Salaf

How Are You This Morning?!

Salafi Knowledge , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

al-Marrūdhī said: “I entered upon Aḥmad one day and said, ‘How are you this morning?’

He replied:

“How am I this morning [other than] one who’s Lord demands the fulfilment of obligations from him, his Prophet demands the fulfilment of his Sunnah from him, the two angels seek from him to correct his actions, his soul demands from him [the fulfilment] of its desires, Iblīs seeks from him to do abominable acts, the angel of death seeks to take his soul, and his family seek from him to spend on them!”

Source: Ibn Mufliḥ in al-Ādāb al-Sharʿiyyah, (2: 354) ed. al-Risālah.

41 Moderation in Sunnah is Better than Striving in Bidʿah

Salafi Knowledge , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd, may Allāh be pleased with him, said, “Moderation in the Sunnah is better than striving in innovation.” Reported by al-Ḥākim.

Ṣaḥīḥ Mawqūf: al-Ḥākim (357), Ibn Baṭṭah in al-Ibānah (201), and al-Marwazī in al-Sunnah (p. 30).

From the Dreams of the Salaf – Hamzah al-Zayyaat (d. 156/8)

Salafi Knowledge , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the Musnad of Ibn al-Jaʿd (1: 275, no. 41) edited by ʿAbd al-Hādī, the following dream is mentioned:

ʿAlī b. Mus-hir said that he and Ḥamzah al-Zayyāt (d. 156/8) heard 500 or so traditions from Abān b. Abī ʿAyyāsh.

Ḥamzah told ʿAlī, “I saw the Prophet ﷺ in a dream and presented them to him; he did not recognise any of them except a few – five or six – aḥādīth, so I abandoned [taking] ḥadīth from him.”

Although transmitters and their reports are not graded based upon dreams, this particular dream was sound because the Imāms of Jarḥ and Taʿdīl (Accreditation and Impugnment), who investigated Abān’s reports, said the following regarding him:

Yaḥyá b. Maʿīn (d. 233) said, “Weak.”

He also said, “His ḥadīth are nothing.”

He also said, “Abān is abandoned in ḥadīth.”

Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal (d. 241) said, “Abān b. Abī ʿAyyāsh is abandoned in ḥadīth, people abandoned his ḥadīth from long ago. When Wakīʿ would come across his ḥadīth, he would say, ‘a man’ and not name him due to deeming him weak.”

Aḥmad b. Ḥumayd said he heard Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal say, “Nothing should be written from Abān b. Abī ʿAyyāsh.” Ibn Ḥumayd said, “Is he affected by innovation?” He replied, “He was rejected in ḥadīth.”

ʿAmr b. ʿAlī (d. 249) said, “Abandoned in ḥadīth, although he is a righteous man.”

He also said, “Yaḥyá [b. Maʿīn] and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān [b. Mahdī] would not narrate from him.”

al-Bukhārī (d. 256) said, “Shuʿbah (d. 160) used to think poorly of him.”

When Abū Zurʿah (d. 264) was asked whether Abān lied deliberately, he replied, “No, he used to hear ḥadīth from Anas [b. Mālik], Shahr [b. Ḥawshab], and al-Ḥasan [al-Baṣrī], and then not make a distinction between them.”

Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī (d. 277) said, “Abandoned in ḥadīth, and he was a righteous man, however he was afflicted with a poor memory.”

al-Nasāʾī (d. 303) said, “Abandoned in ḥadīth.” He also said, “Unreliable, and his ḥadīth are not [to be] written down.”

See: Tahdhīb al-Kamāl of al-Mizzī (2: 19 onwards) ed. Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf.

Prohibition of Innovations

Salafi Knowledge , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the Name of Allāh, all praise is due to Allāh, may praise and protection be upon the Messenger of Allāh.

To proceed:

In this article I present some proofs indicating the prohibition of innovations in the Dīn of Islām. I also added some statements of the Salaf highlighting the pernicious effects of such innovations.

This article will be useful for refuting innovations: please feel free to use in your khuṭbahs, lectures, social media platforms etc.

Islām is Perfect and Complete

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِيْنَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيْتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِيْنًا [المائدة (٥) : ٣].

{This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My favour upon you, and have chosen Islām as your religion} [al-Māʾidah (5): 3].

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ : إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ شَيْءٌ يُقَرِّبُكُمْ إِلَىٰ الْجَنَّةِ إِلَّا قَدْ أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ، وَلَيْسَ شَيْءٌ يُقَرِّبُكُمْ إِلَىٰ النَّارِ إِلَّا قَدْ نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ

ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd (d. 32) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, “Indeed there is nothing which will bring you closer to Paradise except that I have command you with it, and there is nothing which will bring you closer to the Fire except that I have prohibited you from it.” reported by al-Ḥākim and others.

Ḥasan: Ibn Abī Shaybah (35473), al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak (2168) ed. Dār al-Taʾṣīl, al-Baghawī in Sharḥ al-Sunnah (4110) and (4111), al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān (10376) and Abū Bakr al-Ḥaddād in al-Muntakhab min Fawāʾid Ibn ʿAlawayh al-Qaṭṭān. See: al-Ṣaḥīḥah (2866) of al-Albānī.

Additions to Islām Are Completely Rejected

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ : (( مَنْ أَحْدَثَ فِي أَمْرِنَا هٰذَا مَا لَيْسَ مِنْهُ فَهُوَ رَدٌّ )) . مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ، وَاللَّفْظُ لِمُسْلِمٍ

ʿĀʾishah, may Allāh pleased with her, reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, “Whoever innovates into this matter of ours that which is not from it, it is rejected.” Agreed upon, and the wording is that of Muslim.

al-Bukhārī (2697) and Muslim (1718 (17)).

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ : أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ : (( مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا لَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُنَا فَهُوَ رَدٌّ )) . رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ

She also reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, “Whoever does a deed which is not in conformity with our affair, it is rejected.” Reported by Muslim.

Muslim (1718 (18)).

Innovations Imply the Prophet ﷺ Failed to Fulfil the Message

قَالَ ابْنُ مَاجِشُونَ : سَمِعْتُ مَالِكًا يَقُولُ : (( مَنِ ابْتَدَعَ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ بِدْعَةً يَرَاهَا حَسَنَةً؛ فَقَدْ زَعَمَ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدا ﷺ خَانَ الرِّسَالَةَ؛ لِأَنَّ اللهَ يَقُولُ : ﴿الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِيْنَكُمْ﴾، فَمَا لَمْ يَكُنْ يَوْمَئِذٍ دِيْنًا؛ فَلَا يَكُونُ الْيَوْمَ دِيْنًا ))

al-Shāṭibī (d. 790) mentions in al-Iʿtiṣām (1: 62, ed. Mashhūr Ḥasan) that Ibn al-Mājishūn (d. 164) reported that he heard Imām Mālik (d. 179) say,

“Whoever innovates an innovation into Islām, seeing it as something good, then he has claimed that Muḥammad betrayed the message because Allāh says {This day I have perfected for you your religion}, so that which was not religion on that day, then it is not religion today.”

No Such Thing as a Good Innovation

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ : (( وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ )) . رَوَاهُ أَبُو دَاوُدَ

The Prophet ﷺ said, in the famous ḥadīth of ʿIrbāḍ b. Sāriyah, “Every innovation is misguidance.” Reported by Abū Dāwūd.

Ṣaḥīḥ: Abū Dāwūd (4607).

قَالَ عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ عُمَرَ : (( كُلُّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَإِنْ رَآهَا النَّاسُ حَسَنَةً )) . أَخْرَجَهُ اللَّالِكَائِيُّ وَغَيْرُهُ

ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar said, “Every innovation is misguidance even if people see it to be good.” Reported by al-Lālikāʾī.

al-Lālikāʾī in Sharḥ Iʿtiqād Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah (126), ed. al-Dumayjī.

عَنْ [سَعِيْدِ] بْنِ الْمُسَيِّبِ : أَنَّهُ رَأَىٰ رَجُلاً يُكْثِرُ الرُّكُوعَ بَعْدَ طُلُوعِ الْفَجْرِ فَنَهَاهُ ، فَقَالَ : يَا أَبَا مُحَمَّدٍ! أَيُعَذِّبُنِي اللهُ عَلَىٰ الصَّلَاةِ؟ قَالَ : (( لَا، وَلٰكِنْ يُعَذِّبُكَ عَلَىٰ خِلَافِ السُّنَّةِ )) . رَوَاهُ عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ

One of the Imāms of the Tābiʿīn, Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib (d. 94), saw a man praying multiple units after the time of Fajr had entered. He prohibited him from doing so as one is only permitted to pray the two recommended units of Fajr before the obligatory prayer. The man turned around to him and said, “O Abū Muḥammad, will Allāh punish me for praying?” Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib replied, “No, but He will punish you for opposing the Sunnah!” Reported by ʿAbd al-Razzāq in his Muṣannaf (4807) ed. Dār al-Taʾṣīl.

Is One Who Studies a Non-Salafī ʿAqīdah Excused Based on Such-and-Such Scholar Holding that ʿAqīdah?

Salafi Knowledge , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sh. Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said, “This particular person is not excused where the truth has reached him, because it is obligatory upon him to follow the truth wherever it is, and to search for it until it becomes clear to him.

The truth – and all praise is due to Allāh – is pure and clear to the one whose intention is sound, and his methodology is good, for indeed Allāh the Almighty and Majestic says in His Book, {And indeed We have made the Qurʾān easy to remember, so is there anyone who will pay heed} [al-Qamar (54): 22]. However, some people, as the brother querist has mentioned, have those whom they hold in high esteem and follow without deviating from their opinions, despite it crossing their minds that their opinions may be weak or false, however due to fanaticism and desire they are carried away in agreeing with them, even though the guidance may have become clear to them.”

Source: Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Rasāʾil Faḍīlat al-Shaykh Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn, 2: 129, no. 223.

What is the ʿAqīdah of the Salaf Regarding the Qurʾān? By Sh. Ibn ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ

Salafi Knowledge , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sh. Ibn ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said:

“The ʿaqīdah (creed) of the Salaf regarding the Noble Qurʾān is like their ʿaqīdah regarding the rest of Allāh’s Names and Attributes, which is an ʿaqīdah built on what is indicated by the Book of Allāh and the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ.

All of us know, that Allāh سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ described the Qurʾān as being His Speech, and that it is revealed from Him. He تَعَالَىٰ said:

وَإِنْ أَحَدٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ ٱسْتَجَارَكَ فَأَجِرْهُ حَتَّىٰ يَسْمَعَ كَلَـٰمَ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُۥ

[التوبة (٩) : ٦]

{And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the Speech of Allāh, then escort him to his place of safety} [al-Tawbah (9): 6].

The intent of the Speech of Allāh here, without doubt, is the Noble Qurʾān, and He تَعَالَىٰ said:

قُلْ نَزَّلَهُۥ رُوحُ ٱلْقُدُسِ مِن رَّبِّكَ

[النحل (١٦) : ١٠٢]

{Say, (O Muḥammad), “The Pure Spirit (i.e., Jibrīl) has brought it down from your Lord} [al-Naḥl (16): 102].

And Allāh عَزَّ وَجَلَّ said:

إِنَّ هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ يَقُصُّ عَلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ أَكْثَرَ ٱلَّذِى هُمْ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ ۝١٠٢

[النمل (٢٧) : ٧٦]

{Indeed, this Qurʾān relates to the Children of Israel most of that over which they disagree} [al-Naml (27): 76].

So the Qurʾān is the Speech of Allāh تَعَالَىٰ in wording and meaning; Allāh spoke it in a real sense, and He spoke it to Jibrīl the trustworthy one. Then Jibrīl descended with it, upon the heart of the Prophet ﷺ, so that he could be from the warners in a clear Arabic tongue.

The Salaf believe that the Qurʾān is revealed [in the sense that] Allāh sent it down upon Muḥammad ﷺ in instalments, over 23 years, according to what Allāh’s wisdom necessitated. Furthermore, some of the revelation came down due to a particular cause necessitating its revelation (سَبَبِيًّا), and some of it came down without a particular cause (اِبْتِدَائِيًّا), and some of it would come down narrating a condition that had passed amongst the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions, and some of it would descend regarding legal rulings unconnected to a particular cause, according to what the people of knowledge in this field mention.

Thereafter, the Salaf say that the Qurʾān initiated from Allāh, and to Him it will return at the end of time – this is the view of the Salaf regarding the Noble Qurʾān.

It is not hidden to us, that Allāh تَعَالَىٰ described the Noble Qurʾān with great descriptions: He described it as full of wisdom, as noble, as great, and as glorious. These descriptions with which Allāh described His Speech, are for those who grab hold onto this Book and act upon it externally and internally, for indeed Allāh will bring about for him glory, greatness, wisdom, honour, and authority, which those who do not hold onto the Book of Allāh will not have. This is why I call upon, from this minbar, all of the Muslims; both rulers and ruled, scholars and commonfolk, to grab hold onto the Book of Allāh externally and internally so that they may have honour, aid, glory, and domination all over the earth. And I ask Allāh to help us to achieve that.”

Source: Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Rasāʾil Faḍīlat al-Shaykh Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn, 1: 305, no. 120.

Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī (c. 100)

Salafi Knowledge , , , , , , , , , , ,

Senior Successor, Imām, proof, the scholar of his time, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Mull or Mill but it is also said to be Ibn Malī, lived through al-Jāhiliyyah and al-Islām and so is mukhaḍram, he accepted Islām during the Prophet’s ﷺ life but did not have the opportunity to meet him, lived long (130 years or so), went on military expeditions during the Caliphate of ʿUmar and many other expeditions after ʿUmar’s passing.

He narrated from ʿUmar (d. 23), ʿAlī (d. 40), Ibn Masʿūd (d. 32), Ubayy b. Kaʿb (d. 30), Bilāl (d. 20), Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ (d. 55), Salmān al-Fārisī (d. 33), Ḥudhayfah b. al-Yamān (d. 36), Abū Mūsá al-Ashʿarī (d. 42), Usāmah b. Zayd (c. 53), Abū Hurayrah (d. 59), Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68) and others.

Those who narrated from him include Qatādah (d. 117), Sulaymān al-Taymī (d. 143), Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī (d. 131), and others.

He took part in the Battle of al-Yarmūk in the year 15H against the Byzantine Empire. He was declared reliable by ʿAlī b. al-Madīnī (d. 234), Abū Zurʿah (d. 264) and others. He performed Ḥajj and ʿUmrah 60 times, accompanied the Companion Salmān al-Fārisī (d. 33) for 12 years, would pray until he would become unconscious, and it is said he would pray 100 units between al-Maghrib and al-ʿIshāʾ. He was graded reliable by Abū Ḥātim (d. 277).

Siyar, 4: 175.