Is it permissible for one who abandons prayer to go out with the Tabligh group, given that there is a doctrinal danger for him?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner: O Shaykh, yesterday...
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: I was asked about a sinful man who does not pray, regarding the ruling on his going out with the Tabligh group, and you said there is no objection.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: This is your answer, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: ... regarding the issue.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner: And as is not hidden from you, abandoning prayer, in your followed opinion, is a major sin among the major sins. And going out with the Tabligh group, O Shaykh, and since you did not specify in the fatwa yesterday, there is no doubt that there is a doctrinal danger, O Shaykh, specifically in the group's methodology as a whole, and in their limiting the religion to six matters, and in their enjoining good and forbidding evil, and they may even compromise regarding major tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and shirk (associating partners with Allah). This, O Shaykh, after you have heard this speech and known this, is it permissible for us to transfer a sinner to go out with the innovators? Naturally, this is the meaning of the question?
The Shaykh: Fine, may Allah reward you with good. But do you think that this one who abandons prayer has a correct creed?
The questioner: In our view, yes.
The Shaykh: How? Where did he get the correct creed from?
The questioner: ... in your opinion, the ruling on one who abandons prayer... that he is a fasiq (open sinner), the fisq (open sinfulness) as you have taught the people...
The Shaykh: Excuse me, excuse me, I did not understand you. My question is about this man who lives in this country.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And he is one who abandons prayer.
The questioner: In our view, yes.
The Shaykh: Is it the default assumption that his creed is Salafi?
The questioner: I cannot answer with no or with yes.
The Shaykh: And how can one understand with no or no yes, heh heh.
The questioner: I must specify in the answer, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: You are free, but I, I asked and you say we do not answer, not with no and not with yes.
The questioner: Then, O Shaykh, what is required of you is to ask... if he is with Sufis, in any case.
The Shaykh: My starting point, then, since you do not have the answer, not yes and not no, my observation from what I heard is that I always start from the principle of taking the lesser of two harms, the lesser of two harms. That a person, I believe, since he is one who abandons prayer, his creed is ruined and desolate, and that if he goes out with the Tabligh group, they will not corrupt in him a sound creed, until your previous objection is addressed, but rather they will improve in him an action, which is his abandoning of prayer. This is from one side. From another side, the Tabligh group—yes, please go ahead.
The student : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: Peace be upon you - .
The questioner: May Allah honor you, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh: May Allah honor you all.
The questioner: Amen.
The Shaykh: O Allah, so from this starting point I said what I said. The Tabligh group, in reality, as far as I know, are like the Muslim Brotherhood.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: That is: they do not proceed on one methodology and on one creed, in the Muslim Brotherhood, and perhaps you are aware of some of that. Individuals among them are Salafi in creed, but not in da'wah (calling to Islam). Their creed is in their hearts, and they do not have that enthusiasm that should be observed in the principle of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan Abi Dawud 4609Sahih (Al-Albani), and so on. Sahih Muslim 1017a They are convinced of the correctness of the Salafi creed, then they do not at all become enthusiastic for calling to it. Individuals, I say so, but the majority of them are the opposite, unfortunately. Likewise in the Tabligh group, especially after this da'wah has infiltrated your lands and hundreds, or rather thousands, of people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) have joined under its banner and flag, thinking that this da'wah is a da'wah of good and righteousness and reform, and so on. So the Tabligh group have among them some of this, and among them those who are predominantly corrupt in creed. But in terms of their care for worship and care for good apparent morals, this is apparent in them, in truth.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And therefore, I believe, as I believed previously, that the da'wah of the Muslim Brotherhood, I considered it and I still do, a preparation for the Salafi da'wah, most like the schools that they call... what?
The questioner: Nursery.
The Shaykh: Nursery, then...
The questioner: Kindergarten...
The Shaykh: Yes, kindergarten, then what? Primary school, and so on. So I considered, and I still say, that these general da'wahs to Islam, which make the youth enthusiastic about holding fast to Islam, even if you ask him what is Islam? It reminds me of the Syrian story that is told, and I sometimes tell it to some of our brothers on such an occasion. They claimed that a Kurdish man, and the Kurds are cited as an example of their enthusiasm and bravery, like the Afghans whom I saw in jihad all these years, they have enthusiasm and bravery in holding fast to Islam. But what is Islam? Now you will hear the joke. So they claimed that this Kurdish man met a man from the Jews on the road, so he grabbed him by the collar.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And he drew the dagger from its sheath.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: He said to him, "So-and-so, become a Muslim or I will kill you." He said, "What do you want me to say?" He said, "By Allah, I do not know," heh. So these who call people to Islam, Islam, Islam, and Islam is our goal, and I do not know what of the known old anthems, but what is Islam? They cannot give an answer. These people's da'wah is better than its absence, better than its absence, because they call to Islam, and then it is upon the other callers to fill the gap that they left and to perform the complete duty fully. So I say now, the Tabligh group have some individuals who carry the correct creed for themselves, but I know that the methodology of the Tabligh group does not call to tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and does not call to the Sunnah. And they are like the Muslim Brotherhood in that they believe that this divides the Muslims. But this person whom we are talking about now, his presence with the group is better than his remaining alone, not praying and not learning the creed. So let him learn prayer and let him learn something of patience in obedience to Allah and in dealing with people with good character, and so on. And we truly know from the Muslim Brotherhood that some entered and lived for years, then they moved on and became Salafis and became enthusiastic for the Salafi da'wah. Likewise, we have found recently people who went with the Tabligh group, but because of their contact with some Salafi callers, that became a cause for their rescue in terms of creed, while maintaining what they may have benefited from the Tabligh group. Therefore, I do not see your opinion, and no blame, that such a one who abandons prayer, if he joins the Tabligh group and goes out with them, that he will be harmed in his creed. No, either his creed remains ruined and desolate as it was, but his worship improves, with its flaws and defects, because the Tabligh group do not fix things either, and they do not say "this is the Sunnah" and "this is the bid'ah (religious innovation)," and so on. But, woe to you, some evil is less than some. This is my point of view, and Allah knows best.
The student: I am sincere, O our Shaykh, from before.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The student: I spent with the Tabligh, meaning, close to ten years.
The Shaykh: The land is inhabited.
The student: So your speech, O our Shaykh, because I went out with them and lived with them.
The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah.
The student: This, if it indicates anything, also indicates fairness. May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh: This is our duty, O Professor.
The student: So in fact, the one who goes out with the Tabligh, if he is zero and corrupt and a fasiq (open sinner), meaning he will be guided good guidance in terms of purifying the soul, prayer, standing in night prayer, maintaining the congregation, maintaining the sunnahs (recommended practices). But because they do not have a doctrinal methodology, a methodology in purification, a methodology in da'wah (calling to Islam) that is scholarly, and thus he remains a poor, lost person. If he benefits with knowledge, he only benefits from the outside.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The student: Or from those who, meaning...
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The student: And therefore, when I left the group, praise be to Allah, Allah guided me to Salafism while I was among them, and I used to find war from them, but I did not benefit anything from what I benefited from knowledge except after I...
The Shaykh: Became a Salafi.
The student: Yes, but O our Shaykh, the student of knowledge finds war from them.
The Shaykh: And this is one of their problems.
The student: And they dilute, O our Shaykh, the methodology, meaning a Salafi may enter with them and become a Khalafi (follower of the later generations).
The Shaykh: And therefore, I do not advise the Salafi to go out with them. And as long as I was asked about this, and I condition that if they allow you to do da'wah (calling to Islam), then go out with them and speak frankly. But I know the Muslim Brotherhood that they do not allow such a thing at all. Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah).
The student: Meaning, the Tabligh, if they hear this speech, they will come to you and kiss your head.
The Shaykh: They would have flown me to every corner, yes.
The questioner : Yes, exactly.
Another questioner: They would have allowed you to deliver the statement, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: They would have allowed you to deliver a statement.
The Shaykh: Delivering a statement.
The questioner: On your speech like this.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner: O Shaykh, yesterday...
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: I was asked about a sinful man who does not pray, regarding the ruling on his going out with the Tabligh group, and you said there is no objection.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: This is your answer, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: ... regarding the issue.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner: And as is not hidden from you, abandoning prayer, in your followed opinion, is a major sin among the major sins. And going out with the Tabligh group, O Shaykh, and since you did not specify in the fatwa yesterday, there is no doubt that there is a doctrinal danger, O Shaykh, specifically in the group's methodology as a whole, and in their limiting the religion to six matters, and in their enjoining good and forbidding evil, and they may even compromise regarding major tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and shirk (associating partners with Allah). This, O Shaykh, after you have heard this speech and known this, is it permissible for us to transfer a sinner to go out with the innovators? Naturally, this is the meaning of the question?
The Shaykh: Fine, may Allah reward you with good. But do you think that this one who abandons prayer has a correct creed?
The questioner: In our view, yes.
The Shaykh: How? Where did he get the correct creed from?
The questioner: ... in your opinion, the ruling on one who abandons prayer... that he is a fasiq (open sinner), the fisq (open sinfulness) as you have taught the people...
The Shaykh: Excuse me, excuse me, I did not understand you. My question is about this man who lives in this country.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And he is one who abandons prayer.
The questioner: In our view, yes.
The Shaykh: Is it the default assumption that his creed is Salafi?
The questioner: I cannot answer with no or with yes.
The Shaykh: And how can one understand with no or no yes, heh heh.
The questioner: I must specify in the answer, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: You are free, but I, I asked and you say we do not answer, not with no and not with yes.
The questioner: Then, O Shaykh, what is required of you is to ask... if he is with Sufis, in any case.
The Shaykh: My starting point, then, since you do not have the answer, not yes and not no, my observation from what I heard is that I always start from the principle of taking the lesser of two harms, the lesser of two harms. That a person, I believe, since he is one who abandons prayer, his creed is ruined and desolate, and that if he goes out with the Tabligh group, they will not corrupt in him a sound creed, until your previous objection is addressed, but rather they will improve in him an action, which is his abandoning of prayer. This is from one side. From another side, the Tabligh group—yes, please go ahead.
The student : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: Peace be upon you - .
The questioner: May Allah honor you, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh: May Allah honor you all.
The questioner: Amen.
The Shaykh: O Allah, so from this starting point I said what I said. The Tabligh group, in reality, as far as I know, are like the Muslim Brotherhood.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: That is: they do not proceed on one methodology and on one creed, in the Muslim Brotherhood, and perhaps you are aware of some of that. Individuals among them are Salafi in creed, but not in da'wah (calling to Islam). Their creed is in their hearts, and they do not have that enthusiasm that should be observed in the principle of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever guides to good is like the one who does it
مَن دَلَّ على خير فهو كفاعلهIf anyone summons other to follow right guidance
مَن دعا إلى هدى كان له أجرهMundhir b. Jarir reported on the authority of his father: While we were in the company of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the early hours of the morning, some people came there (who) were barefooted, naked, wearing striped woollen clothes, or cloaks, with their swords hung (around their necks). Most of them, nay, all of them, belonged to the tribe of Mudar. The colour of the face of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) underwent a change when he saw them in poverty. He then entered (his house) and came out and commanded Bilal (to pronounce Adhan). He pronounced Adhan and Iqima, and he (the Holy Prophet) observed prayer (along with his Companion) and then addressed (them reciting verses of the Holy Qur'an): '" 0 people, fear your Lord, Who created you from a single being" to the end of the verse," Allah is ever a Watcher over you" (iv. 1). (He then recited) a verse of Sura Hashr:" Fear Allah. and let every soul consider that which it sends forth for the morrow and fear Allah" (lix. 18). (Then the audience began to vie with one another in giving charity.) Some donated a dinar, others a dirham, still others clothes, some donated a sa' of wheat, some a sa' of dates; till he (the Holy Prophet) said: (Bring) even if it is half a date. Then a person from among the Ansar came there with a money bag which his hands could scarcely lift; in fact, they could not (lift). Then the people followed continuously, till I saw two heaps of eatables and clothes, and I saw the face of the Messenger (ﷺ) glistening, like gold (on account of joy). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: He who sets a good precedent in Islam, there is a reward for him for this (act of goodness) and reward of that also who acted according to it subsequently, without any deduction from their rewards; and he who sets in Islam an evil precedent, there is upon him the burden of that, and the burden of him also who acted upon it subsequently, without any deduction from their burden.
ومَن سَنَّ في الإسلامThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And therefore, I believe, as I believed previously, that the da'wah of the Muslim Brotherhood, I considered it and I still do, a preparation for the Salafi da'wah, most like the schools that they call... what?
The questioner: Nursery.
The Shaykh: Nursery, then...
The questioner: Kindergarten...
The Shaykh: Yes, kindergarten, then what? Primary school, and so on. So I considered, and I still say, that these general da'wahs to Islam, which make the youth enthusiastic about holding fast to Islam, even if you ask him what is Islam? It reminds me of the Syrian story that is told, and I sometimes tell it to some of our brothers on such an occasion. They claimed that a Kurdish man, and the Kurds are cited as an example of their enthusiasm and bravery, like the Afghans whom I saw in jihad all these years, they have enthusiasm and bravery in holding fast to Islam. But what is Islam? Now you will hear the joke. So they claimed that this Kurdish man met a man from the Jews on the road, so he grabbed him by the collar.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And he drew the dagger from its sheath.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: He said to him, "So-and-so, become a Muslim or I will kill you." He said, "What do you want me to say?" He said, "By Allah, I do not know," heh. So these who call people to Islam, Islam, Islam, and Islam is our goal, and I do not know what of the known old anthems, but what is Islam? They cannot give an answer. These people's da'wah is better than its absence, better than its absence, because they call to Islam, and then it is upon the other callers to fill the gap that they left and to perform the complete duty fully. So I say now, the Tabligh group have some individuals who carry the correct creed for themselves, but I know that the methodology of the Tabligh group does not call to tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and does not call to the Sunnah. And they are like the Muslim Brotherhood in that they believe that this divides the Muslims. But this person whom we are talking about now, his presence with the group is better than his remaining alone, not praying and not learning the creed. So let him learn prayer and let him learn something of patience in obedience to Allah and in dealing with people with good character, and so on. And we truly know from the Muslim Brotherhood that some entered and lived for years, then they moved on and became Salafis and became enthusiastic for the Salafi da'wah. Likewise, we have found recently people who went with the Tabligh group, but because of their contact with some Salafi callers, that became a cause for their rescue in terms of creed, while maintaining what they may have benefited from the Tabligh group. Therefore, I do not see your opinion, and no blame, that such a one who abandons prayer, if he joins the Tabligh group and goes out with them, that he will be harmed in his creed. No, either his creed remains ruined and desolate as it was, but his worship improves, with its flaws and defects, because the Tabligh group do not fix things either, and they do not say "this is the Sunnah" and "this is the bid'ah (religious innovation)," and so on. But, woe to you, some evil is less than some. This is my point of view, and Allah knows best.
The student: I am sincere, O our Shaykh, from before.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The student: I spent with the Tabligh, meaning, close to ten years.
The Shaykh: The land is inhabited.
The student: So your speech, O our Shaykh, because I went out with them and lived with them.
The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah.
The student: This, if it indicates anything, also indicates fairness. May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh: This is our duty, O Professor.
The student: So in fact, the one who goes out with the Tabligh, if he is zero and corrupt and a fasiq (open sinner), meaning he will be guided good guidance in terms of purifying the soul, prayer, standing in night prayer, maintaining the congregation, maintaining the sunnahs (recommended practices). But because they do not have a doctrinal methodology, a methodology in purification, a methodology in da'wah (calling to Islam) that is scholarly, and thus he remains a poor, lost person. If he benefits with knowledge, he only benefits from the outside.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The student: Or from those who, meaning...
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The student: And therefore, when I left the group, praise be to Allah, Allah guided me to Salafism while I was among them, and I used to find war from them, but I did not benefit anything from what I benefited from knowledge except after I...
The Shaykh: Became a Salafi.
The student: Yes, but O our Shaykh, the student of knowledge finds war from them.
The Shaykh: And this is one of their problems.
The student: And they dilute, O our Shaykh, the methodology, meaning a Salafi may enter with them and become a Khalafi (follower of the later generations).
The Shaykh: And therefore, I do not advise the Salafi to go out with them. And as long as I was asked about this, and I condition that if they allow you to do da'wah (calling to Islam), then go out with them and speak frankly. But I know the Muslim Brotherhood that they do not allow such a thing at all. Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah).
The student: Meaning, the Tabligh, if they hear this speech, they will come to you and kiss your head.
The Shaykh: They would have flown me to every corner, yes.
The questioner : Yes, exactly.
Another questioner: They would have allowed you to deliver the statement, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: They would have allowed you to deliver a statement.
The Shaykh: Delivering a statement.
The questioner: On your speech like this.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.