Shaytān has several ways of beautifying his whispers of false opinions to appear correct to people and make oppression appear to them as justice. From the beautified whispers of Shaytān that has caused many youths to deviate is the statement “I don’t want to get myself involved in the issue of who was refuted or labelled, I don’t want to know about it.”
Shaytan beautifies this wrong statement with the fact that keeping away from matters of refutations would make a person concentrate more on study, worship etc, or the issue is just a personal issue among those refuting themselves and a student must not have an opinion. Or since he’s not presently taking knowledge from any of the parties, he has no reason to know what is happening and still takes both parties to be upright. All these are deceits in the whispers of Shaytān, to cause people to deviate.
The companions were more upright and serious than we are in seeking knowledge and worshipping Allah, and while they were also students of the prophet ﷺ, they would ask the prophet ﷺ about several tribulations, including the ones that haven’t happened yet and this didn’t make them unserious. Their teacher, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught them about Tawheed, Salaah, Zakaah and he would still warn them against Dajjal, the Khawarij, the Qadariyyah and knowing about these Deviants and their deviation was never seen to distract them from learning and worshipping.
Knowing the Deviants and their deviation is part of knowledge.
The prophet ﷺ also taught his companions about deviants and deviations just like he taught them other fields of Islam like jurisprudence and inheritance. Knowing the opposite of an issue strengthen one’s knowledge regarding that issue, knowing Shirk and its forms strengthens the knowledge of Tawheed, knowing Bid’ah and its forms strengthens the knowledge of The Sunnah, and knowing Deviants and deviation strengthens knowledge regarding the true path. Allah سبحانه وتعالى mentioned good deeds and good people in the Qur’ān, and he also mentioned evil deeds and evil people in Qur’ān, this is for us to learn of the evil, so we can stay away from it. Like it was reported from Hudhayfah bn Al Yamān radiyallahu anhu that:
The people used to ask Allah’s Messenger ﷺ about good, but I used to ask him about evil for fear that it might overtake me.¹
To note, knowing the Deviants and their deviation is part of learning The Sunnah. People of Bid’ah and falsehood are not limited to this environment alone. If you do not know what it means to hide Innovation under the garb of sunnah, you may fall for it elsewhere. You have to know their tricks and how to rectify yourself. Let us take the issue of Ali Ḥasan Al Halabi as an example, even though he claims sunnah, but for the fact that he does innovate several false principles into the deen of Allah, and you read and listen to the explanation the scholars of sunnah had said regarding him, it increases you in knowledge to know what to do if you come across any individuals like that elsewhere and in the future and you won’t be deceived by his false cries of empathy and false shreds of evidence.
Verily, those people who are always telling you that you should not know about these affairs by claiming Don’t busy yourself with Refutation, know truly that these people are from the refuted people and they are saying this to keep you away from knowing their realities, they know that you will leave them if you listen to the truth from the scholars of sunnah and they intentionally use the word ‘busy’ to distort and paint it as if knowing about these issues will make you busy from your studies and ibaadah and the only thing you would be doing is refutation. Don’t be deceived by that.
قَالَ الشَّيْخُ رَبِيعُ بْنُ هَادِي الْمَدْخَلِيُّ حَفِظَهُ اللهُ: «الَّذِي يُنْكِرُ الرُّدُودَ وَيَقُولُ: «رُدُودٌ، رُدُودٌ»، هَؤُلَاءِ فَجَرَةٌ، يَنْشُرُونَ بَاطِلَهُمْ وَلَا يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَرُدَّ عَلَيْهِمْ أَحَدٌ، هَذَا مَقْصُودُهُمْ».
«الْمَجْمُوعُ» (14/ 281).
Shaykh Rabee’ bn Hādī al-Madkhalī -may Allāh preserve him- said:
The one who negates refutations and he says “Refutations, refutations”. These individuals are wicked evildoers. They are spreading their falsehood and do not want anyone to refute them — this is their intention.²
Also, we all want to teach this beloved manhaj to our children, if not well acquainted with crimes of Bid’ah and Tamyee, and how people smuggle them discreetly into the sunnah, how do we teach them to our children?! We have to learn about these things to be able to teach them to others.
It affects your decision of where to take knowledge from.
Muhammad bn Sireen said: “Indeed, this knowledge is religion, so carefully consider from whom you take your religion”³
The prophet ﷺ predicted that there would be a lot of Fitan (singular. Fitnah – tribulations) after his death, and from one of the most dangerous tribulations is the tribulation of callers to the gate of Hell, and we are experiencing it now, callers to the gate of hell are littered all around the world and the social media even made them more accessible through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, WhatsApp and the likes. If you do not know about those who have deviated and their deviation, it may make you take knowledge from a wrong source and you may consume the person’s deviation from what you take from him. Especially since deviants know how to present their doubts with wrong evidence and emotion, a student of knowledge who does not listen and read the Refutation may be misled easily. If not for Refutation and criticism, a student of knowledge won’t know the difference between Shaykh Sālih Al Fawzān and Yūsūf Al Qaradawy!
It is most important that if the issue revolves around the person (or his students) you are presently taking from, do not be blinded by love for that person, do not blindly follow, strictly follow the Qur’ān and Sunnah upon the Methodology of the pious predecessors. And when the issue is a Nāzilah (issue affecting the general Muslims), you must refer back to Senior Scholars upon sunnah, the likes of Shaykh Sālih Al Fawzān, Shaykh Rabee’ bn Haadi Al Madkhali, Shaykh Ubayd Al Jābiree, Shaykh Abdullah Al Bukhari حفظهم الله.
Lastly, if you feign inattention to issues of those who have been refuted, you may mix with people of falsehood and promote them. And Allah has commanded that we should be with the people of the truth and we should stay away from people of falsehood and those who oppose Allah and his Messenger.
Allah said,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ
O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds).⁴
لَّا تَجِدُ قَوْمًا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ يُوَادُّونَ مَنْ حَادَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلَوْ كَانُوا آبَاءَهُمْ أَوْ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ أَوْ إِخْوَانَهُمْ أَوْ عَشِيرَتَهُمْ أُولَٰئِكَ كَتَبَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَأَيَّدَهُم بِرُوحٍ مِّنْهُ وَيُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ أُولَٰئِكَ حِزْبُ اللَّهِ أَلَا إِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
“You will not find a people who believe in Allāh and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allāh and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred. He has inscribed upon their hearts faith and supported them with spirit from Himself. And Allāh will admit them into gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide eternally. Allāh is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. They are the party of Allāh. Unquestionably, the party of Allāh are the successful.”⁵
وَلَا تَرْكَنُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ثُمَّ لَا تُنصَرُونَ
“And incline not towards those who do wrong, lest the Fire should touch you, and you have no protectors other than Allāh, nor would you then be helped.”⁶
And the greatest consequence of mixing with people of falsehood is that you get influenced by their deviation like the prophet ﷺ said:
المَرْءُ عَلَى دِينِ خَلِيلِه
“A man is upon the religion of his friend.”⁷
He ﷺ also said:
مَثَلُ الْجَلِيسِ الصَّالِحِ وَالسَّوْءِ كَحَامِلِ الْمِسْكِ وَنَافِخِ الْكِيرِ, فَحَامِلُ الْمِسْكِ إِمَّا أَنْ يُحْذِيَكَ, وَإِمَّا أَنْ تَبْتَاعَ مِنْهُ, وَإِمَّا أَنْ تَجِدَ مِنْهُ رِيحًا طَيِّبَةً, وَنَافِخُ الْكِيرِ إِمَّا أَنْ يُحْرِقَ ثِيَابَكَ, وَإِمَّا أَنْ تَجِدَ رِيحًا خَبِيثَةً
“The likeness of good companionship and bad companionship is like the seller of perfume and the blower of the bellows of the blacksmith. As for the musk seller, either he will give you some of his scents, or you will purchase some or at least you will smell a nice fragrance from him. As for the blower of the bellows, either he will burn your garment or you shall acquire a foul odour.”⁸
Now that you have seen the dangers of mixing with people of falsehood and deviation, if you do not know about falsehood and its people, how are you going to keep away from them? From the scariest of affairs is the one who didn’t know about these things and chose his/her life partner from these people of falsehood. Allah’s aid is sought.
Likewise, the danger extends to promoting people by calling to them and sharing their lectures and fliers, if you do not know the people of falsehood and their deviation, you may ignorantly promote them, call to them and make people you refer to consume deviation and also deviate. The prophet ﷺ said:
ومَنْ دَعَا إِلَى ضَلَالَةٍ كَانَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الإِثْمِ مِثْلُ آثَامِ مَنْ تَبِعَهُ، لا يَنْقُصُ ذلكَ مِنْ آثَامِهِمْ شَيْئًا
Whosoever calls to misguidance, will have sin upon himself as the same amount of the sins of those who followed him, and that won’t decrease anything from their sins.⁹
The above explanation is just some of the dangers of feigning inattention to issues of manhaj happening in one’s environment. We ask Allah to keep us firm on the right path.
May Allah ease our affairs.
Mubaarak Olayemi Ismail
Abu Muhsinah
1. Sahih al-Bukhari 3606
2. al-Majmoo’ (281/14)
3. Muslim no. 26
4. Tawbah: 119
5. Mujaadilah:22
6. Hud:113
7. Jami` at-Tirmidhi
8. Bukhari and Muslim
9. Muslim
