What is your advice for our brothers in Egypt, given the reality as we mentioned regarding the issue of declaring people disbelievers?

The questioner : What is your advice for these brothers of ours in Egypt, given the reality as we mentioned?

The Shaykh : This is my advice always, and it is purification and education.

The questioner : Especially in this disagreement, especially a word you direct to them specifically regarding this reality they are living in, the issue of declaring people disbelievers, yes.

The Shaykh : The truth is that my advice for these sons of ours, in my opinion, is that they must know the worth of their own selves and not think that every group among them is knowledgeable and that they are on something when they are not on anything. So I advise them to connect with scholars they trust, scholars who agree with them in general, meaning in returning to the Book and the Sunnah, but who differ from them in resorting to the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih. So I advise all of these people to first have a bad opinion of their own knowledge and to have a good opinion of their scholars. The matter is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith So it is necessary that there remain scholars in the Muslim world to whom people resort. It is not possible that these young people, who are novices in the pursuit of knowledge, are the least that can be said, it is not possible that these are the group the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) referred to in this hadith. And especially since there are authentic hadiths that point to certain lands distinguished by knowledge or by faith. This hadith I mentioned earlier was narrated by Imam al-Bukhari in his "Sahih" from the hadith of Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) that he addressed the people one day and said: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and he mentioned this hadith. Then he said: And this is Mu'adh saying, "They are in the Levant." So this hadith indicates that knowledge will be more abundant in some Muslim lands than in another. Then there is the other hadith which says So we advise these brothers and others in the various lands of Islam, while they are still in the shallows of knowledge, not to ride their heads and not to be arrogant with their knowledge while it is still shallow, and to ask as the Lord of the Worlds said This is what comes to my mind in giving advice.