[17] Notification to Ahlul Bidah and The Mumayyi’ah: These Clarifications Are Coming Back!

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Al-Marwadhee, may Allah have mercy upon him, said, I said to Abu Abdillah (i.e. Imam Ahmad- may Allah have mercy upon him), “What do you think- a man preoccupies himself with fasting, prayers (i.e. optional fasting and prayers) and refrains from speaking against Ahlul Bidah?” He frowned and said: “If he fasts, prays and secludes himself from the people (i.e. he performs optional fasts, prayers and stays away from the people, except when he has to mix with them), he only benefits himself; but if he speaks (i.e. against ahlul bidah), he (benefits) himself and others, and that is better.[1]

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, stated in As-Sawaa’iq Al-Mursalah:

Exposing the faults of these ones (i.e. the misguided beliefs and actions of Ahlul Bidah), clarifying their disgraceful acts and their principles is from the best of Jihad in the path of Allah. Indeed, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to Hassan Ibn Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, “The Ruh Al-Qudus (i.e. Jibreel) will continue to support you, so long as you are defending Allah and His Messenger”. He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, (also said to Hasan): “Lampoon them (i.e. Quraish) and Jibril (Gabriel) is with you”. “O Allah! Aid him (i.e. Hasan) with the Ruh Al-Qudus as long as he is defending Your Messenger”. He stated about Hasan’s rebuke against Quraish: “By Allah! It will hurt them more than arrows”.

Thus, how can this not be from Jihad in the path of Allah when it is the case that many of these interpretations (i.e. those uttered by the deviants) are in opposition to the path of the pious predecessors – the Sahabah, the Taab’ieen, Ahlul Hadith and the Imams of Islam – whom Allah granted honour and are mentioned with good praise by the Ummah- and are tantamount to jesting with the texts and harbouring evil suspicion towards them (i.e. the texts), which is a type of the evil speech that was uttred by those who slandered the Messenger and his religion. This is because these false interpretations contain false claims and what is apparent from the speech of its utterer is slander; something that is impossible to ascertain, disbelief, misguidance, Tashbeeh, Tamtheel or deception; then he (i.e. the deviant utterer of such statements) changes them into meanings whose intended aim behind such words is known to be a type of intentional usage of words to cause ingenuity in ascertaining their sound meanings and to cause beguilement, which does not occur from one who intends to give sincere advice and sound clarification. Therefore, defending the speech of Allah and that of His Messenger is from the best of deeds, the most beloved to Allah and the most beneficial for the servant. [2]

Shaikh Al-Islam clarified the misguidance and bidah of some of the extreme Soofees, saying:

It harmful (effects) on the Muslims is greater than the harm of poison they eat, while being unaware of it. The harmful effects of their bidah and misguidance on the Muslims is greater than the harm (perpetrated by the) thieves and deceivers whom they are not aware of being thieves and deceivers. This is because the severest the harm of the thieves and deceivers can be is that it causes the death of a person or loss of his wealth, which is a worldly affliction and may be a means of receiving Allah’s mercy in the afterlife. As for these ones (i.e. the extreme Soofiyyah), they inculcate the (beliefs and acts) of disbelief and hearsay through the sound path of Prophets and the friends of Allah (i.e. they make the people believe that their beliefs, acts of disbelief and hearsay are based on the path of the Prophets and the close friends of Allah). They portray themselves as strivers in the path of Allah, but inwardly they are from those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger. They manifest the statements of the disbelievers and the hypocrites through the statements of the true friends of Allah (by way of forgery and manipulation), thus, a man joins them, while thinking that he will be from the believers and the friends of Allah, but ends up being a hypocrite and an enemy of Allah. [3]

[1] Tabaqaat Al-Hanaabilah 2/216

[2] As-Sawaa’iq Al-Mursalah 1/301-302

[3] Majmu 2/360