Neither Feign Ignorance Nor Resort to Fearmongering

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:

I have left you with two matters; you will not go astray as long as you hold fast to them: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet. [Al-Muwatta 2/899]

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:

Indeed, the one who lives long amongst you will see a lot of differences, and beware of newly invented matters (in the religion) because it is misguidance. So whoever amongst you reaches that, upon him is adherence to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided khulafaa, and bite onto it with the molar teeth. [(1)]

Imam Ibn Ibn Rajab, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

In this hadith is the command that when splitting and differing occurs, adhere to the Sunnah of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the Sunnah of the khulafaa after him. The Sunnah is a path that should be adhered to and it includes that which the rightly guided khulafaa were upon in creed, actions and statements. This is the complete Sunnah”. [(2)]

Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

Whoever wants to follow a path, let him follow the path of one who has passed away, for indeed the living are not safe from fitna, and those (who have passed away) are the Companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. They were the most virtuous of this Ummah, the purest in heart, the most profound in knowledge and the least sophisticated. Allah chose them to accompany His Prophet and establish His religion, so recognise their status and follow in their footsteps and adhere – as much as you can – to their manners and conduct, for they were upon upright guidance”. [(3)]

Imam Ibn Rajab, may Allah have mercy upon him, stated:

There is not to be found in the statements of those who came after the pious predecessors (any) truth, except that it is found in their statements with a more concise wording and a shorter expression. There is not to be found in the statements of those who came after them (any) falsehood, except that there is in their statements that which clarifies its falsity for the one who understands and contemplates. There are wonderful meanings found in their statements and precise observations, which those who came after them were neither guided to nor knew about it. The one who does not take knowledge from their statements will miss all that goodness, alongside the many falsehoods he will fall into due to following those who came after them. [(4)]

No one in their right mind thinks that Ibn Mas’ud’s statement implies that just because the living are not safe from Fitna, we should only focus on scholars who have passed away. Instead, what sensible individuals are saying – in this era – is that true safety lies in following those who have passed away upon clarity and guidance. No sensible person would interpret Ibn Mas’ud’s statement as a reason to abandon the upright carriers of Shariah knowledge in any era after the death of others, for indeed, the scholars are the ones able to explain the teachings of the scholars who preceded them. We all know that trustworthy scholars in every generation will carry the Shariah knowledge in creed, worship, and interactions. However, what aches the hearts of some deceivers is that sensible and truthful people are not easily duped by their name-dropping or inflating the status of people, some of whom keep on straying from the correct path after the departure of many senior scholars in our era. In other words, sensible people say: “We’ll not judge people solely by the endorsements they present that attracts the gullible, but we’ll judge them by their actions based upon the Quran and Sunnah as understood by the Salaf. We’ll assess if those attributed to knowledge truly follow the correct methodology of the senior scholars who passed away upon clarity as well as those senior scholars who are alive at present”. This is what is being said, so, do not pretend to be unaware, as no sensible person listens to your fearmongering tactics.

Furthermore, we all know that there will always be righteous scholars and people of Sunnah, regardless of the situation, because this Ummah does not unite in misguidance, as stated in the authentic hadith, and the Ta’ifatul Mansurah and the Firqatun Najiyah will always be present. Additionally, Mujaddideen will always arise, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, stated:

“Allah will raise for this Ummah at the end of every hundred years the one who will revive its religion for it”. [(5)]

“Allaah will raise for this Ummah”– Meaning, the Ummah Al-Ijaabah (the Muslims). “At the end of every hundred years”– Meaning, at the end of every hundred years when there is little knowledge of the Shariah and the authentic Prophetic Sunnah, while ignorance and innovation in religious matters is rife. “One who will revive its religion for it”– Meaning, a scholar who is alive and well known. He will clarify the authentic Prophetic Sunnah and distinguish it from Bidah. knowledge will be abundant again and its adherents will be aided, and the proponents of Bidah will be overcome and degraded. This reviver is none else but a scholar who has a sound understanding of the religious sciences that deal with acts of worship, the underlying wisdom of the religion, and the texts that deal with beliefs of the heart. [(6)]

Al-Allamah Rabee, may Allah preserve him, was asked: Shaikh Al-Albani, Shaikh Ibn Baz, and Shaikh Uthaymeen have passed away, so who remains from the scholars?

Answer:

Quote: Allah’s Messenger- peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- died and his noble companions- may Allah be pleased with them- remained. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal died and his companions remained. Ibn Taymiyyah died and his companions remained. Ibn Abdul Wahhaab died and his companions remained.

Those [i.e. Al- Albani, Ibn Baz, and Uthaymeen] died and their students and brothers remain by Allah’s Will. The truth will not be lost. When Umar was stabbed, it was said to him, “Appoint a successor!” He said, “Allah will not allow His Religion to be lost”. By Allah! This Religion will never be lost. It is obligated to you to put shoulder to shoulder and embark upon work- raise the flag of the Sunnah and truth. “There will not cease to be a group amongst my Ummah manifest upon the truth, neither will they be harmed by those who betray them nor by those who oppose them till Allah’s promise come to pass (i.e. the day of Judgement)”.

Quote: Our Salafi brothers are in different regions of the world. The world is filled with senior students of knowledge who fill this gap, all praise is due to Allah. Therefore, neither can the people of falsehood rejoice nor become happy. [(7)]

[(1)] Reported by Ahmad 4/126. Abu Daawud 4607. Tirmidhee 2676. Ibn Maajah 43

[(2)] Jami-ul Uloom Wal-Hikam: page: 249

[(3)] Jami Bayaan Al-Ilm Wa Fadlihi 2/947

[(4)] Fadl Ilm As-Salaf Alaa Ilm Al-Khalaf’ page 61

[(5)] Saheeh Sunan Abee Dawud. Hadith Number 4291.

[(6)] An Excerpt from Awn Al-Mabud Sharh Sunan Abee Daawud. 11/259-260

[(7)] Adh-Daree’ah Ilaa Bayaan Maqaasid Kitaab Ash-Sharee’ah 1/208-209