The Shaykh’s call to the da'wah workers to Allah to the necessity of engaging with the important knowledge for the reform of society and speaking about the reality of societies today.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: And upon you be peace, who is it?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: No, please, I hope that my question and your answer be specific or very limited, and it is.
The student : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh: - And upon you be peace, welcome, how are you? - I have now left the entire people and selected from them the righteous ones. We searched for the righteous ones, meaning those who consider themselves Muslims and that they pray and fast, and so on. I do not mean the open sinners, I do not mean the wicked, I mean the righteous strangers. And I mean by strangers among these strangers, let us say, they are the da'wah workers now. My previous question was about these righteous ones. Are these righteous ones, in their 'aqidah, in the tawhid (the oneness of Allah) commanded by the explicit text of the Noble Qur'an with the obligation of knowledge, so He - the Exalted - said: Are these righteous ones understanding this word that was commanded, which I commanded the Ummah in the person of Muhammad - (peace be upon him) - I think my question is clear now, so what is the answer?
The questioner: They were not righteous... by the text of the hadith that they are strangers... they did not deserve to be described as among the righteous and the strangers unless they understood this. It does not mean that among the da'wah workers there are not those who are not at the same level in their understanding of tawhid.
The Shaykh: No problem, we said let us repeat the speech and stop at it, because perhaps the speech will proceed and we are not in agreement on it. I claimed just now that there are two strangerhoods: strangerhood in righteousness and strangerhood in reform.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Are you with me in this, let us call it philosophy?
The questioner: No, no, Allah... this is correct, this is it.
The Shaykh: Good, may Allah bless you. So now they are few righteous people, more people disobey them than obey them. These are the righteous in general, and I think you rambled around this meaning in general. But the strangers among the strangers have another rank.Mishkat al-Masabih 170Isnād Da'īf Jiddan (Zubair `Aliza'i) I think the matter is clear in the place of those who reform. They do not reform among the open sinners and the wicked who do not obey and do not listen, rather they do not hear. Is this speech clear?
The questioner: Among the righteous.
The Shaykh: Yes, among the righteous. So the previous question returns, may Allah bless you, and it is: Are these righteous ones like the reformers in that they do not need, first, to be called to the reform of their 'aqidah, second, to the reform of their worship, third, to the reform of their morals and behavior? I do not think the answer will be anything but "no," they need that. Are you with us in this?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Good, we are placing these premises to build upon the conclusions, so that we are clear about them, if Allah wills. If the matter is so, I repeat the previous question: Have these righteous ones fulfilled the obligatory divine command: That is: Did they know the tawhid intended by this verse?
The questioner: If they had known it, they would not have needed the efforts of the reformers.
The Shaykh: Good, so what is the duty of the da'wah workers today?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes, this gives us the conclusion that we are now in a tightness of time and scientific effort that does not allow us at all to engage with the voluntary knowledge. Do you know where the target is? We are now, the obligatory is much heavier and much, much broader than that we engage with the voluntary knowledge. Because I do not believe that we, with our severe weakness, are in need to classify societies into a new classification different from the old classification, as we agreed just now that the rulings are with the previous condition. And I hope the brother understands after that. Yes, they change with the change of time and place, this is correct, but we are not in need of that now. And you are aware of this without doubt. But I believe that many of our brothers, the Islamic da'wah workers, are very, very far from caring about what some of the fuqaha said in his poem:
"Knowledge, if you seek it, is abundant,
And life is short for acquiring it,
So present the more important of it, then the more important.
The da'wah undoubtedly is based on knowledge. And if knowledge is much and life is short for acquiring it all, then it is necessary to present the more important, then the more important. Likewise, the da'iyah must engage with the more important, then the more important. We do not mean that we engage with tawhid, for example, we engage with tawhid and leave the people not to be proficient in prayer, for example, or fasting. But the rambling and the much research and raising it on occasion and without occasion, it must be around what was the methodology of the prophets and messengers all.[An-Nahl 16:36] We, unfortunately, see that the righteous society, in the view of the reforming da'wah workers, are not righteous because they draw near to Allah - Mighty and Majestic - with what Allah - Blessed and Exalted is He - has not prescribed. Leave aside the wrong concepts, some of which may have a precedent in some opinions and schools of thought, but they are contrary to the correct evidence from the Book and the Sunnah. No, leave this side. Let us take now the open violations, contrary to the evidences of the Shari'ah and to the sayings of the Imams - also - either out of ignorance, meaning turning away from acting upon the knowledge, or out of neglect, as is the reality of many people who consider many of the forbidden things permissible.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: And they know.
The Shaykh: And they know. This is why I said ignorance or neglect. So then, may Allah bless you, and now I am finishing my answer to this question. Our problem, I say, we as da'wah workers, our problem is much, much more important than that we think about such precise matters. And I remind you of what I said just now that, due to its precision, it will not be a place of agreement among the scholars of knowledge and research, but it will be a place of disagreement. And there is no objection. We do not see the necessity of agreement in every ijtihadi (independent legal reasoning) matter. And we are always rambling around his saying - (peace be upon him) - :Mishkat al-Masabih 3732 But my intention is that we are in no need of it. Yes, this is the summary of the answer.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: And upon you be peace, who is it?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: No, please, I hope that my question and your answer be specific or very limited, and it is.
The student : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh: - And upon you be peace, welcome, how are you? - I have now left the entire people and selected from them the righteous ones. We searched for the righteous ones, meaning those who consider themselves Muslims and that they pray and fast, and so on. I do not mean the open sinners, I do not mean the wicked, I mean the righteous strangers. And I mean by strangers among these strangers, let us say, they are the da'wah workers now. My previous question was about these righteous ones. Are these righteous ones, in their 'aqidah, in the tawhid (the oneness of Allah) commanded by the explicit text of the Noble Qur'an with the obligation of knowledge, so He - the Exalted - said:
So know that there is no deity except Allah
فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُSo know that there is no deity except Allah
فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُThe questioner: They were not righteous... by the text of the hadith that they are strangers... they did not deserve to be described as among the righteous and the strangers unless they understood this. It does not mean that among the da'wah workers there are not those who are not at the same level in their understanding of tawhid.
The Shaykh: No problem, we said let us repeat the speech and stop at it, because perhaps the speech will proceed and we are not in agreement on it. I claimed just now that there are two strangerhoods: strangerhood in righteousness and strangerhood in reform.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Are you with me in this, let us call it philosophy?
The questioner: No, no, Allah... this is correct, this is it.
The Shaykh: Good, may Allah bless you. So now they are few righteous people, more people disobey them than obey them. These are the righteous in general, and I think you rambled around this meaning in general. But the strangers among the strangers have another rank.
they will set right the corruptions caused in my sunna by people after my death
هم الذين يصلحون ما أفسد الناس من سنَّتي من بعديThe questioner: Among the righteous.
The Shaykh: Yes, among the righteous. So the previous question returns, may Allah bless you, and it is: Are these righteous ones like the reformers in that they do not need, first, to be called to the reform of their 'aqidah, second, to the reform of their worship, third, to the reform of their morals and behavior? I do not think the answer will be anything but "no," they need that. Are you with us in this?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Good, we are placing these premises to build upon the conclusions, so that we are clear about them, if Allah wills. If the matter is so, I repeat the previous question: Have these righteous ones fulfilled the obligatory divine command:
So know that there is no deity except Allah
فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُThe questioner: If they had known it, they would not have needed the efforts of the reformers.
The Shaykh: Good, so what is the duty of the da'wah workers today?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes, this gives us the conclusion that we are now in a tightness of time and scientific effort that does not allow us at all to engage with the voluntary knowledge. Do you know where the target is? We are now, the obligatory is much heavier and much, much broader than that we engage with the voluntary knowledge. Because I do not believe that we, with our severe weakness, are in need to classify societies into a new classification different from the old classification, as we agreed just now that the rulings are with the previous condition. And I hope the brother understands after that. Yes, they change with the change of time and place, this is correct, but we are not in need of that now. And you are aware of this without doubt. But I believe that many of our brothers, the Islamic da'wah workers, are very, very far from caring about what some of the fuqaha said in his poem:
"Knowledge, if you seek it, is abundant,
And life is short for acquiring it,
So present the more important of it, then the more important.
The da'wah undoubtedly is based on knowledge. And if knowledge is much and life is short for acquiring it all, then it is necessary to present the more important, then the more important. Likewise, the da'iyah must engage with the more important, then the more important. We do not mean that we engage with tawhid, for example, we engage with tawhid and leave the people not to be proficient in prayer, for example, or fasting. But the rambling and the much research and raising it on occasion and without occasion, it must be around what was the methodology of the prophets and messengers all.
Worship Allah and avoid Taghut
أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: And they know.
The Shaykh: And they know. This is why I said ignorance or neglect. So then, may Allah bless you, and now I am finishing my answer to this question. Our problem, I say, we as da'wah workers, our problem is much, much more important than that we think about such precise matters. And I remind you of what I said just now that, due to its precision, it will not be a place of agreement among the scholars of knowledge and research, but it will be a place of disagreement. And there is no objection. We do not see the necessity of agreement in every ijtihadi (independent legal reasoning) matter. And we are always rambling around his saying - (peace be upon him) - :
When a judge gives a decision having tried his best to decide correctly and is right, he will have a double reward; and when he gives a decision having tried his best to decide correctly and is wrong, he will have a single reward.
إذا حكم الحاكم فاجتهد فأصاب ؛ فله أجران ، وإن أخطأ ؛ فله أجر واحدThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.