What is your opinion of those who accuse the people of the Sunnah of rigidity?

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I did not understand anything except the word "rigidity"; what came before that?

The questioner : It is said by some people that the supporters of the Sunnah have rigidity.

The Shaykh : This is an accusation directed at the supporters of the Sunnah and the people of hadith that they are rigid in dealing with some formal issues, and they may describe them as secondary issues. They may even lower their expression and say they are matters of the husk, and that time should not be wasted on them, and that they do not care about what is more important than that. This is, as was said in the past, a familiar accusation we know from the enemies of the Sunnah and the enemies of the correct creed. Those are people who care about what they display but do not work for it. They display an interest in establishing the Muslim state only, and in fighting the tyrants, as they claim, and in realizing that sovereignty belongs to Allah alone. This is a word of truth: sovereignty belongs to Allah alone. But first, they restricted the meaning of sovereignty to fighting the rulers in the lands of Islam who rule by other than what Allah revealed, which is a great pity. But they do not fight the rulers below them. There is no difference between those and them in that both these and those do not apply the Shari'ah of Allah in themselves and in those under their charge. Every man is, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So this shepherd is a ruler over his family, so he should implement the Shari'ah of Allah in them, and realize that sovereignty belongs to Allah in his small domain. Then he may have a larger domain; he may be, for example, the head of a department, he may be a school teacher, he may be a school principal. And there, his heart becomes dark and he completely forgets his call that sovereignty belongs to Allah. Why? Because the intention is only to fight the side of the people who are the rulers, and to fight them only with words and nothing of action. And action starts from zero, from the foundation to the top of the pyramid or the mountain or the towering building. So they differ from us. We begin with what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) began with: tawhid, the five pillars, teaching the Muslims what the Master of the Messengers (peace and blessings be upon him) brought. And we walk a slow walk, even if it is like the walk of a turtle, but we will arrive, if Allah wills. As for those, nearly a century has passed for them and they are shouting "sovereignty belongs to Allah," and then there is nothing of the ruling of Allah the Mighty and Majestic in their own private lives. If I were to say to one of them, "Pray as Allah has commanded you," he would not be able to pray. He would say as an excuse that he cannot perform Hajj. He would tell you that there are three opinions in the matter: Hajj ifrad, Hajj tamattu', and Hajj qiran, and the like.
The Shaykh : So if you ask him what the ruling of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from his Lord was, he cannot give an answer. Why? Because they occupied themselves with words rather than meanings. So it is such people who attribute rigidity to us, because we do not shout as they shout and we do not claim as they claim. Rather, we say: "So this is the truth, there is no obscurity in it, so leave me, O daughters of the path." They took the paths that we always mention in the authentic hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) خط ذات يومٍ خطاً مستقيماً وخط على جانبيه خطوطاً قصيرة وقرأ قوله تعالى : وأن هذا صراطي مستقيماً فاتبعوه ولا تتبعوا السبل فتفرق بكم عن سبيله - ثم قال عليه الصلاة والسلام - هذا صراط الله , وهذه طرق وعلى رأس كل طريقٍ منها شيطاناً يدعو النّاس إليه He drew a straight line one day and drew short lines on its two sides and recited His saying: "And this is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow the paths that will separate you from His path." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is the path of Allah, and these are paths, and at the head of each of these paths is a Shaytan calling people to it." So these people do not walk with us on the straight line. We, even if we assume that we are at the beginning of the line, the important thing is to hold onto the line and keep walking in it until certainty comes to us. As for those, they have deviated from the line. So every step they take, they move further from the straight line. We, every step we take and walk, we please our Lord the Mighty and Majestic, because He commanded us in the previous verse So we ask Allah the Mighty and Majestic to keep us all alive upon the knowledge of the Sunnah, by which alone we can walk together on a straight path.