What is the criterion by which a person exits the circle of the people of the Sunnah and the community?
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The questioner : O Shaykh, it has come to us from some students, students of knowledge and others who claim to be committed, that they rush to issue rulings simply because a person differs on an issue of belief. It has become clear to us in our lessons on the middle path and the principles that there are some issues of belief on which the people of the Sunnah differ.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : And they did not declare one another disbelievers on these issues. So we want to know, O Shaykh, what is the thing by which a person exits the designation of the people of the Sunnah and the community, so that it becomes a general criterion to which students of knowledge can refer?
The Shaykh : May Allah protect you, exiting the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community.
There are two types: absolute exit, and exit in a specific matter. Absolute exit means that a person exits the people of the Sunnah and the community in a specific issue. In this case, it is not permissible for us to say, in an absolute sense, that he has exited. Rather, we say that he has exited in this specific issue, such as the rising above the Throne. Some people deny the rising above the Throne, but they do not deny the exaltation, nor do they deny the rest of the attributes. Some people deny the descriptive attributes, such as the Face and the Hands, but they do not deny the conceptual attributes. It is not permissible to describe him as having an absolute exit. Rather, he has an exit in a specific matter, and we say that he is not from the people of the Sunnah and the community in such-and-such. It must be qualified. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : And they did not declare one another disbelievers on these issues. So we want to know, O Shaykh, what is the thing by which a person exits the designation of the people of the Sunnah and the community, so that it becomes a general criterion to which students of knowledge can refer?
The Shaykh : May Allah protect you, exiting the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community.
There are two types: absolute exit, and exit in a specific matter. Absolute exit means that a person exits the people of the Sunnah and the community in a specific issue. In this case, it is not permissible for us to say, in an absolute sense, that he has exited. Rather, we say that he has exited in this specific issue, such as the rising above the Throne. Some people deny the rising above the Throne, but they do not deny the exaltation, nor do they deny the rest of the attributes. Some people deny the descriptive attributes, such as the Face and the Hands, but they do not deny the conceptual attributes. It is not permissible to describe him as having an absolute exit. Rather, he has an exit in a specific matter, and we say that he is not from the people of the Sunnah and the community in such-and-such. It must be qualified. Yes.