In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.
The Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, “The best of the people are those living in my generation, then those who will follow the latter and then those who come after them. Then there will come after them people who will be treacherous and will not be trustworthy, they will bear witness without being asked to do so, and they will vow, but will never fulfil their vows, and fatness will appear among them”. [Al-Bukhaari]
Al-Allaamah Rabee Bin Haadi Al-Mad’khali [may Allaah preserve him] said, “They give false testimony, act treacherously and deceitfully. They behave in a very sinful manner and follow evil desires, except those whom Allaah safeguards amongst the Taa’ifatul Mansoorah [i.e. the aided group of Muslims upon the straight path] – those whom Allaah’s Messenger praised. Therefore, it is obligated on us to acquire knowledge for the sake of Allaah [The Mighty and Majestic] and act upon it. Ignorance is a deadly disease and knowledge is a weapon that will destroy you if you do not act upon it, and Allaah’s refuge is sought. (1)
Reflect upon the statement of Al-Allaamah Rabee, “Therefore, it is obligated on us to acquire knowledge for the sake of Allaah [The Mighty and Majestic] and act upon it. Ignorance is a deadly disease and knowledge is a weapon that will destroy you if you do not act upon it, and Allaah’s refuge is sought”.
Indeed, there is no doubt that Hijaab is afflicted by the deadly disease of ignorance and one of the reasons behind this is due to preoccupying himself with rhetoric. This was first pointed out by Shaikh Abu Iyaad Amjad Rafiq [may Allaah increase him in beneficial knowledge, righteous deeds and pure provision, protect him from all evil and those harbouring blameworthy envy against him Aameen]. Read: Muhammad Hijab, the Falasifah, Mutafalsifah and Jahmiyyah: Laying the Foundations for the Dīn of the Philosophers and Jahmites: http://www.aqidah.com/creed/articles/fespl-muhammad-hijab-the-falasifah-mutafalsifah-and-jahmiyyah.cfm
Hijaab’s misguidance is well-known, but one clearly witnesses – from Shaikh Abu Iyaad’s robust clarifications – that he embarked upon the path of rhetoric – alongside arrogance, dishonesty and fame seeking – which he considered to be knowledge, but rather it was a path of Jahl (ignorance). Imaam Ash-Shaafi’ee [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “Ilmul Kalaam [theological rhetoric] is ignorance”. Imaam Abu Yusuf [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “Ilmul kalaam is ignorance and to be ignorant of Ilmul Kalaam is knowledge”. (2)
Yunus Ibn Abdil A’laa [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “I heard Ash-Shaafi’ee [may Allaah ahve mercy upon him] saying, ‘It is better for a man to be put to trial with everything that Allaah has forbidden except Shirk than looking into (or engaging himself in) ilmul kalaam, for indeed I have come across affairs from the proponents of ilmul kalaam that which I never thought I would come across'”. (3)
Imaam Ahmad [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “I am neither a person of Ilmul Kalaam nor do I recognize Ilmul Kalaam in anything. (I only recognize) that which is found in the Book of Allaah or in the Sunnah of His Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him]”. (4)
A man asked Qaasim Bin As-Sallaam [may Allaah have mercy upon him] about Ilmul Kalaam, so he said to him, “Indeed, your Lord has guided to the path of uprightness and to the path of truth. Allaah [The Exalted] said:
[فَإِن تَنَـٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِى شَىۡءٍ۬ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأَخِرِۚ ذَٲلِكَ خَيۡرٌ۬ وَأَحۡسَنُ تَأۡوِيلاً – (And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination (Surah An-Nisaa. Aayah 59)] Do you not have what suffices in what your Lord guided you to regarding His speech and the Sunnah of His Prophet, so that you do not return to your opinion and thus become destroyed! Indeed, your Lord has forbidden you from speaking about His Essence and Attributes, except that which He has made known to you”. (5)
Ibn Aqeel [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “There is none more harmful on the Sharee’ah than the innovators of the proponents of kalaam and the ignorant soofees”. (6)
Imaam Maalik [may Allaah have mercy upon him] stated, “May Allaah curse Amr Ibn Ubaid, for indeed he innovated this innovation from Al-Kalaam. If Kalaam was knowledge, the companions of the Messenger and the Taabi’een would have spoken about it just as they spoke about rulings and laws of the religion, however it is falsehood and leads to falsehood”. (6.1) Al-Allaamah Rabee Bin Haadee Al-Mad’khali [may Allaah preserve him] was asked: “May Allaah reward you with good. This is also a question from the brothers who are present, saying: Assalaamu Alaykum Warahmatullaahi wabarakaatuhu. Virtuous Shaikh, is it permissible for me to learn (or study) the knowledge of Mantiq (rhetoric or philosophical logic)? Benefit me (i.e. with a response) and may Allaah [The Exalted] reward you with good”.
Answer: The knowledge of Mantiq is a corrupt knowledge and the pious predecessors – based on consensus- declared that it is forbidden to study it due to the misguidance and evil consequences within it. Shaikhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “Neither does a dull-witted person benefit from it nor is an intelligent person in need of it”. An intelligent person is not in need of it because he is sensible in himself – in his natural disposition and intellect; and a dull-witted person does not benefit from it. Even if he studied all the books of Mantiq, he will not benefit from it. Shaikh Albaani [may Allaah have mercy upon him] used to debate against the scholars of Mantiq and they used to be like children in his presence, yet he never studied Mantiq; rather Allaah granted him (sound) speech and (Sharee’ah) knowledge, and there is no proof stronger than the proofs of the Kitaab [i.e. the Qur’aan] and the Sunnah. The people of Mantiq are always defeated. By Allaah! Regardless how much they (utilise) philosophy and how strong they are in Mantiq, they are defeated in the presence of the methodology of the pious predecessors (which is) founded on the Book [i.e. the Qur’aan] and the Sunnah. (7)
Al-Allaamah Rabee Bin Haadee [may Allaah preserve him] also said: The final affair of ahlul kalaam [the proponents of theological rhetoric] is a state of doubt and confusion, and the final affair of the people of the Sofee paths is a state of wild irrational behaviour and false claims. Shaikhul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “And because of this, the innovators of Ahlul Kalaam have something of resemblance to the Jews and those who innovate acts of worship have something of resemblance to the Christians. The final affair of ahlul kalam is a state of doubt and confusion and the final affair of those who innovate acts of worship is a state of wild irrational behaviour and false claims. That is because these ones [i.e. ahlul kalaam] deny the truth and thus it leads them to doubt and those ones [i.e. those who innovate acts of worship] believe in falsehood and it leads them to a state of wild irrational behaviour. These ones [i.e. ahlul kalam] are like the darkness in a vast deep sea, overwhelmed with a great wave topped by a great wave, topped by dark clouds, darkness, one above another; and those ones [i.e. those who innovate acts of worship] are like a mirage in a desert, the thirsty one thinks it to be water, until he comes up to it and finds it to be nothing”. (8)
Al-Allaamah Rabee Bin Haadee [may Allaah preserve him] also said: Shaikhul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said: “The people in their pursuit of knowledge and religion have two innovated paths and a path legislated in the Sharee’ah. The path of the Islamic legislation is to look at that which the Messenger brought, utilise it as evidence and act upon that which it necessitates, therefore, there has to be knowledge based on that which he [i.e. the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came with and to act upon it, and only one of them is not enough. This path is built upon the sound intellectual proofs and the sound proofs that are based on absolute certainty (in conformity with the revelation), because indeed the Messenger clarified the sound intellectual proofs whose limits are determined by the (infallible) divine texts and the Messengers clarified the sound rational proofs which the people are in need of, just as Allaah put forth in the Qur’an every kind of similitude. This is the straight path which Allaah commanded His servants to ask Him to guide them to. As for the two innovated paths, one of them is the path of the people of innovated theological speech and views, because indeed there is much falsehood in this. Many of its people become negligent in the deeds commanded by Allaah and His Messenger, so they remain upon corruption in knowledge and deeds. These people stray towards false Judaism.
The second is the path of people who employ ways of strengthening the soul, the people of the Soofi paths and innovated acts of worship. These ones stray towards false Christianity, because they say that if a person purifies his soul based on the manner in which they have stated, then the sciences of the religion will come to him in abundance without learning. The acts of worship of many amongst these people are innovated; rather they are in opposition to that which the Messenger came with and thus they remain upon corruption in their deeds and corruption due to deficiency in knowledge, since they do not know what the Messenger came with. These people often malign one another and every group speaks ill against the other, whilst each of them claims to be following the Messenger; however, what the Messenger came with is neither in agreement with what these ones say and what those ones say. Allaah said: [مَا كَانَ إِبۡرَٲهِيمُ يَہُودِيًّ۬ا وَلَا نَصۡرَانِيًّ۬ا وَلَـٰكِن كَانَ حَنِيفً۬ا مُّسۡلِمً۬ا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُشۡرِكِينَ – Ibrahim (Abraham) was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true Muslim Hanifa (Islamic Monotheism – to worship none but Allah Alone) and he was not one who associated partners to Allaah in worship]. [Surah Aal Imraan. Aayah 67]
Neither Allaah’s Messenger nor his companions were upon the path of the people who innovate in religion – the proponents of Theological Rhetoric and Views; nor the path of the people who innovate in religion amongst the proponents of innovated worship and Soofiyyah; rather he was upon that which Allaah sent him with based on the Qur’aan and Sunnah”. (9)
Imaam Muhammad Ibn Saaleh Al-Uthaymeen [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said: There is nothing- based on what I can see or what I hold – more harmful to the Muslims in their creed than ilmul kalaam [theological rhetoric] and Mantiq [philosophical logic]. Many of the senior scholars of theological rhetoric affirmed – at the end of their lives – that they wished to die upon the religion [i.e. the religion that is in conformity with what is found in the Qur’aan, authentic Sunnah and understanding of the pious predecessors] and return to their natural disposition [i.e. Islaam as revealed in the authentic texts]. Shaikhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “The ones it is feared for the most that they will fall into misguidance are those scholars of theological rhetoric at the intermediate level, because those who did not engage in it were safe from its evils; and those who engaged in it and reached a high level became acquainted with its corruption and falsity, and thus left it”. He (Shaikhul Islaam) spoke the truth, because this is what is feared in every affair of knowledge. It is what is feared for the ones at the intermediate level in knowledge- those who are exploring the path, because indeed they consider themselves as ones who have entered into affairs of knowledge and do not leave the affair to others (i.e. they enter into affairs that are above their ability to deal with), whilst – in reality- they have not reached the highest level in knowledge and are not grounded, so they become misguided and misguiding others. (10)
When Muhammad Hijaab [may Allaah guide him] jumped into the sea of misguidance, Shaikh Abu Iyaad [may Allaah preserve him] stopped him in his tracks and the title of the refutations addressed the very state of affairs of this deviated fool. The title was, “Muhammad Hijab, the Falasifah, Mutafalsifah and Jahmiyyah: Laying the Foundations for the Dīn of the Philosophers and Jahmites”: http://www.aqidah.com/creed/articles/fespl-muhammad-hijab-the-falasifah-mutafalsifah-and-jahmiyyah.cfm
The above was a very precise observation and refutation, then at present we know that Muhammad Hijaab is accusing Ahlus Sunnah of likening Allaah to the creation. Read below on twitter link by Shaikh Abu Khadeejah [may Allaah preserve him]: https://twitter.com/AbuKhadeejahSP/status/1588487493040869377
Imaam Abu Haatim ar-Raazee [may Allaah have mercy upon him] when he stated:
Also listen Ustaadh Shamsi [may Allaah preserve him]: Mohammed Hijab Mocking Imam Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahhab [may Allaah have mercy upon him]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU_Y_MxMDoM
Warning: Perils of Having Good Suspicion About One’s Intellect, Harbouring Evil Suspicion About Authentic Divine Texts And Not Critically Examining Ideas And Claims of The People!
https://salafidawahmanchester.com/2020/09/04/perils-of-having-good-suspicion-about-ones-intellect-harbouring-evil-suspicion-about-authentic-divine-texts-and-not-critically-examining-ideas-and-claims-of-the-people/
[Ref 1: Marhaban Yaa Taalibal Ilm pages 268-270]
[Ref 2: Aqeedah Ash-Shaafi’ee. Page 87]
[Ref 3: Aqeedah Ash-Shaafi’ee. Page: 86]
[Ref 4: Quoted in “An-Nahjul Aqwaa Fee Arkaanil Fatwaa. Introduction by Al-Allaamah Saaleh Al-Fawzaan and Al-Allaamah Abdul Azeez Aala Shaikh. page: 126]
[Ref 5: Reported by Al-Ajlee in Dhammul Kalaam 1/85]
[Ref 6: As-Sawaa-iq Al-Mursalah Alal Jahmiyyah Wal-Mu-attilah 4/1346]
[Ref 6.1: Dhammul Kalaam by Al-Harwee 5/73]
[Ref 7: An Excerpt from Marhaban Yaa Taalibal Ilm page 347. Slightly paraphrased]
[Ref 8: Al-Mukhtaaraat Al-Bahiyyah Min Kutub Shaikhil Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah. Page 281]
[Ref 9: Al-Mukhtaaraat Al-Bahiyyah Min Kutub Shaikhil Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah. 290-291. Slightly paraphrased]
[Ref 10: An Excerpt from Sharh Hilyati Taalibil Ilm page 28. slightly paraphrased]
