Reminder to Sons of My Household: Avoid Over-stringency, Adhere to Precise Principles and Careful Deliberation
In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.
The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
“The over-stringent ones are destroyed”.
Imam An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: The over-stringent ones are those who look too deeply (into affairs) and are excessive- those who exceed the Hudood (prescribed legislated Shariah boundaries) in their statements and actions”. [1]
Imam Muhammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy upon him, said that:
This applies to both speech and actions, and that in most cases some people in this state may become self-amazed and arrogant. [2]
The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
“Beware of Ghuluw (extremism exaggeration, or excessive zeal) in religion, for those who came before you were destroyed due to extremism in religion”. [3]
Shaikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“Ghuluw is the act of exceeding the limit in something, by either praising or criticizing (dispraising) something beyond what it truly deserves, and similar actions.” [4]
Shaikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:
“A person must have (sound) comprehensive fundamental principles to which the branches of a subject matter are referred back to in order to speak based on knowledge and justice; then he knows how those branches of the subject matter are established (or the way in which they are impacted by the sound comprehensive principles), otherwise, he will remain upon lies and ignorance in the branches and upon ignorance and oppression in the comprehensive fundamental principles, thus great corruption occurs”. [5]
Shaikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:
When it is the case that the (true) followers of the Prophets are people of knowledge and justice, then the speech of the people of Islam and the Sunnah about the disbelievers and people of bidah is to be (carried out) with knowledge and justice, and not conjecture and the soul’s desire. And due to this, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “Judges are three types; one will go to Paradise and two to Hell. A man who knows the truth and judges based on it will enter paradise; a man who knows the truth but judges based on the opposite of it will enter the fire, and a man who judges for the people based on ignorance will enter the fire”.
And when it is the case that the one who judges between the people in (matters) of wealth, blood [i.e. murder cases etc] and honour will enter the hell fire if he is not a just scholar, then what about the one who passes judgements without knowledge, such being the case with ahlul bidah, on religions, the fundamental principles of Iman, affairs of knowledge related to Allah, His Names, Attributes and Actions, and the lofty affairs of knowledge?!” [6]
An Example of Those People of Knowledge Whose Knowledge Had An Effect On Them
Imam Ibn Al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:
I have met the Mashayikh; their circumstances were different and their stations of knowledge varied. The most beneficial of them for me in companionship was the scholar who acted upon his knowledge, even though there were others more knowledgeable than him.
I met Abdul Wahhab Al-Anmaatee, who adhered to the principles of the pious predecessors. Backbiting was not heard in his gatherings (a) nor did he seek any reward for sharing hadith. Whenever I read to him the hadiths related to Raqaa’iq, he would weep and his tears would flow continuously. As a young person at that time, his weeping profoundly affected my heart. He embodied the characteristics of the scholars whose descriptions we had heard in the reports.
I met Abu Mansur Al-Jawaaleeqee, who was notably quiet and very meticulous in his speech. Even when asked about a clear matter, which some of his young students would quickly answer, he paused to ensure accuracy. He fasted and kept quiet a lot. I benefited from these two men more than I benefitted from others. I understood from this situation that guidance through action is more effective than verbal instruction. The truly impoverished one is the person who spends their life acquiring knowledge without applying it, missing out on the pleasures of this world and the goodness of the hereafter, ultimately proceeding as one bankrupt in deeds with strong proofs against him. [7]
Respect all the scholars and benefit from them, but seek out the most elderly and senior scholars
[1] Sharh Saheeh Muslim. 16/180
[2] https://alathar.net/home/esound/index.php?op=codevi&coid=126682
[3] Sahih Al-Jami 2680
[4] Iqtidaa As-Siraat Al-Mustaqeem 1/289
[5] Al-Majmoo Al-Fataawaa 19/203
[6] Al-Jawaabus Sahih 1/107-108
[7] Saydul Khaatir. page 138]