[4] The danger of deliberately sheltering ahlul bidah, including the haddadiyyah

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Al-Allamah Rabee Bin Hadi Al-Mad’khali, may Allah have mercy upon him, quoted Imam As-Sabuni, may Allah have mercy upon him, as follows:

And they [Ahlul Hadith] hated Ahlul-Bid’ah – those who initiated into the religion what is not from it. They neither loved them nor kept company with them. They neither listened to their speech nor sat with them. They neither argued with them about the religion nor debated with them”.

Then Al-Allamah Rabee said:

How is this (the case)? Is this from themselves or guidance from Allah and His Messenger, and that which the pious predecessors were upon? Allah warned against Ahlul Bidah and clarified for us that they are people of desires, and that they follow Mutashaabihaat and abandon the Muhkamaat. Aa’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, said:

The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, recited this ayah:

هُوَ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُّحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ ۖ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ابْتِغَاءَ الْفِتْنَةِ وَابْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ ۗ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ ۗ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

It is He Who has sent down to you [Muhammad] the Book [this Qur’an]. In it are Verses that are (entirely clear, they are the foundations of the Book [and those are the Verses of Al-Ahkaam (commandments, etc.), Al-Faraa’id (obligatory duties) and Al-Hudud (legal laws for the punishment of thieves, adulterers, etc.)]; and others are Mutashaabihaat (i.e. not entirely clear in what they indicate, so they are to be referred back to the Muhkamaat to be explained]. So, as for those in whose hearts there is a deviation (from the truth) they follow that which is not entirely clear thereof, seeking Al-Fitnah (polytheism and trials, etc.), and seeking for its hidden meanings, but none knows its hidden meanings except Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: ‘’We believe in it; the whole of it (clear and unclear Verses) are from our Lord.” And none receive admonition except men of understanding.’’ [Surah Aal Imraan. Aayah 7]

(Then) she said: The Messenger said: “If you see those who follow thereof that is not entirely clear, then they are those whom Allah has named (as having deviation from the truth) so beware of them”. [Al-Bukhari 4547]

Allah clarified that they [i.e. ahlul bidah] have desires and deviation with them, and that they intend to misguide themselves and other people! They desire trials and intend to misguide the people, and this is why the Messenger mentioned them and described their condition to us. He said:

“And indeed there will appear a people out of my Ummah in whom desires will run through them just as rabies runs through a dog”.

Ahlus Sunnah – no doubt – hate Ahlul bidah and the Imam (As Sabuni) mentioned a number of them that they are all agreed upon hating (Ahlul bidah). However, amongst them (i.e Ahlul bidah) there are du’aat- neither to be sat with nor debated, except in cases of necessity and for a Maslahah, (otherwise), it is not permissible to enter into debate with them. It is not permissible to enter into a specific debate with the Rawaafid if you are weak, except if one is a man who is firmly grounded in knowledge and religion, (very proficient in) establishing evidences, clever and a possessor of (the force and strength that enables him to easily excel in debate with the clear proofs without being affected by doubts), so if he sees a benefit in debating them, he debates them.

وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ

And argue with them in a way that is better.

This is the legislated debate. Allah did not close the door of debate completely, thus, if we have a way of establishing the proofs and to guide the people to good, we follow it. The one who is debated with may not benefit but others may benefit.

As for the weak one, then no. Even amongst the scholars there is one who is weak and led to be mistaken by Shub’hah. He may be a scholar but his character is weak, so he becomes weak in the presence of Ahlul bidah, even if they are younger than him and lesser in knowledge! Indeed, it has happened to many of those who ascribe to the Sunnah and Hadith due to their weakness and opposition to the methodology of the Salaf. For example: Al Bayhaqqi was from the seniors of Ahlul hadith and their scholars, and was deceived by some of the Ashaa’irah such as Ibn Fawrak and his ilk, so he fell into Ash’ariyyah! How many among the youth- in this era – have been ruined at the hands of Ahlul bidah?! How many youth, middle aged men and graduates from universities have been deceived by Ahlul bidah, thus they fall into their arms?! They are deceived by the parties, thus fall into their arms! Why is this? Because they did not act upon the statement of the Messenger: “If you see those who follow thereof that is not entirely clear, then they are those whom Allah has named [as having deviation (from the truth)] so beware of them”.

The strong one calls Ahlul bidah, he calls the Christians. There has to be dawah in the path of Allah and there has to be strong scholars who disseminate the religion of Allah; and when necessary, they debate so that the proofs are established and benefit one who is to benefit.

An Excerpt from ‘Sharh Aqeedah As-Salaf Ashaab Al-Hadith. pages 301-304′. slightly paraphrased