Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Hādi al-Madkhalī:

The brothers ask regarding the statement of an individual who replies: ‘I’m not obliged’’ when you clarify [an issue] to him, he replies ‘I’m not obligated [to accept your advice]’.

If it is the case that, when you clarify the truth to him along with its evidence, and in turn he replies by saying ‘I’m not obliged (to accept this from you)’ then what is it that obliges him?! What is it that obliges him?!

Allāh ﷻ says:

۞ وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ ۗ وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا  مُّبِينًا

It is not for a believer, man or woman, that when Allāh and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allāh and His Messenger has indeed strayed into plain error’.  [Q 33:36]

And He ﷻ says:

۞ وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

‘And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it), and fear Allāh. Verily, Allāh is Severe in punishment’. [Q 59:7]

Likewise He ﷻ says:

۞ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَاسْمَعُوا وَأَطِيعُوا

‘So keep your duty to Allāh and fear Him as much as you can; listen and obey.’ [Q 64:16]

Similarly Allāh ﷻ says:

۞ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ

‘O you who believe! Obey Allāh and obey the Messenger’. [Q 4:59]

And other than that of various verses.

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

‘Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allāh and who ever disobeys me has disobeyed Allāh.’[1]

So if you have clarified the issue to the person along with its evidence from The Book and the Sunnah which clearly establishes the issue without any ambiguity, and thereafter his only means of opposing you is by saying: ‘I’m not obliged [to accept what you are telling me]’ then know that he is a person of desires.

However, if it is the case that he has evidence that is considerable from the Book of Allāh and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ then you must not be hasty with him, [rather] look into his evidence. It maybe that the evidence is sound but his understanding of it is not, in which case, clarify [the matter] to him, and if he refuses [to accept] after clarity has been presented to him, supported by the speech of Allāh and other verses [which clarify the verses he is using], since the best explanation of the Qurʾān is the Qurʾān [itself], and subsequent to that is the ḥadīth [Prophetic narrations], [and likewise] the best explanation of the Sunnah is the Sunnah [itself], and subsequent to that are the statements of the Companions of the Prophet and thereafter the various dialects of the Arabic language, which is sought (known) from the spoken language of the Arabs and their poetry, for indeed poetry is the dewān [means of preserving] the Arab [language] as was stated by ‘Abdullāh Ibn ʿAbbās [may Allāh be pleased with them both].

So if you have made clear to him thereafter, using the statements of the Prophet ﷺ  statements of his Companions and still he rejects [your advice], then no strategy will avail. No strategy will avail you! This has recently become a means of stubbornness that is utilised by all those who wish to act according to their own judgment and oppose the people of Sunnah, [and so they say], ‘I’m not obliged’.

Such is the affair of Abūl Ḥasan [al-Maʿribī].We did not hear this except from him. You [could] clarify the truth to him along with proof, and a succession of evidences, [yet in reply] he would say to you: ‘I’m not obliged’. So what is it that obligates you! Is it that you want revelation titled with your name specifically for this affair of yours? This is never going to be the case.

The book of Allāh is recited by all who recite it and the Sunnah is read by all who read it in front of us and thus we judge with them both. Either the evidence is from the Qurʾān and Sunnah – and that is the highest level evidence, or the evidence is based upon [correct] understanding, [and] that is the succeeding level, and finally the statements of the people of knowledge, [primarily] the Companions; we look into that [also].

Is (the evidence) in accordance to your understanding? For if it is not, (then) it is in accordance to mine. Whichever understanding is correct, it is obligatory to return to it. Can one be more reasonable than this O brothers?

If the statements of the Salaf in their explanation of the book of Allāh and Sunnah of His Messenger (prove that what you are upon [is the truth], then I am with you, and if they prove what I am upon and what I am calling you to [is the truth], then it is obligatory for you to fear Allāh and leave off this statement [I’m not obliged]. The truth obliges you, and it is obligatory upon you to accept it.

۞ وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ ۗ وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا  مُّبِينًا

‘It is not for a believer, man or woman, that when Allāh and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they have any option in their decision.’ [Q 33:36]

As we are on this subject, there is a phrase more audacious than this. Some of them say: ‘The statements of the Salaf are recreational reading’. So your speech, is it obligatory that it be taken?! The statements of the Salaf he regards as recreational reading. The understanding of the Salaf is recreational reading and your understanding?! [He says],‘Our understanding is what we are obliged to take, as for the understanding of the Salaf (then) no, that is recreational reading’, even though the understanding of the Salaf is that which the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and his Companions obligated us to take.

He ﷺ said:

“That which I am upon today and my Companions’[2]

So that which the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions were upon, is the religion, and after the Prophet ﷺ, that which the Companions were upon under the ruler ship of the rightly guided caliphs, is [also] the religion, and after them; is that which the remainder Companions of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ were upon, that is (likewise) the religion.

After them, is that which the Imāms and the best of the Tābiʿīn were upon, including the senior students of the Prophet’s Companions, that is [also] the religion.

After them, is that which the Imāms of the Āthār were upon, such as Mālik, the two Sufyāns, the two Hamāds, al-Awzāʿī, Shuʿbā, Aḥmad, and al-Shāfiʿī, and the likes of them, then this is [also] the religion.

So that which they were not upon is not [regarded as] the religion, and therefore, we have no regard for it, and we cannot accept it from whoever comes with it, [as long as] it opposes what these exceptional individuals were upon [who have a chain of narration] back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Therefore, the statement ‘I’m not obliged’ is a blow to the chest of the advice-giver and a means of refuting him without any evidence whatsoever.