Imam Ibn Taimiyyah explains, “No teacher should take an oath of allegiance from his students to agree to everything he says, to be friends of his friends and enemies of his enemies” (Ibn Taimiyyah. Majmu`at Al-Fatawa, Vol. 28, Pg., 13).
The Salafi Da`wah is a methodology on how to understand and practice the Quran and Sunnah. The Salafi Da`wah is entirely based on the Quran and Sunnah, according to the way the Prophet’s Companions understood and practiced the religion, exactly as they learned all this from the Prophet, mercy and blessings on him.
By definition, the Salafi Da`wah is not a personality cult where a teacher and his followers would, as Ibn Taimiyyah puts it, “Consider whoever agrees with them as their friend and supporter and whoever disagrees with them as the aggressor enemy” (Ibn Taimiyyah. Majmu`at Al-Fatawa, Vol. 28, Pg., 13).
Currently, many among those who ascribe to the Salafi Da`wah fell into this trap, which constitutes a classical-case of `Hizbiyyah (sectarianism). They appoint a teacher -of their choosing of course- to be ‘The Teacher.’ Others do the same with a teacher of their choosing, as well. They then start a warfare against each other, often not knowing what the issues of dispute are, and if their teacher is right or wrong. How can they when, 1) they often do not look for evidence from the Quran and Sunnah supporting the stance of their teacher; 2) even if they did, they very often wouldn’t know if the evidence is accurate or if it is used correctly or not.
Thus, today, many among those who ascribe to the same Da`wah have divided into competing camps waging surrogate warfare against each other on behalf of their respective teachers. Meanwhile, they have ignored, to a large extent, confronting the increasing number of deviant teachers and misguided groups and ideologies that steadily dismantle Islam one creed and one law at a time.
And when one of the teachers of the competing camps gets tired of all this mayhem, they often switch from one extreme to the other extreme. Instead of exaggerating in attacking the other competing camps and their teachers, they now become soft, extreme in ‘tolerating’ and being ‘lenient’ with apparent contradictions of the Sunnah and the way of the Salafi Da`wah. They claim that their earlier harshness, which they practiced in defiance of the Salafi Da`wah and its normal methods, did not do them or the opponents good. So, they become soft and lenient at the expense of the Sunnah, since they do not challenge the deviants and their deviations effectively as is required from them.
Instead, they should defend the Quran and Sunnah and promote obedience to them, as Ibn Taimiyyah explains, “The teachers and their followers are required to abide by the ordainment of Allah and His Messenger stipulating that they should obey Allah and His Messenger, implement what Allah and His Messenger commanded and forbid what Allah and His Messenger forbade.” (Ibn Taimiyyah. Majmu`at Al-Fatawa, Vol. 28, Pg., 13).
Jalal Abualrub (www.IslamLife.com)
July 7, 2019