will continue with the answer. Are you certain of this that is said, that the Salafis have no softness, and that harshness is their standard and their methodology? Are you certain of this? And you opened the door to this question for me because you said, "and it may be so"?

The questioner : I said, I apologize for my saying "it may be."

The Shaykh : So, let us hear what the words are.

The questioner : I will repeat it.

The Shaykh : No, do not repeat it, because it is a mistake. Otherwise, what are you apologizing for? Repeat your opinion in the correct way, without the "may be"?

The questioner : Yes, without the "may be."

The Shaykh : Clear?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay, please proceed.

The questioner : It is well known from the beginning of the question.

The Shaykh : There is no harm; you have the choice in this.

The questioner : We said, and you answered, that this is the case: that gentleness, leniency, and softness are obligatory in da'wah. And my question is about da'wah, not about personal or life matters. I mean da'wah. As you mentioned, it is obligatory that softness and gentleness be present in da'wah, and gentleness toward people and those being called. So, in my view, the Salafis are known for harshness and a lack of gentleness in da'wah. This is my opinion.

The Shaykh : Now, are you one of them?

The questioner : I hope so.

The Shaykh : You hope so?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Are you one of them, meaning are you a Salafi?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Now, are you one of these harsh Salafis?

The questioner : No, I do not vouch for myself. I mean a prominent characteristic, a trait.

The Shaykh : The issue now is not an issue of vouching; it is an issue of describing reality.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And as we said, the reason you are raising this question now is for mutual advice. So when I ask you, "Are you one of these harsh ones?" the issue of "I do not vouch for myself" does not apply here, because you want to describe reality. In other words, if I asked you this question, I would say, "In my opinion, I am not harsh." But this does not mean that I am vouching for myself, because I am reporting on my reality. So think about the question. Is the question clear?

The questioner : Yes, the question is clear, and my answer, O Shaykh, is like your answer.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : My answer is like your answer.

The Shaykh : So it is not correct to say that the Salafis are harsh. The correct thing is to say that some of them are harsh. Is this clear up to here?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So we say that some of the Salafis have a style of harshness. But do you see if this trait is one that the Salafis are specifically known for?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : So what is the benefit and the point of this question? This is first.
And second, is the softness that we said is obligatory, is it obligatory always and forever?

The questioner : Always, no.

The Shaykh : So it is not correct for you or for anyone else to describe, first, we arrive at the following conclusion: it is not permissible for you or for anyone else to describe a group of people with a trait that you generalize to all of them. And second, it is not permissible for you to apply this trait to an individual Muslim, whether he is a Salafi or a Khalafi, in our terminology, except in a specific detail. As long as we have agreed that softness is not the prescribed way always and forever, we find that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used harshness that, if Salafis did it today, people would reject it with the strongest rejection.
For example, perhaps you know the story of Abu al-Sanabil, I think his name is, the son of Ba'kak.

Another questioner : ... the divorce.

The Shaykh : Abu al-Sanabil, do you remember this story?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : A woman whose husband died while she was pregnant, so she gave birth. It reached her from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that a pregnant woman whose husband has died completes her waiting period by giving birth to her child. The hadith says, and it is in Sahih al-Bukhari, that after she gave birth, she adorned herself for suitors and applied kohl. Abu al-Sanabil saw her, and he had proposed to her for himself, but she refused him. So he said to her, "It is not lawful for you except after the waiting period of death is completed, which is the rule of four months and ten days." She appears to be a woman who cares about her religion, so she did nothing but put on her outer garment and hastened to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and she mentioned to him what Abu al-Sanabil had said to her. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Is this harshness or softness?

The questioner : Yes, harshness.

The Shaykh : Harshness from whom? From the one of softness So the principle of softness is not a consistent rule, as we agreed earlier. Rather, the Muslim should place softness in its place and harshness in its place. Similarly, as came in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon, a man from the Companions stood up and said to him, "What Allah wills and what you will, O Messenger of Allah." He said: Is this harshness or softness?

The questioner : The style of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) speech.

The Shaykh : I mean, I call this a deviation, because you did not answer me as you answered me before when I told you that Abu al-Sanabil said about him: Is this harshness or softness?

The questioner : This is harshness, yes.

The Shaykh : And this is the second one.

The questioner : He only clarified to him, saying:

The Shaykh : This is a deviation, may Allah reward you. I am not asking you whether he clarified or not; I am asking you, is it harshness or softness? Why has your method of answering changed? Before, you said he clarified to him when he said to him: He did clarify, but this clarification was in a gentle, soft style, as we agreed is the rule, or was there harshness in it? I said it with complete frankness: there was harshness in it. Now, apart from what he saw in the second question.

The questioner : In the second question, he did not call him a liar; he said:

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar. This is more eloquent in disapproval, may Allah reward you.

Another questioner : Our Shaykh said: in a narration of Muslim.

The Shaykh : In another issue, yes. Do you remember this hadith? What? . He said: Is this harshness or softness?

The questioner : Harshness.

The Shaykh : The important thing, may Allah reward you, is that there is a style of softness there and a style of harshness there. Now, after we have agreed that there is no consistent rule of always soft, soft, soft, or always harsh, harsh, harsh, rather sometimes it is like this and sometimes like that. Now, when the Salafis are accused in general of being harsh, do you not see that the Salafis, compared to the other sects, groups, and parties, are more concerned with knowing the Islamic rulings and calling people to them than the others?

The questioner : Without a doubt.

The Shaykh : Without doubt, may Allah reward you. So because of this concern, which exceeds the concern of the others in this regard, the others consider enjoining good and forbidding evil, even if it is accompanied by softness, to be harshness. Some of them even say, "This is not the time for it today." And some of them exaggerated and transgressed, saying, "Discussing tawhid (the oneness of Allah) divides the ranks today." So, may Allah reward you, what I want to reach with you is that the issue is relative. A person who is not enthusiastic about da'wah, especially about entering into the branches they call "shells" or secondary matters, considers the discussion, even if it is accompanied by a good style, to be harshness in the wrong place. It is not befitting, and you are a Salafi like us, it is not befitting for you to spread among people, even if these people are few now, the idea that the Salafis are harsh, because we have agreed that some of them are harsh. And this is not absent even from the Companions; among them are the soft and among them are the... what? the harsh. Perhaps you know the story of the Bedouin who was about to urinate in the mosque. What did the Companions do? They were about to strike him. Is this softness or harshness?

The questioner : Harshness.

The Shaykh : But what did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) do?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So, it may be that few people can escape from severity, but the truth is that the original principle in da'wah (calling others to Islam) is that it should be based on wisdom and good admonition. Part of wisdom is placing gentleness in its proper place and severity in its proper place. So, to describe the best of the Islamic groups, which distinguished itself from all other groups by its care to follow the Book and the Sunnah and what the righteous Salaf (the earliest generations) were upon, as being severe in an absolute sense—I do not think this is fair in any way, nor is it in accordance with the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law). However, if it is said that among them, if a Companion was severe in a place where severity was not appropriate, then it is even more so for the later generations, such as us (the later generations in the linguistic sense), that there are those among us who are severe. And now we are talking about a specific person; suppose he is gentle and mild, does he escape from using severity in a place where it is not appropriate?

The questioner : No, absolutely not.

The Shaykh : So, may Allah reward you, the matter is settled. And since the case is so, what is required of us is nothing but to advise one another. If we see a person who admonishes, advises, and reminds with severity in a place where it is not appropriate, we remind him. He may have a perspective; if he remembers, may Allah reward him with good. And if he has a perspective that we have heard from him, the matter ends there.

The questioner : Yes, many of the Salafis (followers of the Salaf).

The Shaykh : Yes?