The Āthār of the Salaf Are Dalīl for the

Correct Fahm of the Texts and of the Uṣūl,

ʿAqāʾid and Manāhij of the Religion

A REFUTATION OF THOSE WHO UNDERMINE

THE ĀTHĀR OF THE SALAF IN ORDER TO DISTORT THE BOOK
AND THE SUNNAH AND PROMOTE THE METHODOLOGIES OF THE
IKHWĀN – SUCH AS SHADEED MUḤAMMAD AND COMPANY

Bismillāh wal-Ḥamdulillāh. Imām al-Awzāʾī () said:

‫ وإياك وآراء الرجال وإن‬،‫عليك بآثار من سلف وإن رفضك الناس‬

‫ فإن األمر ينجيل وأنت منه عىل طريقٍ مستقيم‬،‫زخرفوه لك بالقول‬

“Upon you is to follow the āthār of the Salaf, even if the people
reject you. And beware of the opinions of men, even if they
beautify it with speech. For the affair will become apparent
while you are upon a straight path regarding it.”

When we say: Abu Bakr said, Umar said, Ibn ʿAbbās said, Ibn
Masʿūd said (), Abū al-ʿĀliyah said, Ibn Sīrīn said, al-Zuhrī
said, al-Awzāʿī said, Mālik said, Aḥmad said () and so on...
we are conveying dalīl (evidence) for the correct
understanding of the ʿaqāʾid and manāhij of Islām from the
primary texts of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah. And this is what
differentiates us from all the innovators and deviants: The fahm
of the Salaf is the criterion for the correct understanding of the
revealed texts.

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It distinguishes us from Ikhwānīs like Shadeed Muḥammad and
his Ikhwānī methodology of belittling of the effect of Tawḥīd in
rectifying societies and calling for unity and activism around
sociopolitical issues and venomous grievance about white men
of Tawḥīd and Sunnah refuting the shirk and kufr of black men
from the Nation of Bāṭini Kāfirs.1

Then come individuals who undermine the fahm of the Salaf

through the deceptive [and grammatically incorrect] slogan
“The Āthār of the Salaf aren’t dalīl in and of itself.” They spent
over an hour bringing carefully selected speech from Shaykh al-
Fawzān and Shaykh Ibn al-Uthaymīn—isolated from their other
statements on the subject of the necessity of following the Salaf
and their āthār—through which they tried to fulfil their objective
of belittling the Salafī methodology by undermining its sources
which are the statements (āthār) of the Salaf. This forms part of
their overall activities in defending and warding off legitimate
criticism from the likes of Shadeed Muḥammad who abandons
the āthār of the Salaf and quotes from non-Muslim politicians
such as John F. Kennedy and statements expressed by
Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway (novelist) and
Christian leaders such as Thomas S. Monson, President of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his refutations
against Salafī positions on the issue of demonstrations and
protests. In this issue he opposes every major Salafi scholar in

1
Refer to the article, “Regarding Shadeed Muhammad, the Nation of Islam,
Police Brutality and White Supremacy and the Callers to Tawheed” on
www.manhaj.com.

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the current era and relies instead on the arguments of the
innovators, deviants and erroneous such as Ḥātim al-ʿAwnī2
and his likes whose writings—as it appears—Shadeed has
plagiarised or reproduced his exact arguments, including his
call for Muslim governments to legalise demonstrations as a
means of allowing pressure to be put on the government. This
Ḥātim Al-ʿAwnī attacks the daʿwah of Shaykh Muḥammad bin
ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and makes room for Ṣūfī positions in issues of
Tawḥīd and worship.

This is what they mean, when they say “the āthār of the Salaf
are not evidences in and of themselves”, we find those whom
they defend quoting from non-Muslims on demonstrations and
revolutions and then twisting the Book of Allāh () and the
Sunnah of His Messenger () and abandoning the
statements of the Salaf... all in order to support what they found
in the statements of those non-Muslims such as the saying of
John F. Kennedy, “Those who make peaceful revolution
impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”3 But when
you look at the positions of the Salafi scholars today like
Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn, when they answer questions on this
issue, they say: “Upon you is to stick to the way of the Salaf”.

2
On his website, al-ʿAwnī has an article titled “Ḥukm al-Mudhāharāt al-
Silmiyyah”, The Ruling on Peaceful Demonstrations. published over 3 years
ago. What Shadeed has written is pretty much identical in flow and
argument to that article.
3
Cited by Shadeed Muḥammad in his document legalising demonstrations
as a means of addressing injustice.

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On the basis of this evil (of undermining the āthār of the Salaf),
Shadeed Muḥammad claims Allāh and His Messenger have
legislated demonstrations and protests as lawful means in the
Sharīʿah and that the Companions engaged in such
demonstrations. This is a lie against Allāh’s religion and a lie
against the Messenger and a lie against the Companions as will
be made clear in a separate article inshāʾAllāh in more detail.

Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn () was asked as to whether

demonstrations are a means among the legislated means of
daʿwah. He replied: “Demonstrations are a recent affair, they
were not known in the era of the Prophet () and nor in
the era of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and nor the era of the
Companions (). Further, there is within them such
disturbance and chaos that make them prohibited, in that
doors, windows and other things are broken. And mixing
between men, women, the young and old takes place and the
likes of such corruptions and evils. As for the issue of putting
pressure on the government, then if it is a Muslim government
then sufficient for it as an admonisher is the Book of Allāh the
Exalted and the Sunnah of the Messenger (). This is the
best of what is presented to a Muslim. And if it is a unbelieving
government, then it does not care for those protesters and it will
be amicable to them outwardly, whereas it is what it is of evil
inwardly. For that reason we see demonstrations as an evil
affair. As for their saying that demonstrations are peaceful, then
they may be peaceful at the beginning of the affair. Then they
become destructive. I advise the youth to follow the path of the
Salaf who preceded us, for Allāh () praised the Muhājirīn

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and the Anṣār and he praised those who follow them in
goodness.”4

The Salaf clarified the intent of Allāh () and the intent of His
Messenger () in order to distinguish the truth from the
errors, deviations, misinterpretations of the texts which the
innovators, and deviants fell into in matters of creed and
methodology. On the basis of that correct fahm, the
Companions spoke to clarify the foundations of the religion with
speech that constitutes dalīl (evidence) for it, i.e. the correct
fahm. They spoke with that correct understanding against the
Khārijites and the Qadarites and their Successors who inherited
that fahm from them spoke against the Murjiʾites and the Salaf
spoke against the Muʿtazilites and the Jahmites and all other
sects which appeared. Their statements therefore comprise a
protection of the Salafi creed and methodology which is Islām
and that Islām is preserved in their statements, declarations
and warnings. This sound understanding is carried in every
generation by trustworthy upright scholars.

Abū Ḥanīfah said: “Adhere to the athar (narration) and the

ṭarīqah (way) of the Salaf and beware of newly invented matters
for all of it is innovation.”5

4
Al-Jawāb al-Abhar Liman Saʾala ʿan al-Amr bil-Maʿrūf wal-Nahī ʿan il-
Munkar, compiled by Fuʾād Sirāj (Dār Ibn al-Athīr, 1999) p. 75.
5
As related by al-Ṣuyūṭī in Ṣawn al-Mantiq.

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Imām Aḥmad said: “So the Messenger of Allāh () is the
one who expresses [explains] the Book of Allāh, directing to its
meanings and His Companions were present as witnesses to
that, those whom Allāh was pleased with and chose for His
Prophet. They transmitted that from him and hence were the
most knowledgeable of people regarding the Messenger of
Allāh () and of what he informed of regarding the
meaning of what Allāh intended from that, due to them
witnessing what the Book intended. Hence, they (the
Companions) were the ones who expressed [explained] that
[knowledge] after the Messenger of Allāh ().”6

Because of this, scholars who came after such as Ibn

Taymiyyah () established the obligation of following the
madhhab of Salaf, because it is nothing but the truth. He said:
“There is no blame upon the one who proclaims the way
(madhhab) of the Salaf, who affiliates with and attributes
himself to it. Rather, it is obligatory to accept that from him by
unanimous agreement because the way of the Salaf is nothing
but the truth.”7

6
Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah (3/122).
7
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (4/149). Yes, there were minor differences in subsidiary
issues of creed, but in those cases, which are few in number, the scholars
have resolved those issues and removed the differing through explanations,
such as the issue of whether the Messenger ( saw Allāh or
not.() and making reference to the seeing of the eyes and the seeing of
the heart. As for the Ikhwānīs, they make use of these few differences to
justify the differing in our time in major issues of creed and for excusing the
jamāʿāt of deviation and misguidance, and for justifying cooperation with

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As for the issue of the status of the saying of a Companion as
proof (hujjah) this has been discussed by the scholars and the
essence of it can be presented in the speech of Ibn
Taymiyyah who said: “If the saying of a companion was
widespread and was not shown rejection in that time, it is a
ḥujjah (proof) in the view of the majority of the scholars. And if
the companions differed (in their sayings), then their dispute is
returned back to Allāh and His Messenger. And the saying of a
companion is not a ḥujjah if there is another who differs with
him, by agreement of the scholars. And if some of them said a
saying and no one said anything opposed to it, and this saying
was not widespread and famous, then this is where there is a
dispute. The majority of the scholars use it as proof, such as
Abū Ḥanīfah, Mālik, Aḥmad from that which is well reported
from him. And also al-Shāfiʿī in one of his sayings.”8 And other
scholars explain that when a Companion is from the learned
scholars and jurists, then his saying is a ḥujjah (so long as it is
not opposed by others) but when he is not among the learned
scholars, then it is not a ḥujjah. And when a companion speaks
in matters that can only be known through revelation and not
through opinion, it is depended upon because it is considered
to have originated from the Messenger (), unless there
is evidence that he was speaking on the basis of the Isrāʾīliyyāt.

them. Scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah have pointed out that the
Companions did not differ in the uṣūl of the religion.
8
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (20/14).

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Ibn al-Qayyim has an excellent and lengthy discussion of the
issue of the Companions and their sayings in his book Iʾlām al-
Muwaqqiʿīn wherein he establishes the obligation of following
them and their sayings because they convey the ḥukm of Allāh
and the Messenger in matters of religion; that safety lies within
their sayings; that their sayings take precedence over those of
all others and that it is not permissible to go outside of their
sayings, because they were greatest in understanding, least in
mistakes and closest to the truth. He discusses in detail the
issue of the saying of a Companion being proof and the angles
from which this is understood in light of the wider point of the
obligation of following them and their way, which he establishes
through powerful angles of evidence from the Qurʾān. Though
he is refuting the Muqallidah, who leave the saying of the
Companions for those whom they blindly follow, whatever Ibn
al-Qayyim wrote is also a refutation of those who want to turn
people away from the safety and guidance that lies in the āthār
of the Salaf, at the head of whom are the Companions, both in
matters of uṣūl and furūʾ, and allow the likes of Shadeed
Muḥammad to interpret the Book and the Sunnah upon their
own whims and desires and spread lies about Allāh’s religion.
Had it not been for fear of prolonging this article, we would have
cited many portions of it, however his discussion is vast and
deep, so the reader is referred to it and through it, the
deception of these deceivers who use the ambiguous phrase,
“the āthār of the Salaf are not evidences in and of themselves”
will become clear.9

9
Though there are many places in the work where the subject is discussed

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In short the āthār of the Salaf are evidence of the correct
understanding of Islām and they are a criterion for us. To
follow them upon guidance is textually commanded in the
Qurʾān and the Sunnah, something whose evidence is
abundant and which ought to be well known to every Salafi.

The individuals in question are simply reviving many of the

doubts that we have known from the Ikhwānīs, Turāthīs and
their likes by which they wish to undermine the Salafi
methodology through slogans such as “We do not make taqlīd”,
“We only follow evidence”, “We are people of verification” and
so on, following a similar track as al-Maʾribī, the Ikhwāni
innovator, who laid down these principles and techniques as a
means of undermining Shaykh Rabīʿ’s refutations against
Ikhwānīs, Quṭbīs, Surūrīs, Turāthīs and others.

From the greatest of their deceptions is their dissimulation in

claiming love and attachment to Shaykhs Rabīʿ, Ubayd and
Muḥammad bin Hādī, when in reality they detest the fact that
these scholars have disparagements against Shadeed
Muḥammad, Ṭāhir Wyatt and company and when they place
little if any value in the refutations of these scholars against the
heads of the Mumayyiʿah in our time.

at varying levels, refer for example to 5/543 onwards (Dār Ibn al-Jawzī,
1423H) where the issue of a Companion’s saying is discussed.

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Rather, they detest that these refutations are made known and
spread by Salafis because these refutations come in the way of
their daʿwah, their associations and their loyalties.10

However, in order to spread their poison, they deceive their

audiences by claiming love and attachment for these scholars
when they say, “the beloved scholar”, “may Allāh protect him”,
“we love the shaykh” and so on. This is because they know that
as soon as they express discontent with these Shaykhs or
revile them explicitly their game is up and their attacks against
the Salafīs of the US and the UK will be exposed for what they
are: Attempts to undermine the Salafi methodology that those
scholars are upon and which they defended against deviants
like Salmān al-ʿAwdah, Adnān Arʿūr, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAbd al-
Khāliq, al-Maʿribī, al-Ḥalabī, al-Ramaḍānī, al-Ruḥaylī and their
innovations and erroneous principles.

10
Their daʿwah is not based on clarity and making tamassuk to the Book and
the Sunnah upon the way of the Salaf, and rectification of the society upon
taṣfiyah and tarbiyah, rectifying the hearts through sound creed, eemaan
and tawḥīd, which in turn rectiify their manners and conduct. The reason is
because this path is difficult, hard, brings opposition from the Rāfiḍah,
Khāwārij, Ṣūfīs, Ashʿarīs and other innovators, groups and parties—some of
whom they cooperate with (in social or political issues). It does not gain
them mass followers because it distinguishes and separates between truth
and falsehood. So instead, they reverse it around and focus on rectifying
manners and conduct—and some of them claim that this is the way to bring
the people closer to Allāh, by first removing the social ills, as is said by
Shadeed Muḥammad. And this is ignorance of the Qurʾān and of the sīrah of
every Messenger and ignorance of the methodology of the Prophets in
calling to Allāh and rectifying societies.

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This is the methodology being followed by the Salafis of the US
and UK in daʿwah and rectification which comes in the way of
the Ikhwānī daʿwah of Shadeed Muḥammad and his likes who
rely upon the very innovated principles and errors of the
abovementioned deviants in order to shield themselves, their
actions, their associations, their forms of cooperation and their
errors from rightful criticism. But knowing they cannot attack
those scholars [Shaykhs Rabīʿ, ʿUbayd, Muḥammad bin Hādī]
in an explicit manner, they attack instead those in the West who
spread the truth that those scholars have spoken with. They
bring misconceptions whose futility is readily known by anyone
who knows the history of the past 25 years of Salafi da’wah and
the tribulations it has faced from the direction of the Ikhwānīs.
These individuals have no connection at all to Shaykh Rabīʿ,
Shaykh ʿUbayd and Shaykh Muḥammad, and they would never,
ever, ever, sit down with these scholars and bring their
misconceptions because they know they would be declared
liars by these scholars. So the only thing they have left to fall
back upon is conspiracy theories in that these scholars have
been cleverly used and manipulated as means of gaining
control over the daʿwah in the West. This is what they say...

The individuals in question did not bring the statements of

Shaykh al-Fawzān that are directly related to the topic of the
āthār from the Salaf as it relates to sticking to their manhaj and
their madhhab. Instead they went looking for specific texts from
the scholars which allowed them to comment and impose their
own desires upon those texts through their own commentary.

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Hence, they went to the explanation of one verse in al-Ḥāʾiyyah
from Shaykh al-Fawzān and the comments of Shaykh Ibn al-
ʿUthaymīn on al-Bayqūniyyah discussing whether the saying of
a Companion is proof or not. They did not go to actual lectures,
essays or books of these Shaykhs that are specifically on the
subject of the āthār of the Salaf and the obligation of adhering
to them in matters of religion, especially in actualising Tawḥīd,
rectifying societies and in the position towards deviant sects
and groups who clearly oppose the Salafi methodology. This is
great deception on their behalf because in that would be a
refutation of the people they are trying to defend and whom
they ally with like Shadeed Muḥammad.

In his lecture, “The Manhaj of the Salaf and the Ummah’s

Need for It”11 Shaykh al-Fawzān states:

“They [the Salaf] are the model for this ummah, their manhaj is
the path that they proceed upon in their creed, their dealings,
their manners, and in all their affairs... They are the best of
generations and their manhaj is the best of methodologies... It
is not possible to follow them in precision (9:100) except by
learning their manhaj... For this reason, this ummah studied the
Salafi methodology and transmitted it generation after
generation, and thus it is studied [today] in the mosques and in
the schools and in the faculties, colleges and universities... The
current state [of the ummah is that it] is in dire need of knowing

11
http://www.alfawzan.af.org.sa/ar/node/15030

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the Salafi methodology in order to stick to it because it is the
path to deliverance.”

Yes, this Salafi methodology is the one that is taught and

studied in the mosques of the Salafis in the UK and the US, it is
the one taught by Abū Khādeejah, Abū Ḥakīm and others in the
UK and by Abū al-Ḥasan Mālik, Ḥasan al-Somālī, Anwar
Wright, Kāshif Khān and others in the US while the likes of
Shadeed Muḥammad try to undermine this methodology using
tricks and deceptions to an audience most of whom have not
been around since the early 1990s and have not witnessed the
tribulations of al-Ikhwān and the false claimaints to Salafiyyah
such as Safar and Salman and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAbd al-Khāliq
and Arʾūr and al-Maghrāwī and al-Maʾribī to recognise the fact
that these individuals are coming from that same madrasah,
they are inheritors of that madrasah and are simply presenting
the same doubts clothed with layers of deception. So whoever
is not familiar with this history will fall prey to their speech and
think it is truth and guidance and that they are calling to justice
(ʿadl), just like those who innovated the bidʿah of al-muwāzanah
to shield the disparaged deviants and innovators, they brought
out their principles in the name of restoring justice.

The Shaykh continues: “Whoever holds fast to the [Salafi

methodology] especially at the end of time will face hardship
[from the people] and from the opposers... and as we have
mentioned, the one who proceeds upon this methodology of
those who are favoured, he will be put to trial, will be
constrained, belittled, declared astray and threatened, he will

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be in need of patience... Now, they are deserting the manhaj of
the Salaf in the newspapers, magazines and authored works
and they are belittling Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah, the true
Salafis, they are criticising them, that they are harsh
(mutashaddidūn), that they are Takfiris, they are such and
such. However, this will not harm. It will only harm the person
who does not have patience, strength and firm determination, it
will affect him.”

The Shaykh also says: “And among them are those who say we
are not tasked with the understanding and knowledge of the
Salaf... they say it is not befitting for our time, it was only
befitting for their time12, our time has changed, and thus they
abstain from the fiqh of the Salaf, and they call to a new fiqh.
This is abundant in the newspapers and magazines, coming
from writers and people of misguidance. They desire to release
our hands from [holding to] the methodology of the Salaf.
Because, when we do not know the madhhab of the Salaf and
abstain from it and do not study it, then merely ascribing to the
Salaf without knowledge and insight of their madhhab, this is
what they want from us. They want us to abandon the madhhab
of the Salaf, the fiqh of the Salaf, the knowledge of the Salaf
and so that we bring about a new fiqh as they say, which is
suited to this time, but this is a lie... The manhaj of the Salaf is
suited for every time and place. It is light from Allāh (). Do
not let the speech of those people make you abstain from it.

12
This is what they say regarding the position of the Salaf towards the
innovators and deviants!

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Those deserters or misguided ones, do not let them make you
abstain from it... Imām Mālik said: “The latter part of this ummah
will not be rectified except by what rectified its earlier part.” ....
Whoever desires deliverance, then upon him is to know the
madhhab of the Salaf, to call to it. This is the path of
deliverance and it is the ship of Noah ().”

Yes, do not let the likes of Shadeed Muḥammad and company

make you desert the āthār of the Salaf! When they say, “the
āthār of the Salaf are not a proof in and of themselves”, what
they mean is that you should abandon the āthār of the Salaf
and stick only to the Book and the Sunnah, because only the
Book and the Sunnah are proof, which is a true statement. But
their intent is to allow themselves to speak about the Book and
the Sunnah upon other than the fahm of the Salaf, through their
own desires. Hence, Shadeed Muḥammad legalises protests
and demonstrations by plagiarising the arguments of the
innovators, deviants and erroneous like Ḥātim al-ʿAwnī who
attacks the daʿwah of Shaykh Muḥammad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb
and makes room for Ṣūfī positions in issues of Tawḥīd and
worship. But if they went to the āthār of the Salaf, from the
Companions and their students, and if they were true followers
of Shaykh al-Fawzān, Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn, Shaykh Bin
Bāz, Shaykh al-Albānī, Shaykh Rabīʿ and others, they would
find a refutation and prohibition of what they call, “peaceful
demonstrations”. But they do not desire this, they desire a new
fiqh, a new methodology, exactly as Shaykh al-Fawzān says.

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And this is the greatest of what indicates that the true grievance
is against the Salafi methodology. They resent it, and they
resent what is in the Salafi methodology of standing up to those
who misguide others away from the truth to their own opinions
and desires, like Shadeed Muḥammad, who opposes the Salafi
methodology and the Salafi scholars. They attack and
undermine the Salafis in the West who are upon the Salafi
methodology and who are with the scholars in the issues in
which individuals like Shadeed Muḥammad follow their desires,
such as the issue of demonstrations and actualising Tawḥid
and rectifying societies and so on. And this is the angle from
which they are declaring, “the āthār of the Salaf are not a proof
in and of themselves”. They want to open the floor for deviants
like Shadeed Muḥammad to come along and interpret the
Qurʾān and the Sunnah upon their own desires and to leave the
āthār of the Salaf, which come in the way of their desires.

The Shaykh continued: “And the Prophet made his ummah to

fear from those callers, the callers to misguidance who wish to
turn people away from the manhaj of the Salaf, and he informed
that they are callers at the gates of Hellfire, whoever obeys
them will be thrown by them into [the Hellfire]. So one must take
severe caution against them. As time proceeds, the
strangeness will become more severe, the tribulations will
increase. So the Muslims are in greater need of being
concerned with the manhaj of the Salaf... So let us be
concerned with the madhhab of the Salaf, and let not those
belittle its status or describe it with blameworthy characteristics
and make us abstain from it. Let us not allows its importance to

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be belittled in our souls. Rather, it only increases in our souls
because they only waged war against it because it is the path of
truth and because they desire misguidance.”

So all of what Shaykh al-Fawzān has said is about the āthār of

the Salaf which are evidence in the religion for the correct fahm
of the Book and the Sunnah. These deceivers did not go here
because it goes against the manhaj of Shadeed Muḥammad,
which is silence towards the Bāṭinī Qarāmiṭah led by Louis
Farrakhan, and silence towards the Ashʿarīs, the Ṣūfīs and their
likes. Rather, it is cooperation with them in socio-political issues
and in marches and demonstrations, whilst ignoring or
downplaying their misguidance and kufr. Shadeed Muhammad
becomes angry that a white man should refute the Nation of
Kufr, just because they are black and he is white.13 At the same
time they attack refute, belittle those who adhere to the Salafi
methodology accusing them of having “sickness in their hearts”
and of misguidance and so on. So the issues are very clear and
apparent to anyone who knows and values the Salafi
methodology.

One should take heed of this warning from Shaykh al-Fawzān

against these people who are laying down foundations for
opposition to the Salafi methodology and opposition to the
positions and rulings of the Salafi scholars in issues such as

Refer to the article “Regarding Shadeed Muhammad, the Nation of Islam,

13

Police Brutality and White Supremacy and the Callers to Tawheed” on

www.manhaj.com.

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demonstrations and the wasāʾil of daʿwah and rectification and
against individuals whose errors have been made clear with
evidences and so on.

Their attacks against Salafīs in the West and spreading doubts

about them comes from this angle. We say proudly that the
saying of al-Awzāʾī is our slogan: “Upon you is to adhere to the
āthār of the Salaf, even if the people reject you. And beware of
the opinion of men, even if they beautify it with speech. For the
affair will become apparent while you are upon a straight path
regarding it.” All they have are shubuhāt which though alluring
and convincing right now, over time, as the statements of our
scholars expose and refute them, their falsehood will become
clear by Allāh’s permission.

Will these people quote from Shaykh al-Fawzān on the issue

of demonstrations and refute Shadeed Muḥammad so that we
can see who is truly a follower of the Salaf and of the Salafi
scholars today? The Shaykh was asked about those who use
the argument of differentiating between peaceful
demonstrations and violent demonstrations and claim that
peaceful demonstrations are not ḥarām, and his answer was:
“Ask him: Do demonstrations have a foundation, do they have a
foundation among the Muslims, in the past or in the recent era.
Demonstrations are not known except in the West. They are not
from Islām, ever. Islām encourages order, tranquillity, absence
of chaos. Rights are not acquired through chaos. Rights are
acquired through legislated means, through means other than
demonstrations, No one is prevented from making complaints,

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but as for demonstrations, they are not from the religion of
Islām. And I say and repeat it again [raising his voice], they are
not from the religion of Islām! And nor are they from the
manners of the Muslims. They have come to us from the non-
Muslim societies in order to split the jamāʿāh and separate the
people and to create enmity.”14 And this is the view of all of the
Salafi scholars such as al-Albānī, Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn, Ibn Bāz, al-
Luḥaydān and others.

Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn was asked about those who argue

that the demonstrations which are permitted by the ruler himself
are not prohibited. The Shaykh replied: “Upon you is to follow
the Salaf. If this is found with this with the Salaf, then it is
goodness. And if it is not found with the Salaf, then it is evil. And
there is no doubt that demonstrations are evil because they
lead to chaos... and perhaps transgressions will arise through
them, either against people’s honour, property or bodies,
because some people within this chaos may be intoxicated, not
knowing what he is saying or doing. So all demonstrations are
evil, regardless as to whether the ruler permits them or does not
permit them. But if you were to return to the heart [of the ruler
about whom it is claimed permits them] you will find that he
hates them intensely. However, it is apparent that he is, as they
say, a Democratic and that he has opened the door of freedom
for people, and this is not from the way of the Salaf.”15

14
Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3fF8NVvQ5U.
15
Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMsbAFS5OE.

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So what is intended when they say, “the āthār of the Salaf are
not a proof in and of themselves”, they intend by this to justify
abandonment of the Salafi methodology, in which there are no
demonstrations and protests for example, and no cooperation
with Bāṭinī Kāfirs in socio-political issues and so that people like
Shadeed Muḥammad whom they are defending can twist the
Book and the Sunnah and justify anything through the
generality of the texts.

They think they are being clever when they seek out specific
texts from scholars like Shaykh al-Fawzān into which they can
inject their own desires, effectively, lying upon the scholars,
because what they intend and what the Scholars intend—in
light of their other statements—are not the same, as is clear
from what we have quoted from Shaykh al-Fawzān regarding
the necessity of following the sayings of the Salaf in
understanding and applying the texts of the Book and the
Sunnah.

If you want to say, as Shadeed does, that demonstrations are

allowed by democracy and by non-Muslim constitutions and
that you are happy to guide yourselves through them and use
them as a means and make the saying of non-Muslim
presidents, novelists and Christian leaders your inspiration,
then do so. But do not add to this misguidance, which is by no
means small, an even greater misguidance by lying upon Allāh
and His Messenger and claiming that they have legislated this
as a means in Islām and do not make the deceptive statement
that “the āthār of the Salaf are not a proof in and of themselves”

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by which you allow for deviants like Shadeed Muḥammad to
inject lies and poison into Islām.

When a misguided Khārijite quotes the ḥadīth: “No person

commits fornication whilst he is a believer...” in order to prove
that a person becomes a disbeliever by way of major sin, is he
not putting the saying of the Messenger ahead of everything
else? He can certainly make that claim as can every innovator
who only uses the Book and the Sunnah as evidence. But the
issue comes down to the fahm. When we return to the Salaf, we
find that they clarify the true meanings, and their statements
(āthār) are a preservation of sound religion, of sound
understanding. And we find that the Khārijite is twisting the
speech of the Messenger and twisting the speech of Allāh—just
like Shadeed Muḥammad is doing on the issue of
demonstrations, using very broad general texts such as the
verse: “You are the best of nations brought forth for
mankind, you enjoin the good and prohibit the evil and
you believe in Allāh.” (3:110), and the ḥadīth: “Whoever
among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand.” When
you go back to the āthār, to the correct understanding of these
texts with the Salaf, you find that they do not support the lies of
Shadeed Muḥammad. So this is what they mean when they
say: “the āthār of the Salaf are not a proof in and of
themselves”, they want to give Ikhwānīs like Shadeed
Muḥammad room within which to manoeuvre and spread their
Ikhwānī methodologies, and this is the true source of their
enmity and opposition towards the Salafis in the West who are
upon the āthār, who respect and follow the Salafi methodology.

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Muḥammad bin Sīrīn () said: “They used to consider
themselves to be upon [the right] path, so long as they
remained upon the athar.”16

So we are Salafis walḥamdulillāh, we stick to the āthār and that

is the distinguishing line between us and Ikhwānis like Shadeed
Muḥammad and his supporters and defenders. The deception
they are playing right now, the boldness with which they are
coming out on the tube and social media, all of this will crumble
and fall inshāʾAllāh and its hollowness will become apparent,
because it is nothing but beautified speech without substance
and by which opposition to the Salaf is intended as indicated in
the saying of al-Awzāʿī: “Upon you is to follow the āthār of the
Salaf, even if the people reject you. And beware of the opinions
of men, even if they beautify it with speech. For the affair will
become apparent while you are upon a straight path regarding
it.”

Abu Iyāḍ
13 Dhul-Hijjah 1438 / 4 September 2017

16
Sunan al-Dārimī (1/66).

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