The following advice and answers were recorded from a sitting with Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī and Abū ʿAbd al-Wahhāb Muḥammad of Masjid Daar us Sunnah on 8 May 2014. The wording below retains the historical account and its circumstances.
After asking about our well-being and affairs in London, Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī went on to say:
My advice to the people of the West is that they hold firmly to the correct creed and know the religion of Islam which the Messenger came with, and this is from the principles. It is obligatory upon you to know these matters because you live amongst non-Muslims and their enemies who spread doubts. And if a person does not have knowledge of this religion then he will become lost due to their doubts. Therefore upon the one living in the West is to know the religion of Islam with the evidences so that he can defend the religion. Likewise, it is obligatory upon you to gain beneficial knowledge. The non-Muslims target the youth when they reach a particular age, they are able to do whatever they like and if you reject [their system] they have the ability to take you to court, and your children can be taken from you, so you must cultivate them upon Islam so they are not misguided.
Be vigilant, you and your brothers, and do not mix except with those upon the manhaj of the Salaf so as not to fall into the same doubts and misgivings which those who ascribe to Islam have fallen into.
Sins (in the West) are widely accessible under the banner of freedom; rather the non-Muslims today are worse than before. The deviations of the non-Muslims of old were in relation to creed but still they had particular etiquettes with them, however now it is worse and this is all in the name of freedom, to the extent that they now allow same sex marriages. So take heed of yourself and brothers.
With regard to the youth, then look at their companions and who they walk with. Ahl as-Sunnah should keep ties with one another because this fills the gaps and compensates for the low numbers. The women should accompany the women from Ahl as-Sunnah likewise the youth should accompany the youthof Ahl as-Sunnah, because if you fulfil this you will not feel that sense of emptiness, strangeness, loneliness or boredom of being alone. Also according to your ability, do not allow the youth to stagnate and have free time. Fill their time and find ways to fill it with studying in Muslim schools, in the evening they should attend the mosques and study the Qurʾān, ḥadīth and Islamic sciences that will benefit them such as;
Al-Qawāʿid al-Arbaʿ, Al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah and Kitāb at-Tawḥīd, by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb; Al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah, by Ibn Taymiyyah; Al-Arbaʿūn an-Nawawiyyah, by an-Nawawī; ʿUmdat al-Aḥkām, by ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī; Bulūgh al-Marām, by Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī; Ādāb al-Mashy ilā aṣ-Ṣalāh, by Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb; and ʿUmdat al-Fiqh, by Ibn Qudāmah.
If this is implanted in the heart of the youth then they will know Islam with its proofs, and among yourselves, fill the time with [learning] new knowledge, or revising that which you have already come across. The heart sometimes becomes reluctant and thus you need to relax with wholesome ḥalāl activities, such as trips with your brothers upon an agreed programme or other ways such as wrestling, running and various sports, Allah mentions in the Qurʾān,
أَرْسِلْهُ مَعَنَا غَدًا يَرْتَعْ وَيَلْعَبْ
“Send him with us tomorrow to enjoy himself and play.” [Q 12:12] (excerpt)
This is needed with regards to the youth, but it has to be done in a state of safety and security. If you are able to preserve each other then you can practise what we have mentioned.
[I advise you with] the prayer, fasting, being good to your parents, your children, your neighbour, your close brothers and the Muslims in general. And you must also know how to deal with the People of the Book even though they are now (socialists), however if they talk about Islam, they return to the doubts of the People of the Book, likewise the (polytheists) and this can be found in the books of Sunnah and Fiqh [that is, knowing how to deal with non-Muslims].
So my advice is that if you implement this [that is, correct Islam] then the mercy, virtue and bounty of Islam will appear and this could be a means for somebody to enter Islam (mumtahinah), so you can give gifts to a neighbour of the People of the Book or visit them when they are sick, or ask about them when they are absent; if you cook, give them some because these manners have a positive effect on their hearts especially if you think that this person may lean towards Islam through it. [As for the women then] as a means of safety amongst them, it is better that she goes with a maḥram in a car with sisters. This is a specific advice to the women, the wives, the mothers and the daughters, that they should not leave their homes except in cases of dire necessity, such as going to the doctor or visiting someone that there is a need to visit, or to the mosque for a lesson with a maḥram (due to the fitan that may arise) because a woman leaving her house leads to fitan. May Allah give us success (tawfīq)
Questions and Answers
Question: What is the ruling on the one who curses Allah and the religion and the Messenger , do we need to establish the proof upon him?
Answer: This (person) is a disbeliever, he is an apostate, because cursing Allah is evil in every respect and this person is a disbeliever in all religions, cursing Allah is an evil act.
Question: Is it permissible for sisters to travel to mosques for lessons by using buses or walking, and this is while they are without their maḥram and they are not in cars?
Answer: No! No! (whilst waving his finger) no buses for the women, they should sit at home because it is not wājib for them to attend these lessons:
وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ
“And stay in your houses.” [Q 33:33] (excerpt)
Question: These buses require mixing with the non-Muslims.
Answer: Yes I know. This is common in Europe and specifically in the United Kingdom.
Question: If an individual defends a clear innovator such as al-Ḥalabī, do we have to establish the proof upon him before we declare him an innovator?
Answer: If he is genuinely in need of clarification then you should explain to him. If he is trying to deceive you then boycott him. Boycotting is a form of worship, Allah mentions it in the Qurʾān and the Messenger and the scholars have used it. The benefit is for the one who is doing the action of boycotting and this is the origin.
Question: Is it permissible to give greetings to the innovator?
Answer: He should not give it. They are not given salām. Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said:
إذا سلم الرجل على المبتدع فهو يحبه.
“If a man greets an innovator, he loves him.” (Ibn Mufliḥ, Al-Ādāb ash-Sharʿiyyah wa-l-Minaḥ al-Marʿiyyah, 1:233, a parallel report from Aḥmad.)
The Messenger said:
أَلَا أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى مَا إِذَا فَعَلْتُمُوهُ تَحَابَبْتُمْ؟ أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ بَيْنَكُمْ.
“Shall I direct you to something which, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread the greeting of peace among yourselves.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 54a, excerpt, narrated by Abū Hurayrah.)
Question: Is it permissible to reply to their salām?
Answer: If his innovation is extreme and highly severe, then you do not reply, like the Jahmiyyah and Rāfiḍah. As for the Ashāʿirah and their likes, then they are a lighter harm and they are replied to.
Question: What about the callers from them?
Answer: No, they are not given salām, as mentioned by Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal previously:
إذا سلم الرجل على المبتدع فهو يحبه.
“If a man greets an innovator, he loves him.” (Ibn Mufliḥ, Al-Ādāb ash-Sharʿiyyah wa-l-Minaḥ al-Marʿiyyah, 1:233, a parallel report from Aḥmad.)
References
An-Nawawī, Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf (d. 676 AH/1277 CE). Al-Arbaʿūn an-Nawawiyyah.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Muḥammad (d. 1206 AH/1792 CE). Al-Qawāʿid al-Arbaʿ, Al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah, Kitāb at-Tawḥīd and Ādāb al-Mashy ilā aṣ-Ṣalāh.
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī (d. 852 AH/1449 CE). Bulūgh al-Marām.
Ibn Mufliḥ, Muḥammad ibn Mufliḥ (d. 763 AH/1362 CE). Al-Ādāb ash-Sharʿiyyah wa-l-Minaḥ al-Marʿiyyah, 1:233.
Ibn Qudāmah, ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad (d. 620 AH/1223 CE). ʿUmdat al-Fiqh.
Ibn Taymiyyah, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm (d. 728 AH/1328 CE). Al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah.
Al-Madkhalī, Muḥammad ibn Hādī. Sitting with Abū ʿAbd al-Wahhāb Muḥammad, 8 May 2014
Al-Maqdisī, ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid (d. 600 AH/1203 CE). ʿUmdat al-Aḥkām.
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (d. 261 AH/875 CE). Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 54a (Sunnah.com numbering).
The Qurʾān, Q 12:12 and 33:33 (excerpts);
