The Correct Manner of Calling to Allāh (Part 3) – Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī ‘Umayr al-Madkhali

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The Imam, the Muhaddith, the Carrier of the Flag of al-Jarh wa at-Tadil (1) in our time, Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī ‘Umayr al-Madkhali (2) delivered a lecture entitled “The Correct Manner of Calling to Allāh” in the year 1422h, corresponding to 2001. This lecture was later transcribed and released in the year 1431H/2010. The translated benefits will be taken from both the audio and the printed book. in shāʾ Allāh

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3:

So, now let us examine the various da’wah movements that exist today; are they calling to this path or have they diverted from it? Are they established upon the Prophetic methodology, and upon the knowledge which Muḥammad ﷺ came with? How long did the Messenger of Allah call? How long did Nūḥ call? Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, ʿĪsā, Ṣāliḥ and other than them from the Prophets, to what did they all call? How much harm did they encounter? And how many trials did they encounter? For what purpose (did they call)? For positions of status? For Sufism? For which of the corrupt methodologies that exist today, which are attached to Islam while Islam is free of them? They bring resounding slogans that take hold of the hearts; however, by Allāh, they are hollow (lacking any substance). We do not utter these words as a revilement; rather, we desire to alert them that they have ruined themselves and brought ruin upon the Ummah due to these ways which oppose the Path of Allah and the Path of the Prophets, at the head of whom is Muḥammad ﷺ.

This is a brief observation regarding this verse: that there is a specific path which the callers to Allah are obligated to tread, and that knowledge is a condition for the caller to Allāh – that he be knowledgeable. It is not for any ignorant person, plucked from the street and taught empty words, to enter the arena [of daʿwah], then be thrust upon the pulpits and thrust forward to take a leading position before the Ummah, to lead and direct it.

The Ummah is ruined by the likes of these da’wah movements,

“Indeed, Allāh does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the hearts of the people after having given it to them. Rather, He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, until, when no scholar remains, the people take ignorant men as their leaders. They are then asked, and they give fatāwā without knowledge; thus, they go astray and lead others astray.” (3)

The people of ignorance do not benefit the Ummah, (rather) they harm it. They go astray themselves and lead the people astray. What results from this misguidance and misguiding in terms of ruin in this worldly life? Allāh knows best what the consequences will be in the Hereafter due to the effects of this ignorance and this misguidance. Verily, by Allāh it has grave consequences. By Allāh it is dangerous.

So, O gathering of youth, prepare yourselves to be from the inheritors of the Prophets (عَلَيْهِمُ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ).

“They did not leave behind dīnār nor dirham [wealth], rather, they left behind knowledge. Whoever takes hold of it it has taken an abundant share.” (4)

Among the greatest objectives of this knowledge is calling to Allāh تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَىٰ, rectifying peoples beliefs, rectifying their lives as a consequence of rectifying the creed. No prophet ever came except that there existed among the nations widespread corruption, without end, and from this was corruption in matters of creed. So, what did these Prophets (عَلَيْهِمُ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ) begin with? They did not begin with economic reform, nor with political reform, nor with social reforms – as they are called. Rather, they began with the creed and the rectification of creed. And when this creed is sound, the people will be led to rectify every aspect of life: political, economic and social. However, if the belief is not sound, then neither this Ummah, nor the people as a whole can be rectified in any field whatsoever, because it has no foundation. When the foundations are lost, the branches are lost. The foundation is the creed, and all of these actions and aspects are connected to the creed and dependent upon it. Therefore, if the foundation is lost or corrupted, then how can we rectify any other aspect?!

This is a reality that must be recognised by the people of intellect –  those who desire good for this Ummah,  those who desire happiness for it, and those who desire its rectification. This is the correct methodology in rectifying this Ummah.

(1)  As stated by the Imam, Shaykh Al-Albani (rahimahullah)

(2) He is the Shaykh, the erudite scholar and expert in ḥadīth, Rabīʿ bin Hādī bin Muḥammad bin Rabīʿ, hailing from the ʿUmayr tribe. Some genealogists attribute this tribe to the Naʿāmiyyah, a group of leaders whose lineage can be traced back to al-Ḥasan bin ʿAlī (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا). The ʿUmayr clan is closely associated with the well-known Madākhilah tribe in the Jīzān region, and the lineage of the Madākhilah can be traced back to the Shabīl clan, and Shabīl is Yashjub bin Yaʿrab bin Qahtān. Taken from Al-Fusool al-Mudiyyah min Seerati ash-Shaykh Rabī bnHādī ‘Umayr Al-Madkhali

(3) Reported by al-Bukhārī, nos. 100 and 7307, and Muslim, no. 2673, from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr رضي الله عنهما, with variations in wording. See also Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān, no. 6723

(4) Reported by Abū Dāwūd (3641), al-Tirmidhī (2682), and Ibn Mājah (223).