The Difference Between al-Ḥaddādiyyah and as-Salafiyyah | Imām Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī

The Question

May Allah preserve you. The questioner asks: What is the difference between al-Ḥaddādiyyah and as-Salafiyyah, and how can we distinguish between them?

The Answer

The difference between them is that the Ḥaddādīs were led by a man of desires, envy, hatred, and contempt for the scholars. During his time in Egypt, before he came to this country, he was known for attacking the scholars and speaking badly of them.

When he came to Riyadh, he remained there for seven years, or even longer. He never met Ibn Bāz, al-Fawzān, at-Tuwayjirī, or any of the other scholars of the Sunnah, nor did he learn anything from them, because of the intensity of his hatred, arrogance, and self-importance.

He then came to Madīnah with a specific objective: to stir up fitnah. He initially came appearing humble, using gentle speech and concealing his intentions, until he obtained commendations from some of the people of Madīnah. He then began gathering around himself the rabble and ignorant masses. Before long, the people of Madīnah found themselves facing an uprising against them and against the scholars of the Kingdom, indeed against the scholars of the Sunnah everywhere, not merely in the Kingdom.

They even pursued Jamīl ar-Raḥmān with their attacks after his death and martyrdom, despite our hope that he was a martyr. They revolted against Ahl as-Sunnah and their methodology.

By Allah, we advised them. I advised them repeatedly, treated them gently, and discussed matters with them courteously, hoping that they would return to the truth. We did not want fitnah, by Allah. But they refused anything except rebellion and fitan. They began bringing down the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah through vile speech, saying things such as, “This person is a wicked sinner,” and, “This person is such and such.”

They made attacking Ibn Ḥajar, an-Nawawī, and ash-Shawkānī a means by which they sought to undermine the scholars generally. They occupied the Salafīs with an unprecedented amount of distraction and controversy.

One of the Salafīs began debating them concerning some of al-Ḥaddād’s writings. This man then mobilised himself through recordings and books, attacking the books of Ahl as-Sunnah, disparaging them, opposing them, and attacking their scholars. A young man responded to him.

He attacked Shaykh Muḥammad Amān, Shaykh Ṣāliḥ as-Suḥaymī, Muḥammad ibn Rabīʿ, and Rabīʿ ibn Hādī. They even attributed authorship of this book to Rabīʿ, and this lying al-Ḥaddād swore by Allah that Rabīʿ was its author.

Among their characteristics, therefore, are lying, wickedness, hatred of the scholars, attempting to undermine them, arrogance, and belittling them. Some of them even said regarding certain senior scholars that they should go to al-Ḥaddād’s wife and kneel before her in order to acquire knowledge from her.

They began belittling the scholars and declaring them ignorant. Whoever possesses these characteristics is a Ḥaddādī. One who attacks the scholars and seeks to bring them down in the manner I have described is a Ḥaddādī.

They used to lie and attack, and attack again. When we demonstrated the lies, errors, and deviations of their shaykh, they only became more fanatical towards him.

Therefore, anyone who resembles these people, who displays fanaticism towards personalities, rejects evidence and proofs, and attacks Ahl as-Sunnah, is a Ḥaddādī, or even worse than the Ḥaddādiyyah.

Today, we see young people on the Internet following the same pattern. They describe Ahl as-Sunnah as Ḥaddādīs, while the characteristics of the Ḥaddādiyyah are actually manifest in them: fanaticism, lying, rejecting the truth, and following the same methodology as the Ḥaddādiyyah.

So understand this and properly recognise these characteristics of the Ḥaddādiyyah. Whoever possesses them is from the Ḥaddādiyyah, resembles them, or is even worse than them.

The believer must respect his religion, respect his intellect, respect this methodology, and respect his affiliation with as-Salafiyyah. He must respect the scholars. He should not place his intellect in the hands of foolish people who can toy with his mind, religion, and creed.

He should not surrender his religion to anyone. Absolute obedience belongs to Allah, and absolute allegiance belongs to Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, his noble Companions, and the sincere believers.

The truth revolves wherever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions revolve. As for everyone else, this is not the case. They can be correct, and they can make mistakes.

Extremism in the religion of Allah is among the vilest characteristics, and extremism towards individuals is among the vilest characteristics.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the son of Maryam. I am only a servant of Allah, so say: ‘The servant of Allah and His Messenger.'” (Al-Bukhārī, no. 3445)

If he ﷺ did not permit people to exaggerate in praising him, then how can people today exaggerate in praising insignificant individuals, may Allah protect us? They inflate the status of a weak and insignificant person until they turn him into a giant and a mountain.

This is a form of lying against Allah, extremism towards individuals, and extremism in the religion. We seek refuge in Allah from such characteristics.

This is how the Ḥaddādiyyah behaved: they became fanatical towards al-Ḥaddād and elevated him, despite the fact that he was an ignorant, confused, and oppressive man.

Believe me, brothers. He used to say, “For twenty years I have been warning against the Muslim Brotherhood and Quṭb,” yet we never saw a book from him or heard a recording in which he actually warned against these people.

But as soon as the Salafīs challenged him, he sprang up like a ferocious lion, writing books and distributing recordings. He even wrote a book about al-Albānī consisting of four hundred pages, filled with lies and wickedness, and called it al-Khamīs, meaning “the army”: the vanguard, rear, right flank, left flank, and centre.

Very well. If this is an army, why did you not march it against ar-Rāfiḍah? Why did you not march this army against the Muslim Brotherhood, whom you claim to have been warning against for twenty years? Why did you not mobilise this enormous army against them?

Instead, you mobilised it against al-Albānī, an Imām from the Imāms of Ahl as-Sunnah!

Today there is an intense campaign. Al-Albānī is no longer with us, yet the campaign continues against other scholars of the Sunnah.

These are signs of the Ḥaddādiyyah.

Today there is a group on the Internet that has mobilised an army. They have their khamīs, the army of al-Ḥaddād. They advance with books, recordings, and speech.

Yet they call Ahl as-Sunnah Ḥaddādīs. As the saying goes: “She accused me of her own affliction, and then walked away.”

We advise these people to repent to Allah, submit themselves to Allah, obey Allah, respect this methodology, and respect their own intellects and themselves. Otherwise, we will face a new calamity, one even more evil than the calamity of the Ḥaddādiyyah.

Among their characteristics is their refusal to invoke Allah’s mercy upon certain scholars. If you invoke Allah’s mercy upon someone such as Ibn Ḥajar, an-Nawawī, or ash-Shawkānī, they say, “He is an innovator.”

If you say, “al-Ḥāfiẓ,” they say, “He is an innovator.”

If you are asked about Ibn Ḥajar or an-Nawawī and you say, “By Allah, they held Ashʿarī positions,” they tell you, “You must say that he is an innovator.”

If you do not say “innovator,” then you are an innovator according to them.

If we say that someone is Ashʿarī, meaning that he has some innovation in his creed, this does not mean that a person should abandon proper etiquette in his choice of words.

Someone from Abhā once called me and asked, “What is your opinion of Ibn Ḥajar?”

I said, “He held some Ashʿarī positions.”

He replied, “You are misguided! You must say that he is an innovator.”

This is an example of their extremism.

These, then, are some of the characteristics of the Ḥaddādiyyah: who they are, their principles, and their objectives.

References

Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī, “What is the Difference Between the Ḥaddādiyyah and the Salafiyyah, and How Do We Distinguish Between Them?” in Fatāwā fī al-ʿAqīdah wa al-Manhaj, recorded question and answer, dated 13 Ṣafar 1423 AH. The text is reproduced in an online compilation of Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī’s fatāwā.

Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl (d. 256 AH/870 CE), Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb Aḥādīth al-Anbiyāʾ, bāb 48, ḥadīth no. 3445. The narration is reported from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.