Question:
There are some "Scholars" who label those who are "Salafi's" as people who make Takfir; what is your statement regarding this?
Answer:
It is a must for the Teachers to have mercy on their Students; and they should know the virtue and honour of attaching (themselves) to the Salaf, and it is indeed not worthy of dispraise and fault.
The Salaf - us - Saalih are the companions of the Prophet {صلى الله عليه وسلم} and those who followed them in goodness, so being tied (1) to them is honourable and a virtue.
So it's upon those who attach themselves to the Salaf; to be truthful to that claim and obey Allaah and his messenger {صلى الله عليه وسلم}, and Allaah's legislation [شريعة] and stay
away from that which opposes that.
And it's not allowed to direct hate towards this title "Salafi" as it is attached to the Salaf - us - Saalih. (2)
Nor is it allowed to call others Takfi'ree without proofs, as many people do these days due to ignorance.
Takfiree's are those who call others disbelievers based [upon a person] sin and they are "Khawarij" (3) like those who revolted against Ali {رضي الله عنه} in his time as Caliph.
They call others "Kafir" based [upon] sin, and the Prophet {صلى الله عليه وسلم} called them "Dogs of Hell-Fire"(4) and ordered [that] they [should] be fought and killed.
For example these people make Takfir saying "This person [who] drank alcohol or fornicated; thus he [has become] a disbeliever"
Making Takfir on sins, [this] is not what the people of Sunnah do; rather this is from the ways of the Khawarij.
They were known as "Hurooriyah" in the olden days,[by Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah] then they were fought by Ali (رضي الله عنه).
He fought them in their city [of] Harura (5), and Nahwaran (6); and their likes are present in our times as well; in the form of many groups (like ISIS, Al-Qaeda etc).
So this is the case of the Khawarij, they make takfir on sins, so they [will] call the fornicator a kafir, with Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah we do not make Takfir, rather the fornicator is a Muslim and the Hadd (Islamic punishment) is applied to him (in a Islamic country only).
Likewise with the Homosexual, we do not deem him a disbeliever rather (he is) a sinner; and he is to be killed if there is proof he is a Homosexual (in a Islamic country only by the authorities).
However if such a person says it is permissible to commit fornication while they know Allaah has prohibited it, then this person is a disbeliever.
So those who claim that Ahlus Sunnah, those who command good and forbid evil, to be Takfi'ree; such a person is oppressing himself.
This person should show some manners, unless there is proof such [a person] is a Takfi'ree, then it is upon the authorities to apply the Hadd (Islamic punishment).
Transcribed and slightly edited by Eesa ibn Roy
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Footnotes:
(1) Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said, "There is no criticism upon the one who manifests the way (madhdhab) of the Salaf, who attaches himself to it and refers to it. Rather, it is obligatory to accept that from him by unanimous agreement (ittifaq) because the way (madhdhab) of the Salaf is nothing but the Truth (haqq)." [Majmu' al-Fatawa, 4:149]
ولا عيب على من أظهر مذهب السلف وانتسب إليه واعتزى إليه، بل يجب قبول ذلك منه بالاتفاق؛
فإن مذهب السلف لا يكون إلا حقاً
(2) Allaah (سبحانه و تعالى) says about the Pious Predecessors [السلف الصالح]:
"It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allah, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masakin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and gives the Zakat, and who fulfill their covenant when they make it, and who are As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.) in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are Al-Muttaqun"
Surah Al-Baqarah [2:177]
Allaah (سبحانه و تعالى) says:
Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah [i.e. they have gone out for Jihad (holy fighting), and showed not their backs to the disbelievers], of them some have fulfilled their obligations (i.e. have been martyred), and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed [i.e.they never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allah] in the least.
Surah Al-Ahzab [33:23]
Also included in this are the best generations of the Muslims:
Narrated `Abdullah (ibn Mas’ud):
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, "The best people are those of my generation, and then those who will come after them (the next generation), and then those who will come after them (i.e. the next generation), and then after them, there will come people whose witness will precede their oaths, and whose oaths will precede their witness." Sahih al-Bukhari 6429
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدَانُ، عَنْ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ عَبِيدَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " خَيْرُ النَّاسِ قَرْنِي، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ، ثُمَّ يَجِيءُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ قَوْمٌ تَسْبِقُ شَهَادَتُهُمْ أَيْمَانَهُمْ وَأَيْمَانُهُمْ شَهَادَتَهُمْ ".
Theses generations of Muslims are:
The first generation:
The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم).
The second generation:
Taabi'een those who followed the first generation.
The Third generation:
Taabi' ut-Taabi'een those who followed the second generation.
(3) Yusair b. 'Amr reported that he inquired of Sahl b. Hunaif:
Did you hear the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) making a mention of the Khawarij? He said: I heard him say (and he pointed with his hand towards the east) that these would be a people who would recite the Qur'an with their tongues and it would not go beyond their collar bones. They would pass clean through their religion just as the arrow passes through the prey.
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُسْهِرٍ، عَنِ الشَّيْبَانِيِّ، عَنْ يُسَيْرِ بْنِ، عَمْرٍو قَالَ سَأَلْتُ سَهْلَ بْنَ حُنَيْفٍ هَلْ سَمِعْتَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَذْكُرُ الْخَوَارِجَ فَقَالَ سَمِعْتُهُ - وَأَشَارَ بِيَدِهِ نَحْوَ الْمَشْرِقِ " قَوْمٌ يَقْرَءُونَ الْقُرْآنَ بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ لاَ يَعْدُو تَرَاقِيَهُمْ يَمْرُقُونَ مِنَ الدِّينِ كَمَا يَمْرُقُ السَّهْمُ مِنَ الرَّمِيَّةِ " .
Sahih Muslim 1068 a
(4) It was narrated that Ibn Awfa said:
"The Messenger of Allah said: 'The Khawarij are the dogs of Hell.'"
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ الأَزْرَقُ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي أَوْفَى، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " الْخَوَارِجُ كِلاَبُ النَّارِ " .
Sunan Ibn Majah 173 declared Saheeh by Al-Albani
Abu Ghalib narrated that Abu Umamah said:
"(The Khawarij) are the worst of the slain who are killed under heaven, and the best of the slain are those who were killed by them. Those (Khawarij) are the dogs of Hell. Those people were Muslims but they became disbelievers." I said: "O Abu Umamah, is that your opinion?" He said: "Rather I heard it from the Messenger of Allah."
حَدَّثَنَا سَهْلُ بْنُ أَبِي سَهْلٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي غَالِبٍ، عَنْ أَبِي أُمَامَةَ، يَقُولُ شَرُّ قَتْلَى قُتِلُوا تَحْتَ أَدِيمِ السَّمَاءِ وَخَيْرُ قَتْلَى مَنْ قَتَلُوا كِلاَبُ أَهْلِ النَّارِ قَدْ كَانَ هَؤُلاَءِ مُسْلِمِينَ فَصَارُوا كُفَّارًا . قُلْتُ يَا أَبَا أُمَامَةَ هَذَا شَىْءٌ تَقُولُهُ قَالَ بَلْ سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ .
Sunan Ibn Majah 176 declared Hasan by Al-Albani
(5) It was narrated that Mu'adhah Al-'Adawiyyah said:
"A woman asked 'Aishah: 'Should a menstruating woman make up the Salah she misses? She said: 'Are you a Haruri? [1] We used to menstruate during the time of Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) but we did not make up the missed Salah nor were we commanded to do so.'"
[1] Meaning are you one of the Khawarij. Harura is a place associated with a group of the Khawarij.
أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ زُرَارَةَ، قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ، عَنْ أَيُّوبَ، عَنْ أَبِي قِلاَبَةَ، عَنْ مُعَاذَةَ الْعَدَوِيَّةِ، قَالَتْ سَأَلَتِ امْرَأَةٌ عَائِشَةَ أَتَقْضِي الْحَائِضُ الصَّلاَةَ فَقَالَتْ أَحَرُورِيَّةٌ أَنْتِ قَدْ كُنَّا نَحِيضُ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَلاَ نَقْضِي وَلاَ نُؤْمَرُ بِقَضَاءٍ .
Sunan an-Nasa'i 382 Saheeh
Another narration:
Narrated Mu`adha:
A woman asked `Aisha, "Should I offer the prayers that which I did not offer because of menses" `Aisha said, "Are you from the Huraura' (a town in Iraq?) We were with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and used to get our periods but he never ordered us to offer them (the Prayers missed during menses)." `Aisha perhaps said, "We did not offer them."
حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا هَمَّامٌ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا قَتَادَةُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَتْنِي مُعَاذَةُ، أَنَّ امْرَأَةً، قَالَتْ لِعَائِشَةَ أَتَجْزِي إِحْدَانَا صَلاَتَهَا إِذَا طَهُرَتْ فَقَالَتْ أَحَرُورِيَّةٌ أَنْتِ كُنَّا نَحِيضُ مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَلاَ يَأْمُرُنَا بِهِ. أَوْ قَالَتْ فَلاَ نَفْعَلُهُ.
Sahih al-Bukhari 321
(6) Ibn Hajar:
The apostates were the people of Al-Nahrawan (i.e. the Khawarij) due to the establishment of the authentic report about them that “They will apostasies from the religion as the arrow leaves the bow.”
Source: Talkhis Al-Habir fīiAhadith Raafi’i Al-Kabir. Vol. 4, Pg. # 44.
