The Shaykh’s discussion with one of the students regarding Safar’s statement about some deviant sects.

The questioner : My Shaykh, may Allah bless you, and the Shaykhs testify, may Allah bless you. I am saying that Safar said this in response to a fatwa issued by the Committee of Senior Scholars permitting seeking assistance. So he answered the question, and the tape is for you to listen to from beginning to end. He said, in answer to the question, I said, when I was asked about the fatwa of the Committee of Senior Scholars, until I said, in order that nothing be fabricated about Allah and about His Messenger, I said that seeking assistance is not permissible, and so on. Then he went on and spoke at length, and then he said, "O brothers, ask us. We are those who are in a comfortable position regarding speech. Ask us. We are those who can speak in our mosques, in our homes, in our schools, in such and such, in such and such." Then he said, "This means that our Shaykhs, our scholars, fall into some flattery, some insincerity, some influences, flattery, and pressures. So do not put them in a difficult position, O brothers. It is not the case that every question you ask he will answer. Ask us. We are those who are in a comfortable position regarding speech." This, my Shaykh, may Allah bless you, is a statement that I do not accept. If someone came to me, and by Allah, how much do we not want to mention it, and by Allah, we do not accept that anyone should cast aspersions on our scholars, or on any of our scholars. I mean, someone comes to you from among these methodologies and says, "O brothers, this is obligatory in a lesson on the Tahawi creed." My brother, there is a rule: he repeats the word to you as he repeated it, and memorize it as a text. He says, "It is obligatory, O brothers. There is a rule: we must believe that all the sects that belong to Islam and that call to it, from the Mu'tazilah, the Khawarij, the Shi'ah, and the Rafidah, they all emanate from the Ummah and from its history." And he said, "Those that belong to Islam or those that call to it." Do the Rafidah call to Islam, even if they...

The Shaykh : This requires discussion. If the statement was said and your understanding of it was correct, then it is a concrete, embodied error that does not need discussion.
Al-Halabi : My Shaykh, this statement is also from the perspective of fairness, which we took a practical lesson in today. My Shaykh, when we visited our brother Safar, I and my brother Salim with our third brother Khalaf al-'Anazi, we raised this exact word with him, so the man answered.
Shuqara: Do not say "we raised it," say "we presented it." "We raised it" means we rejected it.
Al-Halabi : We mentioned this thing in front of him, and he said, "They attributed to my words what they cannot bear. Those who transmitted this word took it out of its context. So I said this word, I meant in it such and such. I mentioned something you remember now."
Al-Hilali: He said he means the Mu'tazilah or the Jahmiyyah or the Rafidah speak in the name of Islam.

The Shaykh : Yes, correct. And this is what we say. I say it. Be patient. And these are all our brothers who are present. I repeat this statement. Why do we say "Book and Sunnah and the methodology of the Salaf"? Because there is no sect on the face of the Islamic earth, no matter how established in misguidance, that says, "We are upon the Book and the Sunnah." Do you have any doubt in this statement?

The questioner : And every one claims a connection to Layla.

The Shaykh : But there is no sect in the world except one sect, and it is the one that says "Book and Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous Salaf." So Safar's statement, according to what we heard just now, and therefore I said to you just now, if the statement you are transmitting from him is like this, then this does not need discussion; it is refuted against him. But we fear what we fear, what happened just now, that this is a specific understanding of yours, and we do not bless you in it. Now, an interpretation has come, and we do not confirm it, but an interpretation has come that he means that these people truly call to Islam, and the Rafidah call to Islam, but it is a deviant Islam from the correct Islam. In that case, his words are not taken with the understanding that you understood. If that is the case, then I do not say now that I was right or wrong, and I do not say to the one there that he was right or wrong. But I say the matter truly needs to be approached with detachment from any external influences so that we can understand the man's words, especially if, and perhaps it is better to say, if there is between us and him what the blacksmith made, we should be cautious. Perhaps, as it was said, transmitted from 'Umar, "Seek an excuse for your brother, for perhaps he has a perspective in what he said." Do you think these phrases that you understand with your specific concept, did you pose a direct question like the professor just now, may Allah reward him with good, depicted that matter? That you support these demonstrations with? That it necessitates such and such, and so on. And he says, "Yes." Did you pose such a question? "Do you support the Jahmiyyah that they call to Islam, the Islam that you call to?" I am as certain as I am that he will say, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant." So why do you not pose these clarifying and confirming questions regarding what you have of correctness or what you have of error? Instead, you directly impose your specific concepts on the phrases of this man or others, and you say he says such and such. This interpretation, I am asking you now: does his speech allow for this interpretation, or does it not allow for it? If you take it as we said just now, from beginning to end, does it allow for it or not?

The questioner : But allow me to elaborate, or not.

The Shaykh : Elaboration comes after the general statement.

The questioner : No, it does not allow for it, my Shaykh. I elaborate.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : This, my Shaykh, in such a statement, when people are listening to me, and these people are common folk, and they need elaboration and clarification and explanation, especially like Safar or Salman.

The Shaykh : Understood. What was the question and the answer with this clarity?

The questioner : He was speaking, my Shaykh. I do not remember that there was a question. He was stating a rule. "O brothers, there is a rule: we must believe that all the sects that belong to Islam or that call to it, from the Mu'tazilah, he did not say the Jahmiyyah, from the Mu'tazilah, the Khawarij, the Rafidah, and the Asha'irah, that they all..."

Another questioner : From the reality of the Ummah and its heritage.

The questioner : Emanate from the Ummah and from...
Al-Halabi : Now I remember another addition, my Shaykh. The word mentioned by my brother Salim.

The Shaykh : Let us verify the transmission now. Now the transmission has changed a bit from before. So now confirm for us the statement before it.

The questioner : He says like this, "O brothers, we must believe that all the sects that belong to Islam and that call to it, from the Mu'tazilah, the Khawarij, the Rafidah, and the Asha'irah, that they all emanate from the Ummah and from its history."

The Shaykh : This is the text of his words.

The questioner : This is the text of his words, as I remember.

The Shaykh : Meaning there is no difference. Even if there is one word that is permissible, for example, you change something. Now you say "emanate."
Al-Halabi : Before that he said "originating."

The questioner : I said "emanate."

The Shaykh : No problem, my brother, may Allah bless you. We are not holding you to account, but on the contrary, we are verifying your words. Are you sure he said "emanate"?

The questioner : This is as I remember.

The Shaykh : Good. Now we need to benefit from you. Critique this statement for us.

The questioner : I, may Allah bless you, when I come to you with the elaboration, that it is supposed to be...

The Shaykh : No, critique this statement for us. Show us whether it is correct or it is wrong?

The questioner : Incorrectly.

The Shaykh : What is the aspect of the error?
Shuqara: O Abu Jabir, listen, listen. In the news bulletin they say, "We have presented to you a summary, and now we give you the detailed bulletin."

The questioner : May Allah reward him with good. This is the detailed bulletin. Good, may Allah bless you, my Shaykh. As for the elaboration, then say...The Shaykh : Safar that all sects belong to Islam and call to it. It is supposed to say, "From the Mu'tazilah and the Khawarij, that their Islam is deviant. We are all Muslims that the Rafidah, the Mu'tazilah, and the Asha'irah, in what they call to of Islam and what they think they call to of Islam, is only a deviant Islam. This is Islam according to their understanding, and it is not the true image of Islam that came to us from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : There is no power nor strength except in Allah. Does the meaning of your words imply that he says that these people adopt the Islam that came with Muhammad (peace be upon him)?

The questioner : No, I do not say this.

The Shaykh : So then?

The questioner : I say that it must be elaborated.

The Shaykh : He did not say, "Allow me, we are walking with you." He did not say, but does this mean that in the depths of his heart he believes that the Mu'tazilah and the Asha'irah, and so on, understood Islam and brought the correct Islam?

The questioner : Never, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : So what is the aspect of the denial? If it is necessary to say like this, is this an error in creed?

The questioner : No, I say this must be elaborated.

The Shaykh : My brother, none of us is free from making this kind of mistake repeatedly.
Shuqara: What he mentioned in this book is exactly right.

The Shaykh : However, in light of the context and what precedes it, it does not narrate the level of detail you are hoping for.
Shuqara: They all stem from the history of Islam as it is now.

The questioner : The common people, O Shaykh, are listening.