Debating the People of Falsehood Must Be Based on the Book and the Sunnah

The Shaykh : As for the word that may be a bit long, it is related to that question concerning the disbelief of the Christians and their trinitarianism. What I want to remind you of is that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), as He said regarding the Preserved Tablet: This meaning also applies to Islam, which came in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). "We have not left out of the Book anything," meaning that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has not left any room for anyone to add anything that contains good, guidance, or light, whether in terms of the goal or the means. By goal, I mean the legal ruling, whether in creed or legal judgment. By means, I mean the method of evidence and argumentation. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has not left it to anyone to add to the Shari'ah of Allah. This is what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated in the authentic hadith: So now, regarding the topic of debating the polytheists and the innovators, do we need means and methods that we do not take from the Book of Allah or the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? The answer is no. If we want to investigate the proof of the existence of Allah, this is the most obvious of obvious truths. The existence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the first innate disposition that has not changed or altered among all of humanity. Everyone believes that this universe has a Creator. So if we want to debate a materialist or a communist philosopher to prove to him that this universe has a Creator, we do not need to philosophize much, study philosophy, or study the science of theology. We do not need any of that at all. One verse in the Qur'an suffices us for all those details and all those philosophies. For example, our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) says: We stand by this verse and debate them day and night, and we do not add to it, and they are absolutely unable to stand before it. Our research here is not about the misguidance of the Christians. Do we need to use our minds and the knowledge we have acquired throughout our lives to show them the falsity of their creed and that they are upon shirk (associating partners with Allah) and misguidance? We do not need anything more than the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The chapter of debate and discussion never ends, and we must realize a factual reality that the heedless have overlooked and the misguided have strayed from, which is: these humans, each one has a mind and each one has a thought that differs completely from the other. The single mind, which is I or you, can never interact with all these different minds. If you can convince Zayd with your mind, you will not be able to convince 'Amr and Badr, and so on. Therefore, the one who tries to debate people with his mind, which is not based on the Book of his Lord and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), first: will tire, and second: his effort will be wasted and blocked. But hold fast to the rope of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and the Shari'ah of Allah. If you present it to any person, no matter how different or varied the minds of these people are, the argument you present from the Book of Allah is the argument, and there is no other argument. It does not mean that when you present an argument from the arguments of Allah to a falsifier, that falsifier must necessarily submit to this argument. Because if that were the case, all the polytheists would have submitted to their messengers and prophets and their callers, especially the master of the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them), especially since some of those who disbelieved in him were his relatives, some of his uncles, yet they disbelieved in what the Messenger (peace be upon him) brought. Was the Messenger of Allah a philosopher? Did the Messenger of Allah debate them with his mind as we sometimes try to do today? No. What did he debate them with? With the saying of Allah. The saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is the word of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and nothing more. And he (peace be upon him) did not prolong the discussion with the disbelievers, because when he presented his argument to them, he was certain that it was the argument revealed to him by Allah. So if a servant of Allah did not submit to it, it means that he is a stubborn denier. And as He (the Exalted) said: So this is the path that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took in debating the polytheists and the falsifiers, and it is what every scholar and Muslim must hold fast to, not bypass it for something else. If you hold fast to it and cling to it and bite down on it with your teeth, then you will first be guided, and you will also be a guide for others. Look now at what happened when the delegation of Najran came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to debate him about 'Isa. What do you think the Prophet (peace be upon him) did? Did he debate these Najranite priests, these Christians, that 'Isa is a creation of Allah and not the son of Allah? Far is Allah from what the wrongdoers say, in great exaltation. He did not do more than recite to them a verse from the verses of Allah or a surah from the Book of Allah. It was Surah al-Ikhlas, about which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ثلث القرآن Say: He is Allah, the One. It is a third of the Qur'an. because it gathered the essence of the creed related to the One Allah who has no partner. When the delegation of Najran debated him and they were stubborn and did not believe in him, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed to him His saying: Why did He attribute to them that they are among the liars? Because they denied the verses of Allah, as in the verse, and they denied them while their souls were certain of them. So you, O Muslim, even if you are not a scholar, nor even a student of legal knowledge, it is sufficient for you to confront these disbelievers with His (the Exalted) saying: and with His (the Exalted) saying: This is logical speech. From this logical speech, we return to His (the Exalted) saying: Another verse in the Noble Qur'an is completely innate, logical, and rational. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned it in the Noble Qur'an. Glory be to Allah, it came to my mind, and perhaps it will come back.
The student : ... .

The Shaykh: No.
The student : For the creation of the heavens and the earth.

The Shaykh : How?
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : And by Allah, the verses are many, but this is not what came to my mind.
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : We mentioned this, yes. The point is that debating the falsifiers with our minds, which are not based on our Shari'ah, is of no benefit. So what evidence do we want to present to the opponents here, whether they are not of our religion or they are of our religion but have strayed from our path? If we debate them with our minds, our minds must be based on a text from the Book of Allah or from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, otherwise we fear that we will lean toward them, as He (the Exalted) said in the Noble Qur'an to His Prophet, "How are we?!" Why? Because they debated him with their minds and their desires. So... the Muslim debater has some desire with the opposing opponent. He may think, he may review himself, and by Allah, there is at least a doubt, or something like that, and so on. No, hold fast to the rope of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and to what came from Allah, so that you are guided and at the same time a guide.