The Characteristic of the Salaf: Clarity www.SalafyInk.

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The Characteristic of the Salaf: Clarity

Author: Ab Asiy Ilys as-Salaf al-Kanad (The poor slave of Allah) Completed: on the 15th of Ramadn, 1434AH, Corresponding to Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013

"And thus do we explain the Ayaat in detail, that the way of the Mujrimoon, may become manifest." [(6):55]

Dear brothers and sisters, in our times we are constantly and consistently being trialed with individuals who wear the cloak of Salafiyyah, whilst in reality, under this cloak, they hide the ugliest form of tamy'. Unfortunately, some of these individuals are even former or present students from the Islamic University or the like, who repeat this slogan whilst thinking that they are correct in their corrupt stance and that they are not obliged to clarify anything to anyone, whether he be a scholar, student or layman. So, they make statements such as,

Who are you?! Why should I have to clarify my position on Halab to you?! Why should I have to clarify my position on anything to anyone?!
Or,
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Who are you?! Why should I have to clarify my position on Madeenah.com to you?! Why should I have to clarify my position on anything to anyone?!
And,

My Salafiyyah has nothing to do with my approval or disapproval of Madeenah.com. Ask me about 'aqdah and manhaj and my love for the scholars. That should be enough.
Those that pronounce these mantras try to draw wool over the eyes of the new Salaf, and with great sadness they (the new Salaf) are unaware of the severe indoctrination of khalaf principles that these individuals have gone through, while studying abroad. What is known to us and has always been known to the one, who strictly sticks to and is upon the way of the Salaf in all aspects of this religion, is that the Salaf is to be upon clarity. The Salaf is to be upon clarity with regards to understanding his religion and likewise upon clarity in regards to his positions and stances. He does not hide anything nor is he purposely evasive in religious matters, thus causing him to be viewed as unclear and doubted by others. The true Salaf is the one whom, when asked to clarify something, feels love because of that. He loves that he is asked for clarity and loves to aid in clarity being manifest, because he knows that clarifying matters is to aid and defend the Salaf methodology to his fellow Salafs. He loves that the truth becomes known, clear, and manifest, so that falsehood is abolished and eradicated so that others will not become confused or doubtful. He does not come with excuses or false principles that the shaytn whispers to him, nor does he make statements that can only stem from a heart full of pride. The Salaf is clear manifest upon clarity! This clarity can be illustrated by an event that took place in the time of the Messenger . of Allh

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Narrated 'Al b. al-Husayn (from Safiyah, the Prophet's

wife):

: .( : .( ): ):
The wives of the Prophet were with him in the mosque (while he was in i'tikf) and then they departed and the Prophet said to Safiyah bint Huyai: "Don't hurry up, for I shall accompany you," (and her dwelling was in the house of Usmah). The Prophet went out and in the meantime two Ansar men met him and they looked at the Prophet and passed by. The Prophet said to them, "Come here. She is (my wife) Safiyah bint Huyai." They replied, "SubhnAllh, (How dare we think of evil) O Allh's Apostle ! (we never expect anything bad from you)." The Prophet replied, "Satan circulates in the human being as blood circulates in the body, and I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds."1

.(

This hadth illustrates to us many things that are of benefit to us with regards to the topic at hand. This hadth definitively displays the clarity the Salaf should wish to ascertain, especially in these times when the truth is confused with falsehood and falsehood is confused with truth.

Reported by Sahh al-Bukhr (2038).

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Point 1: 'But, I am Salaf...' When these individuals, who wear the cloak of Salafiyyah are asked to clarify certain matters, they start asking defensive and reflective questions such as, 'What does this have to do with my Salafiyyah?' They begin to defend their salafiyyah as if there exists some principle stating that a Salaf cannot be asked to clarify anything. Rather, the Salaf, when asked to clarify, does not make such statements. On the contrary, he becomes pleased and does not take it as an insult, like some who are filled with pride do nowadays. Furthermore, it is said to these individuals, 'If you are Salaf and are truthful in this claim of yours, then you should have no problem clarifying your position with regards to the likes of Halab, Ma'rib, Madeenah.com, and others like them.' This is a point these individuals have missed. Individuals, who when queried by one of the major scholars in this time to clarify their position with regards to Ma'rib and Halab, refuses. Why would a true Salaf refuse that? Why would a true Salaf who believes they (Ma'rib and Halab) are misguided and have opposed the Salaf manhaj refuse to clarify their position? Can anyone imagine one of the Salaf behaving in a similar manner? No, by Allh, such a thing cannot be imagined, no matter how far we stretch our imaginations! Point 2: Running from Clarity and Clarification We see in this aforementioned hadth that the Prophet was doing something permissible, however this did not stop him from wishing to clarify to others that he was in fact speaking with his wife. This aspect of the hadth is important to note, due to these individuals who at times may say,

"Have you seen any opposition from me that would predicate me having to clarify anything?"

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This is a doubt that is brought in order to put the seeker of clarity in doubt. What is desired by this type of individual is that you are made to turn back on your heels so that you cease pressing them to clarify. Truly, their tactic is a diversionary one; to mention issues that are not relevant to the matter at hand, all the while attempting to wiggle their way out of having to clarify their positions in certain affairs. Intentionally or not, these individuals are indirectly building a principle with this speech of theirs. This innovated principle of theirs seeks to alleviate the individual from being obliged to clarify themselves by shifting the burden of proof onto the one who first sought clarity. This tactic is attempted by asking if any opposition to the truth has been witnessed from them by the initial questioner, and if it has not, then we should not be in need of asking them to clarify anything. There should be no doubt that this is a sneaky and diversionary tactic that they attempt only in order to deceive the Salafs. The implications of this means that we are unable to question an individual based on suspecting them alone and that we can only question them with certainty that they are in opposition to the truth. This is a baseless methodology that has been refuted and clarified by the scholars of Ahlul Sunnah such as Shaykh Rab' (may Allh preserve him). If an individual is suspected of something, he simply clarifies that which he was suspected of and everything ends there. However, it is unfortunate that these individuals do not seem to love clarification. They would rather run around attempting to utilize these corrupt principles in order to avoid clarification, rather than be clear, unequivocal and straightforward. himself did not make light of the fact that others could The Messenger of Allh have suspected him of evil, nor did he have this attitude of, 'Who cares what they think, I'm the Messenger of Allh !' Furthermore, he did not reprimand them with regards to suspecting others of evil, rather, he rushed to clarify what could have possibly been suspected of him by others. Indeed, if there were anyone who would be free of having to care about others doubting him or assuming things about him, then it would have been the Messenger of Allh . There is no doubt that amongst his

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companions, none would ever assume any evil with regards to him, yet he still took it upon himself to clarify. So, who are you, that you believe you are above having to clarify?!? Moreover, there is a proof within the hadth that the general prohibition of suspicion is when there is absolutely no reason to suspect someone of something and not when one has put himself in a situation where others may suspect evil of him. In our time, when these individuals are in a situation whereby they are doubted due to statements they make and positions they take, or simply because they are not treading the methodology of the Salaf in their manhaj, they seem to have this attitude whereby they believe it to be some sort of honourable thing not to be clear in regards to things that have been witnessed or heard from them. Some of them will even make statements that would lead one to believe that they think that they are superior to their fellow Salaf brothers, simply because they were granted the opportunity to benefit from the scholars for a few years (if they even have benefited at all!) And that since those who remained behind in the West did not spend as much time as them studying abroad, there is no need to clarify anything to them as they are a waste of their time. This is absurdity and not the mannerism that is to be witnessed from a student of knowledge, let alone one who claims to be upon the Salaf methodology. The Salaf student of knowledge should come back to the West with a desire to want affairs made clear and not have this attitude that he is not obliged to respond to or clarify anything to anyone. As we have come to know, this way of thinking is a way . that opposes the Sunnah of Allh's Messenger

Point 3: Those of Rank and Status Are Even More Blameworthy The hadth previously mentioned was reported in Sahh al Bukhr and it is also reported by Imm Muslim with additional details and is as follows:

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. . . .

. "

. .

. . . ! : . "

" " "

Narrated Safiyah bint Huyai: was performing i'tikaf, so I came to visit him during the night. I The Prophet talked to him and then I stood up to leave. He stood up with me to accompany me. (Her residence was in the house of Usmah b. Zayd). Two men of the Ansr were passing by, when they saw the Prophet they hastened by. The Prophet said: 'Hold on, she is Safiyah bint Huyai.' They said: 'Glory be to Allh, O Messenger of Allh [we did not have any doubt about you].' The Prophet said: 'Satan flows in the person like blood. I feared that he would insert an evil thought' or he said "something" into your hearts.'2

Imm Muslim said: "This hadth contains [a warning] to stay away from putting oneself in a position where wrong would be thought of him by the people and asking for safety (clearing the misconceptions) and excusing with sound excuses (his saying this is Safiyyah). And whenever he does something which the appearance of such a thing might not be correctly thought of, which is correct, yet not known (to the people), then he must explain his condition so people may not think bad of him." End quote.

Reported by Sahh Muslim (2175).

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We see here, in Imm Muslim's explanation of this hadth that he mentions that the one who puts himself in a situation where wrong could be assumed of him by the people is himself blameworthy and additionally has nobody but himself to blame. This proves that it is the responsibility of the suspected individual to always be clear and not to put himself in situations where wrong could be thought of him. So, for those individuals who continue to translate for Madeenah.com and have their names alongside all the other translators, whilst claiming they have nothing to do with them, that they do not hold the same beliefs as them, or that they do not agree with the actions of some who translate on that website, then they are blameworthy. They are all blameworthy for causing Salafs around the world to doubt them (due to their own negligence) and they have opposed the Sunnah of Allh's Messenger with regards to hastening to clarify something that could be suspected of them. These individuals have let years pass without having clarified anything and when they are advised with regards to those whose names are found alongside their own, they will either deny knowledge of the actions of the other individual(s) or they will just clarify that they do not agree with the individual(s). However, it does not occur to them that they are blameworthy for the simple fact that they have caused others to doubt them due to the lack of clarification on their part. If they were sincerely against what is being promoted by deviants such as those on Madeenah.com, they would have hastened to clarify like our Messenger did and not let years pass without clarifying anything. In actuality, their silence is taken as tacit approval and if they wish to clarify, then they have the opportunity and there is nothing standing in their way except for their own self-amazement and pride.

Ibn Daqq al-'Ed said: "This is obligatory in the rights of scholars and in the right of who is taken as an example, thus it is not allowed for them to do any action which necessitates wrong thinking about them even if they have a way out of it because this leads to invalidating the seeking benefit from his knowledge. This is why some scholars said that it is appropriate for the judge to
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explain upon the one who was judged upon the nature of the ruling (how and why it was) if it is hidden, to nullify the accusations, and from this, the mistake of the one who shows the characteristics of wrongness becomes apparent and then he excuses that he is testing it upon his self and the calamity has become big due to this group."3 End quote. We see here in Ibn Daqq al-'Ed's explanation of this hadth that those who are followed and sought after, such as scholars and students of knowledge, are even more blameworthy and have to be even more serious and attentive with regards to refraining from putting themselves in situations where they can be suspected of any evil. This is because when the regular laymen is suspected of anything his affair may reach the people and will not cause a harm so great. The society will just simply avoid this individual and be cautious of him. However, the one who is a carrier of Legislated Knowledge, when he is suspected of evil of any sort his affair will spread far and wide and incalculable harms will arise from this. From amongst these harms: 1- People will attribute evil to the religion through the suspicion surrounding this particular person of knowledge; 2- It will cause people to avoid this individual and as a result the people will be deprived of his knowledge; 3- People who are extremely ignorant may follow this person in what he has been suspected of and thus be lead astray. These are just some of the disastrous results potentially caused by those who are the foremost in having to take this matter serious, however, with great sadness, from
3

Ihkm al-Ahkm Sharh Umdatul-Ahkm, Ibn Daqq al-Eid, p429 [Maktabah as-Sunnah].

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them are those who have neglected this affair. So much that shaytn has deluded their thinking to believing it does not even apply to them and that they are above it all. May Allh protect us from being doubtful and causing doubts. May Allh cause us to be means for the people to attain clarity with regards to their religion. The clarity of which the Prophet said its night is like its day and not means for the people to increase in the doubts that they are already drowning in. May He, the All-Capable, cause us to always appear clear and to hasten to clarify whenever clarification is asked of us! Ameen!

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