Discussion of the people of the period of ignorance.

The Shaykh : And indeed, listen. When the session ended at approximately ten o'clock, or shortly after, they raised the issue in our faces, even though we had not given them the opportunity. They said, "What is your opinion of people who call for aid other than Allah? There is a disagreement between us and our Salafi brothers there. I do not know what our Salafi brothers there say to these people, or what these people say to those. But I felt that they are young and have not yet matured in knowledge as they should. So I posed the previous question to him. And when I followed the first question with the second—which is explicit and known among scholars, namely, 'What is your opinion of the people of the period of ignorance? Are they disbelievers?'—he said, 'Yes.' I said, 'The matter is finished now, and the time is up.' So what I want to say is, it is not hidden from you that we cannot declare the people of the period of ignorance to be disbelievers. Do you say in Syria, in the village, do you know the word in your language?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : In a lump, in a general sense, we cannot [declare them disbelievers]. The people of the period of ignorance were in the age of ignorance and before it, and so on. But we say a word of agreement: everyone to whom the call of a Prophet reaches and who disbelieves in it is a disbeliever. And on that basis, we say that the hadiths that came to clarify this, such as , you know this hadith. For these individuals, we rule with what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled. But we do not give a general ruling that all the people of the period of ignorance, between Isma'il (peace be upon him) and Muhammad (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him), are all in the Fire, or that they are all in Paradise. No. Rather, whoever believes in Allah and His Messenger as Allah and His Messenger intended is in Paradise. As for the one to whom the call did not reach, I think you believe with us that this person has a different reckoning in the Hereafter. This is an introduction and a preamble, and I think there is no disagreement between us on this, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : Now, many of our brothers, students of knowledge, and perhaps some scholars, think that the matter of the people of the period of ignorance is finished, meaning that there are no people of the period of ignorance after the mission of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). I disagree with them and say that the call is still in need of being conveyed, and indeed in need of being explained, not just conveyed. I once said to some scholars in a gathering with us, and I heard from him this strange opinion, that Islam has covered the face of the entire earth, as evidenced by the Qur'an being broadcast on all Arab radio stations. So I said to him, "O Shaykh, this Qur'an was revealed in a clear Arabic language. I believe, and I am Al-Albani, I do not forget that I am praying, that the Arabs themselves now need interpretation and explanation for this noble Qur'an, because they have become foreigners in their Arabic language, let alone the foreigners by nature. If the English, Germans, Americans, and so on hear the Qur'an, do you think they understand it? And if I believe that they do not understand it, do you think that the call has reached them? Then I followed up my words by saying, 'You know that some Islamic parties, or Islamic sects, as we call them, which are deviant from Islam fundamentally, like the Qadiyyah, have strange activities in calling people. I do not say calling to Islam, but calling to their Islam. For example, in Germany and Britain, and I saw their mosque there in Britain, and it is written on it: La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasul Allah. But do you know what the Qadiyyah believe? Has the argument been established against them? Has the call reached them? I answer, and I said to the one I was speaking with, 'I will give you a more comprehensive answer than you.' So I answer, and if I am wrong, correct my error. I say that the call has not reached them, because the condition for the call reaching them is that it reaches them as it was revealed and as it came, of course in its fundamentals, not in its details and individual words. And on this basis, I explain two hadiths. The first hadith has no direct relation to what we are discussing, and it is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): We say to many people who ask us, 'I saw the Messenger in a dream and he said to me such and such, and did such and such, and smiled at me, and so on.' How did you see the Messenger? He says, 'I saw, what Allah willed, his beard was white and radiant.' I say, 'That is not the Messenger.' And a free man is satisfied with a hint; there is no need to delve into this. It is merely a point of attention to his saying, 'Whoever sees me, I am with my descriptions and characteristics.' It is not any person who is told, 'This is Muhammad.' The second hadith has a direct relation to what we are discussing. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): This German or American heard that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke of other prophets who would come in the last times, and he had old Sufi deviations, which might be Buddhist. He found this to be compatible with that belief before his Islam, so he believed in Qadiyyan Islam. Has the argument been established against this person? I say no, the argument has not been established against him, because this Islam that was taught to him is not the Islam of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) for the argument to be established against him. And this is the one against whom, if the argument is established and he hears of it, it is disbelief, for he has exited the religion. The Christians, as we all know, what do they know about our Prophet? What they know about Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is that, I also say in the Syrian expression, he is a womanizer, meaning he loves women. And they may support this with the hadith whose original text is authentic and the addition in it is false: So the phrase 'three' is false. The Christians knew about the Messenger that this is a man who loves women and marries something he permitted for his Ummah, and so on, as you know. So these people were taught Islam by the priests and monks. So these people did not know Islam, and therefore we do not believe that Islam has reached them at all. Rather, these Qadiyyah, when they order them to pray and perform Hajj to the House of Allah and give zakah, and so on, but with that, they insert into it what is not of Islam at all. They did not convey Islam as it came to these people whom you mentioned. So they did not embrace the correct Islam. I think up to here the matter is all clear and agreed upon, if Allah wills?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.

The questioner : This Qadiyyani is like the one who saw the Prophet in a dream with his white hair.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
Al-Halabi : Distorting the truth.