THE IMPORTANCE OF STRENGTHENING OUR CONNECTION WITH THE SCHOLARS:

Q: The questioner briefly introduces himself before posing the following

question to the Shaykh: What is your advice regarding the issue of strengthening the relationships that exist between the dut and (Islamic University) graduates and the scholars of this country (Saudi Arabia); and even more specifically you?

A: After sharing a laugh and a smile with those in attendance, the

Minister of Islamic Affairs for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Shaykh Sli l ashShaykh thanked the questioner and responded with the following: There can be no doubt that the connection that exists between the Muslim or the Muslims and the scholars is a fundamental principle of Islam. A person should not just wander about in accordance to his own desires in life. Even if this person possesses knowledge or is a scholar in his own right, he must still consult with other scholars concerning issues that pertain to him. Our scholars; whenever they may incline towards an affair consult one another. So the connection that exists between the dut, students of knowledge, and scholars is a connection that is a strong religious one, founded upon (the methodology of the salaf) which must continue to exist between a student and his teacher, one caller (d) to another, or between the scholars. It is imperative that this type of shared interaction exists. This is one issue. The second issue is that the scholars of salafiyyah, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and elsewhere share the distinction of placing great emphasis upon the sciences of the Qurn and the Sunnah and accepting the clear evidences from the Qurn and the Sunnah just as they are distinguished by their reliance upon beliefs that have not become corrupted by the philosophy and rhetoric of the philosophers. I mean the beliefs that existed

in the first generation after the hijrah, which is referred to as the salaf methodology or generally considered the salaf aqdah (creed). This set of beliefs grants tranquility to the one who adheres to it. Why? Because what is important to us is that we strive to adopt a methodology that is the most accurate. However, there exist many different methodologies. There are methodologies that are generally correct and there are methodologies that are more correct. There are methodologies that are incorrect and there are methodologies that are correct. For this reason the most correct methodology is the methodology that is the safest. For this reason all of the different groups will agree that the methodology of the salaf is the safest. Even the philosophers, people of rhetoric, Ashars, Mturds; all of them will say that the methodology of the salaf is the safest. And what does a person want out of life except safety? No doubt a person wants safety. I want to meet Allah the Mighty and Majestic with something that is the safest. As for something that is considered the most logical, the wisest, the thing that contains the most wisdom, philosophy, or logic; then these issues are completely worldly matters that have nothing to do with the religion. They are theoretical arguments which depend upon the capacity of a person's mind. But as for the safest (methodology), then everyone will agree that the methodology of the salaf is the safest because it involves submission. The Imms said concerning the Qurn and the Sunnah: we submit (to them) and we're pleased to do so. We do not enter into intense intellectual debates and hypothetical discussions since this is simple matter. Al ibn Ab lib ( ) uttered a beautiful statement in this regard when he said: knowledge is a spot (or a speck) which is increased by inquiring minds. How was it a spot (or a speck)? Knowledge is limited. The knowledge that benefits the people is limited but the ignorant people who inquire about this knowledge make it increase. Right now the type of questions that are most often posed and the questions that are most frequently answered as well as the questions that fill volumes of books of Fatw are many; just as the books of fiqh and adth are many.

But during the first generation, did they have access to all of this? No, every time a generation passed, ignorance became prevalent and questioning increased. This situation required the scholars to refute the ignorance and clarify the truth. And this process would increase and repeat itself over and over again. For this reason, connecting one's self to knowledge and scholars who restrict themselves to the knowledge of the Qurn and the Sunnah and what is contained therein as well as whatever branches off from them by way of rulings of Islamic jurisprudence and affairs of creed; all of this is easier to learn and more powerful as a proof (then indulging in philosophy and rhetoric). The one who is aided by the Qurn and the Sunnah and the speech of the salaf is strong. The opponent of such an individual finds himself quoting so & so and so & so. As opposed to the one who says: No, Allah ( ) says and His Messenger ( ) says; so for this individual is a position of great strength because this person has sought refuge in a fortified shelter. This fortified shelter is the proofs of the Qurn and the Sunnah. The scholars of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the scholars of salafiyyah throughout the world are distinguished by this characteristic. So by remaining connected the circle can become complete. The circle of the salaf methodology, the circle of correct knowledge then becomes complete. Now, in this day we are in need of a stronger connection to better confront the accusations and false claims that are directed at the call to Islam. And you've seen, unfortunately, all of you in your respective countries, what they say about the scholars of the Kingdom whom they label as Wahhbi scholars. They claim things that we've never witnessed nor do we recognize. For example, I offer myself. Since I was a child and now that I've reached fifty years of age. I have never heard this word Wahhbi in my house, or in the house of my father or grandfather or even in other communities until recently. In other lands they say: Those people are like this and that while in reality all we have is the salaf methodology which is dependant upon the Qurn and the Sunnah. For this reason a poet from another country said:

If the one who follows Amad (i.e. Muammad ) is considered a follower of Wahhbism, Then I deliberately confess that I must certainly be a Wahhbi. So if the one who loves the Prophet ( ) and follows him is considered a Wahhbi, call me Wahhbi. I'm not a Wahhbi, but if you say that the one who follows the Prophet ( ) is a Wahhbi, then I guess you should consider me a Wahhbi. For this reason there is a large group that loves to play around with terms and labels. Once the call to salafiyyah began to spread they labeled it with this name to make the people fear it. For instance, we find the same thing today with the term terrorism. They use this term to cause people to fear, not terrorism, but the religion as a whole. And this is what has occurred, they have introduced a term and you find that the opposition has found strength in playing with terms. They brought forth terrorism as a term and thought about it in light of the call to Islam and how it reached the entire world spreading to Africa, Asia, Russia, North and South America, and Europe. So how could they attack this? Could they conceivably speak against Islam in its entirety? That would be problematic for them. It would be a big problem for them if they stood up and said: We're against Islam. This is because how could they stand against Islam as a whole without causing a revolution in the world by pitting Islam against Christianity. So they introduced a word that enables them to achieve their goals implicitly. They say terrorism. But what do they include in the term terrorism? They include charitable organizations that educate the illiterate and care for the orphaned. Is this terrorism? How? They include schools that teach the Qurn and other sciences. In Pakistan, as you may or may not have witnessed, the teaching of the Qurn by way of kattb (Qurnic schools) began to experience severe pressure and scrutiny. Even we experienced pressure regarding our schools for the memorization of the Qurn. But nothing ever came of it and the affairs remain as they were. So they have grabbed a hold of this word terrorism. Some countries have become extremely fearful and as a result initiate dramatic changes to

accommodate outside pressure. Terrorism came as a term intended to cause the people to fear Islam in its entirety just as Wahhbi was introduced to cause people to abandon this dawah. No one would accept it. As long as you're like that, we will not accept it. For this reason we say and this question is important- connecting one's self to the scholars of the dawah is important so that our strength can increase and our ability to spread the religion becomes even greater by the permission of Allah.