A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (18) | Condemning heresies and innovators

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

0:04 The life of the salaf between word and deed.

0:09 Condemning innovation and the innovator.

0:14 And condemning base desires and their followers.

0:16 And condemning argumentation and disputation.

0:18 Condemning innovation.

0:22 Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

0:27 "Follow [the Sunnah] and do not innovate,

0:29 for you have been sufficiently provided for."

0:31 Every innovation is a misguidance.

0:34 Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari said to Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with them both:

0:41 "I saw in the mosque people sitting in circles,

0:45 waiting for the prayer.

0:47 In every circle there is a man,

0:49 and in their hands are pebbles.

0:52 He says,

0:53 'Say Allahu Akbar one hundred times,'

0:55 and they say it one hundred times.

0:57 He says,

0:59 'Say La ilaha illa Allah one hundred times,'

1:01 and they say it one hundred times.

1:03 And he says,

1:04 'Say Subhan Allah one hundred times,'

1:06 and they say it one hundred times."

1:09 He [Ibn Mas‘ud] asked,

1:10 "And what did you say to them?"

1:13 He replied,

1:14 "I said nothing to them,

1:16 awaiting your opinion."

1:18 Then he went until he reached one of those circles,

1:23 and he stood over them and said,

1:25 "What is this that I see you doing?"

1:29 They said,

1:30 "O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman,

1:33 these are pebbles with which we count the takbir, tahlil, and tasbih."

1:38 He said,

1:39 "Count your sins instead,

1:42 and I guarantee that none of your good deeds will be lost."

1:47 "Woe to you, O Ummah of Muhammad,

1:50 how quickly you have fallen into ruin!

1:53 These are the Companions of your Prophet, peace be upon him, who are still among you,

1:59 these are his clothes that have not yet worn out,

2:02 and his vessels that have not yet broken.

2:05 By Him in whose hand is my soul,

2:07 either you are upon a religion better guided than the religion of Muhammad, peace be upon him,

2:14 or you are opening a door of misguidance."

2:17 They said,

2:18 "By Allah, O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman,

2:21 we intended nothing but good."

2:24 He said,

2:25 "And how many who intend good will never attain it!"

2:29 "The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, told us

2:34 that there are people who recite the Qur'an, but it does not go beyond their throats."

2:39 "By Allah,

2:41 I do not know, perhaps most of them are among you."

2:44 Then he turned away from them.

2:47 ‘Amr Ibn Salamah said,

2:49 "We saw most of those people in those circles

2:52 fighting against us on the day of Nahrawan alongside the Khawarij."

2:57 Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, also said:

3:01 "Innovation is more beloved to Iblis than sin,

3:06 for one may repent from sin,

3:08 but one does not repent from innovation."

3:12 And he, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

3:14 "Whoever hears of an innovation should not recount it to those sitting with him,

3:19 lest he cast it into their hearts."

3:22 Al-Dhahabi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

3:24 "Most of the imams of the salaf held this warning;

3:28 they believed that hearts are weak,

3:31 and doubts are snatching."

3:34 Mutarrif Ibn ‘Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

3:39 "That my Lord, the Almighty and Majestic, should ask me on the Day of Resurrection and say,

3:44 'O Mutarrif, why did you not do [such and such]?'

3:47 is more beloved to me than that He should say,

3:50 'Why did you do [such and such]?'"

3:54 Condemning the innovators.

3:57 ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

4:02 "People will argue with you using the ambiguous parts of the Qur'an,

4:06 so seize them with the Sunnah,

4:08 for the people of the Sunnah are the most knowledgeable of the Book of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic."

4:14 Abu al-Bakhtari said:

4:17 A man informed Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him,

4:22 that people were sitting in the mosque after Maghrib,

4:26 and among them was a man saying,

4:28 "Say Allahu Akbar such and such number of times,

4:31 and say Subhan Allah such and such number of times,

4:35 and say Alhamdullilah such and such number of times."

4:38 Abdullah asked,

4:40 "And do they say it?"

4:42 He replied, "Yes."

4:43 He said,

4:44 "When you see them doing that,

4:47 come and inform me of their gathering."

4:50 He came to them wearing a hooded cloak and sat down.

4:54 When he heard what they were saying,

4:57 he stood up—and he was a stern man—

5:01 and said,

5:02 "I am Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud.

5:05 By Him besides whom there is no god,

5:07 you have either brought an innovation of darkness,

5:11 or you have surpassed the Companions of Muhammad, peace be upon him, in knowledge!"

5:17 Mu‘addid said,

5:19 "By Allah, we have not brought an innovation of darkness,

5:22 nor have we surpassed the Companions of Muhammad, peace be upon him, in knowledge."

5:28 ‘Umar Ibn ‘Utbah said,

5:30 "O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman,

5:32 we seek Allah's forgiveness."

5:34 He said,

5:36 "Stick to the path, and you will be steadfast.

5:39 For by Allah, if you do so,

5:41 you have preceded [others] by a great distance,

5:44 but if you take to the right or the left,

5:47 you will go far astray."

5:51 Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said:

5:55 "Do not sit with the people of base desires,

5:58 for sitting with them causes sickness to the heart."

6:02 Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

6:06 "The more an innovator increases in exertion,

6:10 the further he becomes from Allah, the Almighty and Majestic."

6:14 Abu al-Jawza',

6:17 Aws Ibn ‘Abdullah al-Rab‘i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

6:20 "That I should sit with swine

6:23 is more beloved to me than that I should sit with any of the people of base desires."

6:29 Yahya Ibn Abi Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

6:33 "If you meet an innovator on the road,

6:37 take another path."

6:39 Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

6:43 "Whoever lends his ear to an innovator

6:46 exits the protection of Allah,

6:49 and is left to himself,"

6:51 meaning [left to] the innovations.

6:53 ‘Umar Ibn Qays, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

6:56 "Do not sit with a person of deviation, lest your heart deviate."

7:01 Al-Fudayl Ibn ‘Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

7:05 "Whoever sits with an innovator will not be granted wisdom."

7:10 Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned ‘Amr Ibn ‘Ubayd,

7:15 and he criticized him and spoke against him.

7:17 It was said to him,

7:19 "Do I not see scholars criticizing one another?"

7:23 He replied,

7:25 "Do you not know that when a man introduces an innovation,

7:28 it is incumbent upon us to mention him so that people may be warned?"

7:33 Al-Marwazi said:

7:35 "I said to Abu ‘Abdullah,"

7:37 meaning Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him,

7:40 "'Do you think a man should busy himself with fasting and prayer,

7:44 and remain silent about speaking against the people of innovation?'"

7:48 He frowned and said,

7:51 "'If he fasts and prays and isolates himself from people,

7:55 is that not only for himself?'"

7:57 I said, "Yes."

7:59 He said,

8:00 "'But if he speaks out, it is for himself and for others.'

8:04 Speaking out is better."

A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (18) | Condemning heresies and innovators

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