Advice from the Shaykh to one of the students debating the al-Saqaf group regarding how to establish the argument against them in matters of creed, such as affirming a location for Allah and the like.
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The questioner : Yes, yes, that is good, my Shaykh. The question is about the al-Saqaf group!
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : After the 'Asr prayer, if Allah wills, meaning we have an appointment with them to complete the session that took place last week.
The Shaykh : Complete your research where you stopped at the athar of 'Ali and its topic; is that not what is supposed to be done?
The questioner : Yes, that is what is supposed to be done, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So then, you start by dismantling this athar.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And by demonstrating that this al-Saqaf has no methodology in authenticating and weakening narrations; his methodology in that is whatever agrees with his desire, as evidenced by his weakening of the hadith that the Imams of hadith agreed upon as authentic, which is: and his arguing with such an athar that has no backbone and no bridle, and which no one from the Imams of hadith and the Sunnah has narrated, but rather it was narrated by an Ibadi man, if his existence is even verified, and then if his reliability is verified, after verifying his existence. This is proof that the methodology this man follows is the methodology of the people of innovation, who make good what agrees with their desires and weaken what contradicts them.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And as I spoke with you in a previous conversation, and I think in the car as well, which is: researching that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), even though He is not in a location, is as He was before He created location. Is He now inside the universe? We agree that He is not inside the universe because the universe is created and is a location. And you say: He is not inside the universe nor outside of it. So you have judged Him as non-existent, and this is disbelief itself. Do not forget this discussion, for it is the origin and foundation of this topic, upon which correct faith or disbelief in it is built. Then after that, it is not possible to categorize the rest; we can select the second point, because we know that, first, as they say, "the hadith has many branches," and second, that most people do not know the method of discussion and rebuttal, as you are aware of that, if Allah wills. Therefore, do not tire yourself out organizing what we will start, then second, then third, and so on. Rather, it is very important to follow up on the previous conversation and establish the argument against the man, because they do not believe in Allah and His Messenger except verbally. This is the nature of the hypocrites who testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,[Al-Fath 48:11]. Then I mentioned to you another aspect, glory be to Allah, it came to my mind and then slipped away and was gone.
The questioner : Non-existent existence, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is included.
The questioner : That is included in the previous research.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, but something else, yes! The other thing is that they believe in what has no basis and deny what has a strong basis. So they say: "Allah is not inside the universe nor outside of it." Where did they get this from? We bring you texts from the Book and the Sunnah that you distort. Suppose the matter is as you interpret it, but where did you get "not inside the universe nor outside of it" from?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is a creed, and creed, as you claim, is not built except on certainty. So where is the certainty in what you say?
The questioner : My Shaykh, I think they deny the ahad reports; they do not rely on ahad reports in creed?
The Shaykh : Yes, their al-Saqaf states this explicitly in his comments on "Shubhat al-Tashbih" (The Doubt of Likeness).
The questioner : Good, then this is a strong argument.
The Shaykh : Very strong.
The questioner : If you do not establish creed with ahad reports, how can you establish a creed with no hadith at all? I am going down, my Shaykh, going down to the valley.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : After the 'Asr prayer, if Allah wills, meaning we have an appointment with them to complete the session that took place last week.
The Shaykh : Complete your research where you stopped at the athar of 'Ali and its topic; is that not what is supposed to be done?
The questioner : Yes, that is what is supposed to be done, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So then, you start by dismantling this athar.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And by demonstrating that this al-Saqaf has no methodology in authenticating and weakening narrations; his methodology in that is whatever agrees with his desire, as evidenced by his weakening of the hadith that the Imams of hadith agreed upon as authentic, which is:
Where is Allah?
أين الله ؟The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And as I spoke with you in a previous conversation, and I think in the car as well, which is: researching that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), even though He is not in a location, is as He was before He created location. Is He now inside the universe? We agree that He is not inside the universe because the universe is created and is a location. And you say: He is not inside the universe nor outside of it. So you have judged Him as non-existent, and this is disbelief itself. Do not forget this discussion, for it is the origin and foundation of this topic, upon which correct faith or disbelief in it is built. Then after that, it is not possible to categorize the rest; we can select the second point, because we know that, first, as they say, "the hadith has many branches," and second, that most people do not know the method of discussion and rebuttal, as you are aware of that, if Allah wills. Therefore, do not tire yourself out organizing what we will start, then second, then third, and so on. Rather, it is very important to follow up on the previous conversation and establish the argument against the man, because they do not believe in Allah and His Messenger except verbally. This is the nature of the hypocrites who testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,
They say with their tongues what is not within their hearts.
يَقُولُونَ بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ مَا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْThe questioner : Non-existent existence, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is included.
The questioner : That is included in the previous research.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, but something else, yes! The other thing is that they believe in what has no basis and deny what has a strong basis. So they say: "Allah is not inside the universe nor outside of it." Where did they get this from? We bring you texts from the Book and the Sunnah that you distort. Suppose the matter is as you interpret it, but where did you get "not inside the universe nor outside of it" from?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is a creed, and creed, as you claim, is not built except on certainty. So where is the certainty in what you say?
The questioner : My Shaykh, I think they deny the ahad reports; they do not rely on ahad reports in creed?
The Shaykh : Yes, their al-Saqaf states this explicitly in his comments on "Shubhat al-Tashbih" (The Doubt of Likeness).
The questioner : Good, then this is a strong argument.
The Shaykh : Very strong.
The questioner : If you do not establish creed with ahad reports, how can you establish a creed with no hadith at all? I am going down, my Shaykh, going down to the valley.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.