Question to Shaikh Saaleh Al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him)
What is the ruling on the one who defends a person of innovation and says: ‘(This person) has good deeds and has given service to Islaam in such’, since this has become widespread amongst some of the callers. What is the ruling on this?
Answer:
We clarify errors in order that the people may keep away from them. As for good deeds, then the knowledge of this is with Allaah and we do not have knowledge of it. Whatever his good deeds are they will not be lost and we are not a scale by which good and evil deeds are weighed. Good and evil deeds have their scale on the Day of Judgement with Allaah (The Most High).
Our intention is not to diminish the individual, rather our intention is to clarify the truth and unveil errors so that people may not fall into them. As for the personal affairs of the person, we do not enter into that. If he has good deeds, then his good deeds will not be lost with Allaah. We neither talk about his good deeds nor do we say that he has no good deeds. Allaah is more knowledgeable about his good deeds and our intention is to clarify errors in order that people do not incline towards them.
Imaam Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhaab stated in Masaa’ilil Jaahiliyyah: They (People of the Era of Pre-Islamic Ignorance) accused the People of the Religion of having little understanding and Poor Memory. They utilized the argument to determine the falsity of a religion-that the people who followed it had little understanding and poor memory, as Allaah stated that the said: And they (too) followed you (i.e. Nooh) without thinking.’[11:27]
Sheikh Saaleh Al Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) commented on the above saying:
Regarding what Allaah has stated about the people of Nooh and their saying: ‘And they (too) followed you without thinking.’[11:27] that is: The weak ones- ‘those who followed without thinking’, who possess no understanding.
So they (people of the Pre-Islamic period of ignorance) reviled the followers of the Messengers that they possess neither understanding nor are they well versed in the affairs, and they do not possess far-sightedness. This is what many amongst those who have strayed from the right course and the enemies of Allaah brag about today. They make fun of the Muslims and their scholars, that they neither possess understanding nor far-sightedness. They seek to diminish the scholars with this calumny despite the fact that the scholars of the Muslims are people of clear sightedness and cognizance because they examine (affairs) with the guidance of Allaah. They command what Allaah has commanded and forbid what Allaah has forbidden.
And there is no doubt that the steadfast and righteous scholars are the best people after the Messengers (alayhimus-salaatu-was-salaam). The superiority of the scholar over the worshipper is like that of the moon over all the stars. Therefore, none diminishes the scholars and charges them with short-sightedness and lack of understanding, except one who has similarities with the people of Jaahiliyyah and the people of Nooh, who described the followers of the Messengers with this description, in order to drive the people away from them.
This (i.e. accusing the scholars of short sightedness and lack of understanding) is uttered from the tongues of some of the people today. They say: ‘’these scholars are ‘ulamaa’u hayd wan- nifaas’ (i.e. scholars whose knowledge is limited to the rulings pertaining to menstruation and postnatal bleeding); and that they are ‘ulamaa’u ahkaamul Istijmaar’ [scholars whose knowledge is limited to the rulings pertaining to istijmaar (i.e. the use of dry objects such as stones, tissue etc, to clean oneself after using the toilet], and that they are ‘ulamaa’u juz-iyyaat’ (i.e. scholars who only possess knowledge of some affairs or whose knowledge is restricted to some affairs), and that they do not possess knowledge of current affairs. And the knowledge of current affairs (according to these ones that accuse and revile the scholars) is the affairs of politics and revolt against the Muslim rulers.
(There) is nothing equal to knowledge, for the one who makes his intention correct (i.e. sincere). So they (i.e. the people) said: And how do (we) make the intention correct (i.e. sincere) O father of Abdullaah?! He said: You make an intention to remove ignorance from yourself and others.
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[Aadaab Ash-Sharee’ah’ 2/45, by Ibn Muflih (rahimahullaah)]