Discussion of the issue of declaring someone a disbeliever and the Shaykh’s praise of the two Shaykhs, Ibn Baz and Ibn Uthaymeen.

The Shaykh : As we agreed with some of our brothers, after the Friday prayer, if Allah wills, we will set out on the path of calling to the Book and the Sunnah in general, and in response to a specific invitation from some of our brothers here in Jarash. We decided not to cut the road short—it is a long road, and we are driving the car—so we would not sit in silence or talk about various matters. Instead, we would listen to this tape that was sent to me a long time ago. I am seizing the appropriate opportunity to listen to it, especially since the recorder in the car had been out of order for a long time. After we had it repaired, the repairman did not fix it properly, so I grew tired of taking it back for repair again. Then we sought the help of our brother Abu Layla, may Allah reward him with good, who directed us to another repairman. He repaired the recorder in the car, and it is now ready to play tapes. I placed the tape I have in the car, and I say that today, tomorrow, and the day after, if we travel or take a long trip, I will be able to listen to it. Today the opportunity arose; as I said, we put the tape in the device, and lo and behold, we were surprised to hear the words of the honorableThe Shaykh : Abdul Aziz ibn Baz. There was speech in it from before, so I have not been able to listen to the words ofThe Shaykh : Ibn Baz, may Allah reward him with good, in this tape yet. But afterwards, we began to hear the words ofThe Shaykh : Ibn Uthaymeen and some of his words regarding the topic. Then the reader began to let us hear the words ofThe Shaykh : onAl-Halabi : Al-Athari regarding the hadith or the interpretation of Ibn Abbas of the verse. And there we heard that this report has three chains, and that each chain is addressed, with an explanation of the chain that has some defects, and that the first chain is authentic and has no defect. And that some of the opponents among those who declare people disbelievers also attack the authenticity of this chain. And he saidThe Shaykh Al-Halabi : that even if we assume for the sake of argument that this chain is weak, the sum of these three chains undoubtedly gives it strength. After this, the reader began to read the word ofThe Shaykh : Al-Albani, the so-calledThe Shaykh : "the so-called" is truly what it means, because I am convinced from the bottom of my heart that the same proverb applies to him today as it does to me, and no blame for saying so, because it is my right to speak about myself and not my right to speak about others, but my words will hit others. So I say:
"The bats in our land are becoming wild." I am the bat, and the land is the inhabitants. And Allah is the helper. But truly, I testify to Allah with this because the land has lost scholars like the scholars whose status we know and whom we revere, such as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. We have become those who are mentioned and associated with them, and how far we are, how far we are. And here we mention the saying that is recalled on this occasion: "How far is the Pleiades from the dust, and how far is Muawiyah from Ali." And Muawiyah was a Companion, but there is a vast difference between this and that. And I am a student of knowledge, but where are we and where are those scholars? I return to say: "The bats in our land are becoming wild."

The questioner : Our Shaykh, you have opened for us a door that was closed.

The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.

The questioner : I do not doubt that you have innovated in the field of Islamization, praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh : I am saying here that I do not deny that this may be true, but this does not negate that I am a bat. Keep in mind the intended meaning. So the reader is reading the word of Al-Albani, which is an answer to a question, as recorded on the tape. And as it was presented in the newspaper, the point is that I heard the precise comments ofThe Shaykh : Ibn Uthaymeen, and I do not say merely beneficial, but precise. This is something that only a few of the scholars notice. For example, first of all, I criticize many students of knowledge, and perhaps some of them are prominent in knowledge, that when they begin their sermons and speeches with the "Sermon of Need," they add to what came in the authentic Sunnah. They say, "And we seek His guidance," and "Praise is to Allah, we praise Him and seek His help and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and the badness of our deeds," and so on. They add, "And we seek His guidance," and this did not come in the chains of the hadith. But the preachers today, and our preacher today as well, adds this addition. And I naturally do not mention it, but this reader is reading from his memory, so he added this addition to the tape. So Ibn Uthaymeen stopped him. This is what impressed me, or one of the things that impressed me. He said to him in a quiet voice, which was barely audible, and this is also part of his gentleness and his etiquette with his student: "Correct yourself." And lo and behold, he returned and read the text as recorded, without the addition of "And we seek His guidance."
Al-Halabi : It was as if he said to him, "This is from your own pocket."

The Shaykh : I did not notice.
Al-Halabi : It was as if in my mind he said to him, "This is from your own pocket, not from here."

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed. The point, may Allah reward him with good, is that he corrected him and guided him. Similarly, he corrects his mispronunciations and errors in recitation in many cases. From that also is the point that I began my speech earlier about. When he came to mention the verse that is obligatory and not the one being recited, I said that there is a wisdom in Allah the Exalted mentioning in the verse Otherwise, the meaning would have been completely understood if this phrase had not been mentioned. That is, if the verse were "And whoever opposes the Messenger after the guidance has become clear to him, and turns away from the path of the believers," without this phrase, "and follows other than the path of the believers." The apparent thing is that those who wrote and attributed in the newspaper thought that this was missing from the words ofThe Shaykh : So they mentioned the verse as it is in the Qur'an, while I was talking about how it was possible for the verse to be without the addition So they affirmed it again, and the reader read it as it is in the Qur'an. So he alerted himThe Shaykh : May Allah reward him with good. This is also part of the precision of his observations. And by Allah, I do not know now if you have reached its reading in the letter. Did you read the letter?
Al-Halabi : I read the letter.

The Shaykh : Is the addition present?
Al-Halabi : Yes.

The Shaykh : This is the problem. They printed the letter and separated it from the newspaper, yet the error is still present. ButThe Shaykh : May Allah reward him with good, he may have pointed it out. This is from our story in our journey to you. May Allah preserve you.
Al-Halabi : Our Shaykh, may Allah preserve you. I say, our Shaykh, may Allah preserve you. A few days ago, we sat with some of the brothers to discuss this issue, the issue of declaring someone a disbeliever and what is related to it. It is not hidden from you, our Shaykh, that this issue today is the preoccupation of people, and it is a trial that is said to have filled the valley and the mountain, such that some people, in whom we assume good, slip into these severe, treacherous pitfalls. The point is that this brother conveyed to us words fromThe Shaykh : Ibn Uthaymeen regarding the ruling by other than what Allah revealed. He quoted from the words of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, may Allah preserve him, in his explanation of the book "Tawhid," which was printed in three volumes. He details the well-known detail, but he says at the end, at the end of the speech, "And there is a difference between ruling by other than what Allah revealed in a case or cases, and ruling by other than what Allah revealed in the general Shari'ah or in the entire Shari'ah. This we say is a disbeliever." And the brother stopped his quotation here. So I, by the Greatness of Allah, felt fear in my soul and said, "Show me the book so that I can look at it." And I saw thatThe Shaykh : he says after that, "And when we say disbeliever, we mean that this leads its owner to disbelief." I said, this is what our Shaykh says, and this is what we affirm.

The Shaykh : There is no problem.
Al-Halabi : Yes, indeed. So this is correct speech, there is no problem in it. But sometimes people take what they want and leave what they want.

The Shaykh : This is a calamity.

The questioner : And this, our Shaykh, reminds us of a word of Imam Waki' ibn al-Jarrah, which you have reminded us of repeatedly, and it is his saying: "The people of desires and innovations mention what is for them and conceal what is against them, and the people of truth mention what is for them and mention what is against them."

The Shaykh : That is correct.
Al-Halabi: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : This is the way of the people of the Sunnah, and that is the way of the people of innovation. There is nothing with this qualification, meaning the problem is resolved, and I am convinced, if Allah wills.
Al-Halabi : By Allah, the problem remains, meaning.

The Shaykh : We ask Allah for their guidance.
Al-Halabi : O Allah, amen, O Lord of the worlds.