The Cure to Terrorism
An excellent khutbah given after the terror attacks in Jordan 2005. It makes clear that the cure to extremism, ignorance, terrorism and oppressive takfeer is not simply condemning it again and again.
Rather, it is the spread of knowledge and teachings of the scholars that removes the doubts and subdues the desires.....
-- A Friday Sermon by Saleem Al-Hilali given in the wake of the terrorist bombing that took place in Amman on 11/11/2005
**The Exposed Foreboding**
All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His aid and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and the evils of our actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can lead astray and whomsoever Allah leaves to go astray, none can guide.
I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone without a partner and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
"O you who believe! Fear Allâh (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islâm (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allâh. (Aali Imran 3:102)
O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allâh through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allâh is Ever and All Watcher over you. (An-Nisa 4:1)
O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allâh and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allâh and His Messenger (SAW) he has indeed achieved a great achievement ( i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and made to enter Paradise). (Al-Ahzab 33:70-71)
My beloved brothers in the way of Allah!
Allah, the Exalted, the Most High, sent our Messenger (peace be upon him) as a mercy to Mankind.
((We have only sent you as a mercy to the world))
And the Messenger (peace be upon him) said about himself:
"I am a mercy granted (to the world)."
Indeed, Allah put in his heart mercy and as a result the Ummah gathered around him.
((It is by Allah's mercy that you are kind to them. Had you been tough and hard-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you. So pardon them, seek forgiveness for them and consult them in the affairs. Then if you resolve (to do something), put your trust in Allah. Verily, Allah loves those who put their trust in Him)). [Aali Imran: 159]
This is the reality of Islam. And this is the Message of the Chief of mankind Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him):
Mercy is its essence...
Mercy is its logo...
Mercy is its inward and outward...
Yes, mercy is the banner of our Religion. Allah, the Most High, has written to Himself to be Merciful. This is why He enjoined Mercy on His creation and made their mercy to one another an integral part of His mercy.
The Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "Those who are merciful, Allah will have mercy on them. Have mercy on those on earth, the One above the heavens will have mercy on you."
This is why the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he established the ideal exemplary first generation, he gave to the Muslim community the similitude of one body: "The similitude of the Muslims in their mutual love, mercy and care is that of a body: if one part of it suffers an illness, the rest of the body feels for it so they feel fever and sleeplessness. "
He (peace be upon him) gave this similitude in order to clarify to the believers how the Muslim community should be, and therefore, the Muslims are one body - one entity.
If a healthy individual happens to suffer an illness in one part of his body, the rest of the body suffers as a result. If the eye suffers, the ear will consequently suffer and so will the hand, etc. The eye will not be left alone to deal with its illness or pain; rather, the whole body, including all organs and systems, will be on alert to deal with the pain which serves as a threat of a spreading contamination, which if it continues will be fatal. We seek refuge with Allah.
This is why the scholars who are aware of these issues, who can see the roots of the problem and its destructive consequences, say that to feel the pain is a healthy phenomenon. Because when one feels pain, he realizes that there is something that needs to be treated. As a result, the whole body will be on the move to secure remedy to the infected part.
This is the Example of society. When inflicted with a calamity or a tribulation it becomes one hand, helping one another to root out any fitnah that might be there. The expert doctor is one who succeeds in diagnosing the illness assessing the amount of damage, and determining the virus so as to deal with it successfully and correctly.
As to those who can only perceive the external symptoms and fail to see, or turn away from the real problem such people are either short-sighted or ignorant of the affair.
O brothers in Islam! Concerning the criminal deadly bombings that took place in our safe country (Jordan), and I say it loud for all to hear: we have been fighting – and still are - against that and we have been debating those who embrace such concepts - the Takfeeri groups - as did our teachers since 1393 a.h. (1973); 33 years ago.
Yes, we have warned and are still warning against the Takfeeri ideology which transforms misguided youth into potential bombs, which no one knows when and where they will explode.
Some people cannot help wonder why a young man – in the prime of youth - would wear a detonated belt and blow himself up in the middle of old men, children and women; in a wedding, so he kills himself and those around him.
Since Wednesday night, I have been tracking comments (in the media), (in the hope that) perhaps one of the commentators or analysts would point to the source of the illness or point to find the remedy to cure such people who were brainwashed and made to believe they were one step away from Paradise.
Brothers in Islam!
Those who commit such crimes are from us, they speak our language, they have the same skin color as us, they are from our society; yet they have been brainwashed and their heads have been stuffed with deviant methodologies and misguided views.
They consider society to be all unbelievers - both government and people. They apply the Qur'anic verses which talk about the unbelievers on the Muslims. The most dangerous argument of theirs is their understanding of the verse:
((Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers) ).
Therefore, they say: Muslim rulers have enforced the British law, the American law, etc. so, they are kuffaar, without understanding the correct meaning of this verse! Indeed, this verse, along with the other two verses in Surah al-Maa'idah, was revealed describing the Jews and the Christians:
((Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers) )
((Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the Faasiqoon [rebellious] ))
((Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the ath-Thaalimoon [evil-doers, oppressors]) )
These verses where revealed talking about the Jews and the Christians as Jaabir ibn Abdillaah pointed to Saheeh Muslim.
These takfeeri people are the Khawaarij and their followers, the most evil of creatures since the time of Muhammad (peace be upon him) until they (Khawaarij) follow ad-Dajjaal (the false Messiah). Ibn Umar –may Allah be pleased with him and his father- said:
"They took the verses that were revealed about the unbelievers and applied them on the Muslims."
This is Ibn Abbaas, whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) supplicated to Allah that He grants him knowledge of the Deen, and the interpretation of Qur'an – may Allah be pleased with him - he explained this verse which was used by the Khawaarij in the past, and is used by their like in the present, and will be used by the Khawaarij in the future. He (radiyallaahu anhu) said:
"It is not the type of kufr you refer to, but it is a level less than the other; it is not the type of kufr as when one disbelieves in Allah and the Last Day."
So he made the distinction clear between Major kufr that expels the individual out of the realm of Islam, and Minor kufr, which is sin or ungratefulness, which does not expel the individual out of Islam unless he deems it to be Halaal.
We still refute such people and debate with them to clarify to them that mere ruling by other than what Allah has revealed is not a kufr that drives the Muslim out of Islam. The only case in which such an act becomes Major Kufr is when the person deems it Halaal (permissable) , which is an act of the heart known only to Allah.
In view of that, considering Muslim rulers and laymen to be Kuffaar reflects ignorance of the Religion of Allah. Indeed, it is twofold ignorance about the Call of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
O brothers in Islam!
This is the fact about which the media is heedless and the learned individuals in our society swerve away from it when they address this problem.
How do we solve the problem?
By condemnations and verbal objection alone? No. Such techniques will never be successful in treating this issue. Therefore, the channels of dialogue should be opened for the Du'aats to the Way of Allah, so that they can call those who went astray, to the correct Path with knowledge, proof, evidence and the authority the Qur'ân and Sunnah have. The result will call them to return to the truth, wake up and give up misguidance.
I will cite an example from history and follow it with a contemporary one:
As for the old one, it is when the Khawaarij (Kharijites) rebelled against the then Ruler of the believers, 'Alee bin Abee Taalib — may Allah be pleased with him - the Khawaarij were twelve thousand (12000) then.
Thus, they rebelled against Alee and united upon fighting against him. Then, the Learned of the Ummah and the Interpreter of the Qur'an, Abdullaah bin 'Abbaas, came to Alee and said:
"Give me the permission so that I may debate with them."
and thus he went to them and had a very long debate with them, and let us see its results - eight thousand of the Khawaarij retracted their beliefs and only four thousand remained!!
'Alee — may Allah be pleased with him — along with the Prophet's—peace be upon him — Companions — may Allah be pleased with them --killed those who did not retract in the battle of Nahrawaan, where he ( i.e. 'Alee) routed them (i.e. the Khawaarij). None of them escaped except for eight men, who spread through the countries and preached the Khawaarij ideology—and refuge is to be sought in Allah, the Exalted, from that--.
Thus, when the permission is given to the scholars, who are well-versed in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, in order to call, then one will not see these decayed, misguiding thoughts which destroy our sons:
The criminal is from our sons!
The murdered is from our sons!
The criminal knows not why he committed his crime!
The murdered knows not why he was killed!
As for a contemporary example it is when the blight of the Khawaarij befell Algeria, where the dissenting groups resorted to the mountains and declared war against the Muslim Algerian community. There, I had a debate with them, and at the same time,
I was accompanied by — with the blessings of Allah and His mercy — our Sheikh and Faqeeh of that time, Sheikh Muhammad bin Saalih al-'Uthaimeen — may Allah have mercy on him— so, we debated with them over the phone from nine o'clock at night and until three in the morning, and the result was that four thousand armed men came down from the mountains.
Thus, O brothers of Islam, we should clarify these matters, we should clarify these facts, because these youths have been deceived, misguided, and got their minds distorted by many means; and I shall say it:
The greater of which are the (Takfeeri) internet sites!!
How can al-Qa'ida get to our sons and daughters? Simple, through the internet!
This organization has more than seven hundred and fifty sites over the World Wide Web which preach Takfeer (wrongly charging other Muslims with unbelief), preaching to kill, preach to bomb, and preaching Muslims to kill other Muslims as the latter have "apostatized" (!!)
Thus — O brothers of Islam — all of the words of condemnation and verbal objection will do nothing in solving this blight, and no one will cease to say them; these words are uttered by the scholar and the ignorant; the scholar condemns, the ignorant does so, and we do so, but will this solve the extremism problem?
This is the point — O brothers of Islam --, and we say to them — in the hope that they may stop... retract... wake up...
Listen to what the beloved one, the Prophet — peace be upon him —said:
"The Muslim will be at ease with his religion so long as he does not shed blood unlawfully."
"at ease with his religion" means that seeking his Lord's pardon, and asking for His mercy, unless he kills another Muslim without a cause, thus "if he sheds blood unlawfully, he will cease good deeds".
The Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) also said:
"Allah refuses to guide to repentance the person who kills a believer."
This means that he who kills the believers, whether men, children, women, or elderly — suddenly and without a lawful cause that legitimizes it — he will not be guided towards repentance.
And this is the final resort for these groups; they charge the Ummah with Kufr, and when they do not find those to charge with Kufr, then they charge one another with Kufr. Rather, one of them—and we seek refuge in Allah from that—charged himself with Kufr when he did not find someone else to charge.
This excessiveness in charging others with Kufr is a chronic disease. It is like cancer which will spread and kill the human being in case the person did not pay attention to it—and we seek refuge in Allah--, and few are those who escape it!
O brothers of Islam we must clarify these things to you so that you clarify them to your children and spread them among your neighbors, open your eyes wide, and open your ears wide against anyone who wants to murder our security, who wants to stir up sedition among us, or who wants to sneak among us all of a sudden and turn our joys into sadness our gatherings into separation.
I invoke Allah, the Exalted, so that He guides us to the Right Path, guides all the Muslims, and guides all the misguided to that which He loves and is pleased with. He is the All-Able of doing that. I seek Allah's forgiveness for you.
The second sermon:
Praised be Allah, and may the peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his household, Companions, and whoever follows his way:
O brothers of Islam! This renegade group —the Khawaarij— who are attacking the Ummah with Takfeer, respect not the ties, either of kinship or of covenant with regard to the believers, and they are the worst blight since the time of the Prophet —peace be upon him— until they follow the Dajjaal.
In this respect, and during the time of the Prophet — peace be upon him — their chief Dhul-Khuwaisirah at-Tameemee came to the Prophet when he peace be upon him — divided the spoils of the battle of Hunain and gave them — in an attempt to attract their hearts — to those who have converted to Islam recently and gave nothing to Quraish or the Ansaar — this man, who had deeply-set eyes, protruding forehead, shaggy hair, and had a sign of Sujood (prostration) [1], said:
"O Muhammad! Be just, because this division is not meant for the sake of Allah".
He is objecting to whom? Against the Prophet — peace be upon him — who is the most just among all the creatures and the best among them. So, why would they not object to those who are less than the Prophet —peace be upon him — in terms of ruling or knowledge? Rather, this is to be done with greater reason.
There, the Prophet — peace be upon him — said:
"Woe to you, who will do justice if I did not? Verily, I am the most knowledgeable of Allah and fearing of Him among you".
Then the Prophet—peace be upon him—said:
"From this very person's posterity there would arise people whom you would belittle your prayer and fasting before theirs; they would recite the Qur'an, but it would not go beyond their throats. If I were to ever find them I would kill them like 'Aad. They are the worst killed ones under the sky. Toubaa (a tree in Paradise) for him who kills them or gets killed by them."
Thus, we hope that those brothers and sisters who got killed in those bombing attacks are to be forgiven by Allah, we invoke Allah, the Exalted, to have mercy on them, admit them to His Jannah, and forgive their sins and mistakes.
Indeed, this is the fruit of Takfeer. I — unfortunately— heard some callers, who are considered among the reliable ones - in view of the laymen - and who are pointed at in the Satellite TV channels — I heard one of them saying unreservedly that the Prophet — peace be upon him— did not kill the Khawaarij and considered them like a sort of opposition party inside the then Muslim country.
Lo! How bad is what they describe! How bad is what they judge! And how bad is what they think!
Look at this hadeeth that was reported along with its chain of narrators by Imaam Ahmad and Abu Ya'laa with an authentic (Saheeh) chain: the Prophet—peace be upon him—passed by Dhul-Khuwaisirah while he was prostrating, and then he came to his Companions and said: "Who would kill him?"
Abu Bakr said: "I would", and thus he drew his sword, shook it in his hand, and went on. There he found him prostrating, and so he came back (without killing him). Rather, he said: "How would I kill a prostrating man, O Prophet of Allah?! 'Umar went on to do the same thing, and came back without doing it for the same reason.
Finally, 'Alee went on, and the Prophet said: "You are the one who would do it if you find him", but 'Alee did not find him. There, the Prophet—peace be upon him—said: "If this man was killed, none among my nation would differ in opinion".
And it was 'Alee who killed him just like the Prophet—peace be upon him— prophecised, and this was in the battle of Nahrawaan, and thus he searched for him among the killed and found him just like the Prophet—peace be upon him—said. He showed him to the Prophet's—peace be upon him—Companions. After that, 'Alee sank to the ground prostrating to Allah for killing that man.
These Khawaarij are divided into two types:
The first are those who have been deceived and misguided in the name of the religious zeal and emotions. The remedy for them is through educational discussion and debate to remove the veil from their eyes.
The second are those who are persistent upon their innovation, sinning in their (misguided) interpretation, and deviated from the Prophetic methodology. The remedy for them is through killing and rooting out.
However, you should know that they (the Khawaarij) will not have an established country, nor will they have power, nor will they have authority over the people of Sunnah and Jamaa'ah. Whenever they form a group, it will be terminated like what Ibn 'Umar said in the Hadeeth in the Sunan Ibn Maajah that the Prophet—peace be upon him—said:
"There will come people who would recite the Qur'an but it would not go beyond their throats. Whenever a generation of them gets rooted out, another one will appear; and this will continue until the Dajjaal comes out in their army."
Thus they establish armies not to fight against the Kuffaar but rather against the Muslims and they are liars, I swear by the Lord of all the creatures.
The Prophet—peace be upon him—said that: "they will kill the people of Islam and leave the idol-worshippers" .
Behold! O brothers! Look at their reality nowadays. Their leaders and theorists left the Muslim countries and lived in the capital of Kufr, London. All of the heads of Takfeer in the Islamic world are cradled in Britain, and you may have heard about a man whose name is Abu Qataadah al-Filisteenee? !
He is from our country, but he left to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and then got the right of asylum in Britain where he declared war against Islam and the Muslims and became one of the main exporters of the Takfeeree ideology to the Islamic countries; but after the bombing attacks of London, the British government decided to extradite him provided that he will not be hurt, prosecuted, nor be punished for that loathsome act, and when they did not win anyone's ear—up to now--, they left him there.
By Allah! They live in London on the monetary aids for the political refugees; they left the Muslim countries and accepted to live among the Kuffaar—and we seek refuge in Allah, the Exalted--.
O brothers of Islam! This is the truth that you did not hear before, and you may not actually hear in the media, I say it seeking the Pleasure of Allah, the Exalted, so we might benefit from it in knowing our way, for we have no other way than going back to the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, and the understanding of our rightly-guided Salaf. Accordingly, we will be shown how the Prophet's Companions understood the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger—peace be upon him--.
I invoke Allah, the Exalted, by His Beautiful Names and Sublime Attributes in order to protect all of the Muslim countries, preserve the safety of our country, and protect us from evil, tribulations, and troubles.
I also invoke Him, the Exalted, in order to guide the Muslim Rulers to that which He loves, show them the Truth and let them follow it, show them the Falseness and keep them away from it, and bestow upon them a good retinue of reliable scholars who will enjoin them with al-Ma'roof, warn them against al-Munkar, and become their supporters for everything good. Verily, He is the All-Able of doing that
An excellent khutbah given after the terror attacks in Jordan 2005. It makes clear that the cure to extremism, ignorance, terrorism and oppressive takfeer is not simply condemning it again and again.
Rather, it is the spread of knowledge and teachings of the scholars that removes the doubts and subdues the desires.....
-- A Friday Sermon by Saleem Al-Hilali given in the wake of the terrorist bombing that took place in Amman on 11/11/2005
**The Exposed Foreboding**
All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His aid and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and the evils of our actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can lead astray and whomsoever Allah leaves to go astray, none can guide.
I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone without a partner and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
"O you who believe! Fear Allâh (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islâm (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allâh. (Aali Imran 3:102)
O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allâh through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allâh is Ever and All Watcher over you. (An-Nisa 4:1)
O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allâh and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allâh and His Messenger (SAW) he has indeed achieved a great achievement ( i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and made to enter Paradise). (Al-Ahzab 33:70-71)
My beloved brothers in the way of Allah!
Allah, the Exalted, the Most High, sent our Messenger (peace be upon him) as a mercy to Mankind.
((We have only sent you as a mercy to the world))
And the Messenger (peace be upon him) said about himself:
"I am a mercy granted (to the world)."
Indeed, Allah put in his heart mercy and as a result the Ummah gathered around him.
((It is by Allah's mercy that you are kind to them. Had you been tough and hard-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you. So pardon them, seek forgiveness for them and consult them in the affairs. Then if you resolve (to do something), put your trust in Allah. Verily, Allah loves those who put their trust in Him)). [Aali Imran: 159]
This is the reality of Islam. And this is the Message of the Chief of mankind Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him):
Mercy is its essence...
Mercy is its logo...
Mercy is its inward and outward...
Yes, mercy is the banner of our Religion. Allah, the Most High, has written to Himself to be Merciful. This is why He enjoined Mercy on His creation and made their mercy to one another an integral part of His mercy.
The Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "Those who are merciful, Allah will have mercy on them. Have mercy on those on earth, the One above the heavens will have mercy on you."
This is why the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he established the ideal exemplary first generation, he gave to the Muslim community the similitude of one body: "The similitude of the Muslims in their mutual love, mercy and care is that of a body: if one part of it suffers an illness, the rest of the body feels for it so they feel fever and sleeplessness. "
He (peace be upon him) gave this similitude in order to clarify to the believers how the Muslim community should be, and therefore, the Muslims are one body - one entity.
If a healthy individual happens to suffer an illness in one part of his body, the rest of the body suffers as a result. If the eye suffers, the ear will consequently suffer and so will the hand, etc. The eye will not be left alone to deal with its illness or pain; rather, the whole body, including all organs and systems, will be on alert to deal with the pain which serves as a threat of a spreading contamination, which if it continues will be fatal. We seek refuge with Allah.
This is why the scholars who are aware of these issues, who can see the roots of the problem and its destructive consequences, say that to feel the pain is a healthy phenomenon. Because when one feels pain, he realizes that there is something that needs to be treated. As a result, the whole body will be on the move to secure remedy to the infected part.
This is the Example of society. When inflicted with a calamity or a tribulation it becomes one hand, helping one another to root out any fitnah that might be there. The expert doctor is one who succeeds in diagnosing the illness assessing the amount of damage, and determining the virus so as to deal with it successfully and correctly.
As to those who can only perceive the external symptoms and fail to see, or turn away from the real problem such people are either short-sighted or ignorant of the affair.
O brothers in Islam! Concerning the criminal deadly bombings that took place in our safe country (Jordan), and I say it loud for all to hear: we have been fighting – and still are - against that and we have been debating those who embrace such concepts - the Takfeeri groups - as did our teachers since 1393 a.h. (1973); 33 years ago.
Yes, we have warned and are still warning against the Takfeeri ideology which transforms misguided youth into potential bombs, which no one knows when and where they will explode.
Some people cannot help wonder why a young man – in the prime of youth - would wear a detonated belt and blow himself up in the middle of old men, children and women; in a wedding, so he kills himself and those around him.
Since Wednesday night, I have been tracking comments (in the media), (in the hope that) perhaps one of the commentators or analysts would point to the source of the illness or point to find the remedy to cure such people who were brainwashed and made to believe they were one step away from Paradise.
Brothers in Islam!
Those who commit such crimes are from us, they speak our language, they have the same skin color as us, they are from our society; yet they have been brainwashed and their heads have been stuffed with deviant methodologies and misguided views.
They consider society to be all unbelievers - both government and people. They apply the Qur'anic verses which talk about the unbelievers on the Muslims. The most dangerous argument of theirs is their understanding of the verse:
((Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers) ).
Therefore, they say: Muslim rulers have enforced the British law, the American law, etc. so, they are kuffaar, without understanding the correct meaning of this verse! Indeed, this verse, along with the other two verses in Surah al-Maa'idah, was revealed describing the Jews and the Christians:
((Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers) )
((Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the Faasiqoon [rebellious] ))
((Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the ath-Thaalimoon [evil-doers, oppressors]) )
These verses where revealed talking about the Jews and the Christians as Jaabir ibn Abdillaah pointed to Saheeh Muslim.
These takfeeri people are the Khawaarij and their followers, the most evil of creatures since the time of Muhammad (peace be upon him) until they (Khawaarij) follow ad-Dajjaal (the false Messiah). Ibn Umar –may Allah be pleased with him and his father- said:
"They took the verses that were revealed about the unbelievers and applied them on the Muslims."
This is Ibn Abbaas, whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) supplicated to Allah that He grants him knowledge of the Deen, and the interpretation of Qur'an – may Allah be pleased with him - he explained this verse which was used by the Khawaarij in the past, and is used by their like in the present, and will be used by the Khawaarij in the future. He (radiyallaahu anhu) said:
"It is not the type of kufr you refer to, but it is a level less than the other; it is not the type of kufr as when one disbelieves in Allah and the Last Day."
So he made the distinction clear between Major kufr that expels the individual out of the realm of Islam, and Minor kufr, which is sin or ungratefulness, which does not expel the individual out of Islam unless he deems it to be Halaal.
We still refute such people and debate with them to clarify to them that mere ruling by other than what Allah has revealed is not a kufr that drives the Muslim out of Islam. The only case in which such an act becomes Major Kufr is when the person deems it Halaal (permissable) , which is an act of the heart known only to Allah.
In view of that, considering Muslim rulers and laymen to be Kuffaar reflects ignorance of the Religion of Allah. Indeed, it is twofold ignorance about the Call of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
O brothers in Islam!
This is the fact about which the media is heedless and the learned individuals in our society swerve away from it when they address this problem.
How do we solve the problem?
By condemnations and verbal objection alone? No. Such techniques will never be successful in treating this issue. Therefore, the channels of dialogue should be opened for the Du'aats to the Way of Allah, so that they can call those who went astray, to the correct Path with knowledge, proof, evidence and the authority the Qur'ân and Sunnah have. The result will call them to return to the truth, wake up and give up misguidance.
I will cite an example from history and follow it with a contemporary one:
As for the old one, it is when the Khawaarij (Kharijites) rebelled against the then Ruler of the believers, 'Alee bin Abee Taalib — may Allah be pleased with him - the Khawaarij were twelve thousand (12000) then.
Thus, they rebelled against Alee and united upon fighting against him. Then, the Learned of the Ummah and the Interpreter of the Qur'an, Abdullaah bin 'Abbaas, came to Alee and said:
"Give me the permission so that I may debate with them."
and thus he went to them and had a very long debate with them, and let us see its results - eight thousand of the Khawaarij retracted their beliefs and only four thousand remained!!
'Alee — may Allah be pleased with him — along with the Prophet's—peace be upon him — Companions — may Allah be pleased with them --killed those who did not retract in the battle of Nahrawaan, where he ( i.e. 'Alee) routed them (i.e. the Khawaarij). None of them escaped except for eight men, who spread through the countries and preached the Khawaarij ideology—and refuge is to be sought in Allah, the Exalted, from that--.
Thus, when the permission is given to the scholars, who are well-versed in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, in order to call, then one will not see these decayed, misguiding thoughts which destroy our sons:
The criminal is from our sons!
The murdered is from our sons!
The criminal knows not why he committed his crime!
The murdered knows not why he was killed!
As for a contemporary example it is when the blight of the Khawaarij befell Algeria, where the dissenting groups resorted to the mountains and declared war against the Muslim Algerian community. There, I had a debate with them, and at the same time,
I was accompanied by — with the blessings of Allah and His mercy — our Sheikh and Faqeeh of that time, Sheikh Muhammad bin Saalih al-'Uthaimeen — may Allah have mercy on him— so, we debated with them over the phone from nine o'clock at night and until three in the morning, and the result was that four thousand armed men came down from the mountains.
Thus, O brothers of Islam, we should clarify these matters, we should clarify these facts, because these youths have been deceived, misguided, and got their minds distorted by many means; and I shall say it:
The greater of which are the (Takfeeri) internet sites!!
How can al-Qa'ida get to our sons and daughters? Simple, through the internet!
This organization has more than seven hundred and fifty sites over the World Wide Web which preach Takfeer (wrongly charging other Muslims with unbelief), preaching to kill, preach to bomb, and preaching Muslims to kill other Muslims as the latter have "apostatized" (!!)
Thus — O brothers of Islam — all of the words of condemnation and verbal objection will do nothing in solving this blight, and no one will cease to say them; these words are uttered by the scholar and the ignorant; the scholar condemns, the ignorant does so, and we do so, but will this solve the extremism problem?
This is the point — O brothers of Islam --, and we say to them — in the hope that they may stop... retract... wake up...
Listen to what the beloved one, the Prophet — peace be upon him —said:
"The Muslim will be at ease with his religion so long as he does not shed blood unlawfully."
"at ease with his religion" means that seeking his Lord's pardon, and asking for His mercy, unless he kills another Muslim without a cause, thus "if he sheds blood unlawfully, he will cease good deeds".
The Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) also said:
"Allah refuses to guide to repentance the person who kills a believer."
This means that he who kills the believers, whether men, children, women, or elderly — suddenly and without a lawful cause that legitimizes it — he will not be guided towards repentance.
And this is the final resort for these groups; they charge the Ummah with Kufr, and when they do not find those to charge with Kufr, then they charge one another with Kufr. Rather, one of them—and we seek refuge in Allah from that—charged himself with Kufr when he did not find someone else to charge.
This excessiveness in charging others with Kufr is a chronic disease. It is like cancer which will spread and kill the human being in case the person did not pay attention to it—and we seek refuge in Allah--, and few are those who escape it!
O brothers of Islam we must clarify these things to you so that you clarify them to your children and spread them among your neighbors, open your eyes wide, and open your ears wide against anyone who wants to murder our security, who wants to stir up sedition among us, or who wants to sneak among us all of a sudden and turn our joys into sadness our gatherings into separation.
I invoke Allah, the Exalted, so that He guides us to the Right Path, guides all the Muslims, and guides all the misguided to that which He loves and is pleased with. He is the All-Able of doing that. I seek Allah's forgiveness for you.
The second sermon:
Praised be Allah, and may the peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his household, Companions, and whoever follows his way:
O brothers of Islam! This renegade group —the Khawaarij— who are attacking the Ummah with Takfeer, respect not the ties, either of kinship or of covenant with regard to the believers, and they are the worst blight since the time of the Prophet —peace be upon him— until they follow the Dajjaal.
In this respect, and during the time of the Prophet — peace be upon him — their chief Dhul-Khuwaisirah at-Tameemee came to the Prophet when he peace be upon him — divided the spoils of the battle of Hunain and gave them — in an attempt to attract their hearts — to those who have converted to Islam recently and gave nothing to Quraish or the Ansaar — this man, who had deeply-set eyes, protruding forehead, shaggy hair, and had a sign of Sujood (prostration) [1], said:
"O Muhammad! Be just, because this division is not meant for the sake of Allah".
He is objecting to whom? Against the Prophet — peace be upon him — who is the most just among all the creatures and the best among them. So, why would they not object to those who are less than the Prophet —peace be upon him — in terms of ruling or knowledge? Rather, this is to be done with greater reason.
There, the Prophet — peace be upon him — said:
"Woe to you, who will do justice if I did not? Verily, I am the most knowledgeable of Allah and fearing of Him among you".
Then the Prophet—peace be upon him—said:
"From this very person's posterity there would arise people whom you would belittle your prayer and fasting before theirs; they would recite the Qur'an, but it would not go beyond their throats. If I were to ever find them I would kill them like 'Aad. They are the worst killed ones under the sky. Toubaa (a tree in Paradise) for him who kills them or gets killed by them."
Thus, we hope that those brothers and sisters who got killed in those bombing attacks are to be forgiven by Allah, we invoke Allah, the Exalted, to have mercy on them, admit them to His Jannah, and forgive their sins and mistakes.
Indeed, this is the fruit of Takfeer. I — unfortunately— heard some callers, who are considered among the reliable ones - in view of the laymen - and who are pointed at in the Satellite TV channels — I heard one of them saying unreservedly that the Prophet — peace be upon him— did not kill the Khawaarij and considered them like a sort of opposition party inside the then Muslim country.
Lo! How bad is what they describe! How bad is what they judge! And how bad is what they think!
Look at this hadeeth that was reported along with its chain of narrators by Imaam Ahmad and Abu Ya'laa with an authentic (Saheeh) chain: the Prophet—peace be upon him—passed by Dhul-Khuwaisirah while he was prostrating, and then he came to his Companions and said: "Who would kill him?"
Abu Bakr said: "I would", and thus he drew his sword, shook it in his hand, and went on. There he found him prostrating, and so he came back (without killing him). Rather, he said: "How would I kill a prostrating man, O Prophet of Allah?! 'Umar went on to do the same thing, and came back without doing it for the same reason.
Finally, 'Alee went on, and the Prophet said: "You are the one who would do it if you find him", but 'Alee did not find him. There, the Prophet—peace be upon him—said: "If this man was killed, none among my nation would differ in opinion".
And it was 'Alee who killed him just like the Prophet—peace be upon him— prophecised, and this was in the battle of Nahrawaan, and thus he searched for him among the killed and found him just like the Prophet—peace be upon him—said. He showed him to the Prophet's—peace be upon him—Companions. After that, 'Alee sank to the ground prostrating to Allah for killing that man.
These Khawaarij are divided into two types:
The first are those who have been deceived and misguided in the name of the religious zeal and emotions. The remedy for them is through educational discussion and debate to remove the veil from their eyes.
The second are those who are persistent upon their innovation, sinning in their (misguided) interpretation, and deviated from the Prophetic methodology. The remedy for them is through killing and rooting out.
However, you should know that they (the Khawaarij) will not have an established country, nor will they have power, nor will they have authority over the people of Sunnah and Jamaa'ah. Whenever they form a group, it will be terminated like what Ibn 'Umar said in the Hadeeth in the Sunan Ibn Maajah that the Prophet—peace be upon him—said:
"There will come people who would recite the Qur'an but it would not go beyond their throats. Whenever a generation of them gets rooted out, another one will appear; and this will continue until the Dajjaal comes out in their army."
Thus they establish armies not to fight against the Kuffaar but rather against the Muslims and they are liars, I swear by the Lord of all the creatures.
The Prophet—peace be upon him—said that: "they will kill the people of Islam and leave the idol-worshippers" .
Behold! O brothers! Look at their reality nowadays. Their leaders and theorists left the Muslim countries and lived in the capital of Kufr, London. All of the heads of Takfeer in the Islamic world are cradled in Britain, and you may have heard about a man whose name is Abu Qataadah al-Filisteenee? !
He is from our country, but he left to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and then got the right of asylum in Britain where he declared war against Islam and the Muslims and became one of the main exporters of the Takfeeree ideology to the Islamic countries; but after the bombing attacks of London, the British government decided to extradite him provided that he will not be hurt, prosecuted, nor be punished for that loathsome act, and when they did not win anyone's ear—up to now--, they left him there.
By Allah! They live in London on the monetary aids for the political refugees; they left the Muslim countries and accepted to live among the Kuffaar—and we seek refuge in Allah, the Exalted--.
O brothers of Islam! This is the truth that you did not hear before, and you may not actually hear in the media, I say it seeking the Pleasure of Allah, the Exalted, so we might benefit from it in knowing our way, for we have no other way than going back to the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, and the understanding of our rightly-guided Salaf. Accordingly, we will be shown how the Prophet's Companions understood the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger—peace be upon him--.
I invoke Allah, the Exalted, by His Beautiful Names and Sublime Attributes in order to protect all of the Muslim countries, preserve the safety of our country, and protect us from evil, tribulations, and troubles.
I also invoke Him, the Exalted, in order to guide the Muslim Rulers to that which He loves, show them the Truth and let them follow it, show them the Falseness and keep them away from it, and bestow upon them a good retinue of reliable scholars who will enjoin them with al-Ma'roof, warn them against al-Munkar, and become their supporters for everything good. Verily, He is the All-Able of doing that