ASCRIPTION TO THE SALAFI MANHAJ PART 4

 The Necessity of the Title ‘Salafeeyah’ to Distinguish from Ahl-ulBida’

‘’Muhammad Nasir- Deen Al-Albaani (d.1420A.H) -Rahimullaah- said:‘Indeed all the sects, no matter how close or how far they are from the Book and the Sunnah, it is not possible for any one of them to say, ‘I am upon the Manhaj of the Salaf -due to an excellence from Allaah –Azza wa Jal – except for those who embody the Manhaj of  the Salaf as-Salih in their Dawa’, Manhaj and manners. 26] ‘’Ubayd bin Abdullaah al- Jabiree said: ‘So you do not find a   halafee (one who opposes Salafeeyah), especially from those who ascribe themselves to the modern day Dawa’ groups, except that he hates the ascription to Salafeeyah. Because
Salafeeyah is not just an ascription, rather Salafeeyah is singling out pure sincerity for Allaah and singling out following the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.’[27]

Muhammad Nasir- Deen Al-Albaani (d.1420A.H) -Rahimullaah- was asked: ‘Why don’t the Salafeeyoon leave these titles?’ ‘’Al-Albaani -Rahimullaah- answered: ‘If you leave off the ascription to so and so Hizb (party), and to such and such Hizb, and leave off the ascription to such and such Madhab (school of thought) then at that time we can say we are Muslims. As for these names then they exemplify divisions in this Ummah due to current ideologies and biasness to Madhahib. Therefore, there is nothing wrong, if we say: we will gather all these ascriptions into one ascription and this is not possible for anyone from those people (those who follow Madhahib and Ahazaab[28]) – if they have knowledge of the truth that they can dispute whether that the Dawat-us-Salafeeyah is the true Dawa’ or not, and as proof for this we use the saying of Allaah Ta’ala:  

وَ مَنْ يُشَاقِقِ الرَّسُولَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدَى وَ يَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى

 وَ نُصْلِهِ جَهَنَّمَ وَ سَاءَتْ مَصِيراً 

<< And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers – We will give him what he has taken and drive him into Hell, and evil it is as a destination. >> [An-nisai 115] 

Is Not Using the Title ‘Salafeeyah’ Praising Oneself?

‘’Muhammad Nasir- Deen Al-Albaani (d.1420A.H) -Rahimullaah- said: ‘He does not understand the meaning of ‘Salafeeyah’ the one who says that this is praising oneself. Salafeeyah means the correct Islaam, so the one who says: ‘I am a Muslim’ or ‘my Deen is Islaam’ is just like  the one who says: ‘I am a Salafi….’[‘Silsilah Huda wa Noor’ Tape: 725]

‘’Muhammad Nasir- Deen Al-Albaani (d.1420A.H) -Rahimullaah- said: ‘Dawatu- Salafeeyah wages war against al-Hizbeeyah (partisanship) in all its different forms. The reason is very clear, Dawatus – Salafeeyah affiliates to a infallible individual, and He is the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam-, therefore, whosoever deviates away from these people (The Salaf) then we 

do not call him a Salafi.

‘’Muhammad bin Salih al-Uthaymeen (d.1421 A.H.) said:

‘Is it possible to be upon Salafeeyah in our modern times? Yes it is possible, we say that it is Salafeeyah in Aqeedah, even though it is not Salafeeyah as a time period, because the Salaf have preceded in time, however Salafeeyah are those who are upon the Salafeeyah ‘Aqeedah, ‘Aqeedah and action in the current time, and they are in respect to those after them, the Salaf.’[Sharh al-‘Aqeedah as-Safaarini (p.19-20]

Why the Ascription of Salafeeyah? Is it a call to Hizbeeyah?

‘’Muhammad Nasir- Deen Al-Albaani (d.1420A.H) -Rahimullaah- was asked: ‘Why the ascription of Salafeeyah? Is it a call to Hizbeeyah, or a sect, or Madhab, or is it a new group in Islaam?’ He answered: ‘Indeed the word ‘as-Salaf’ is well known in the Arabic language, and in the Sharia’, and what is important to us here is the research from the Sharia’ point of view. It has been authentically reported from the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- that he said to Sayyidah Fatima -Radi Allaahu anhu- during the illness 

from which he died:

فاتقي الله ، واصبري ، فإنه نعم السلف أنا لك

‘Fear Allaah and be patient, for indeed I am a blessed Salaf for you.[ Saheeh Muslim]’

The scholars have used this word ‘as-Salaf’ a lot, and it has been used so much more than can be 

enumerated, it is sufficient for us to use one example, and that is what we need to fight against Bida’:

كل خير في إتباع من سلف وكل شر في إتباع من خلف

Every good is in the following of the Salaf * and every evil is in the innovations of the Khalaf.

However, there are those who claim to have knowledge who reject this ascription, claiming that it does not have any foundation, so they say: it is not allowed for a Muslim to say ‘I am a Salafi’. It is as if they say: it is not allowed for a Muslim to say: ‘I follow the Salaf as-Salih of what they are upon of ‘Aqeedah, worship and manners!’

There is no doubt that this type of rejection – if this is what they mean – necessitates being free from the correct Islaam which our Salaf as-Salih were upon, and at the head of them is the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- as is indicated in the Mutawatir Hadeeth which is in Bukhari, Muslim and in other books, 

from the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam:

‘The best people are my generation then those who will come after them and then those after them.’

Therefore it is not allowed for the Muslim to free himself from the ascription to the Salaf as-Salih, whereas if a Muslim freed himself from any other ascription, then it would not be possible for anyone from the people of knowledge to ascribe them to Kufr or Fasooq (openly sinning)[saying that so & so has committed disbelief because he left an ascription or title]. And this person who rejects this ascription, don’t you see that he himself ascribes to a Madhab from the Madhahib?! Whether this Madhab was connected to ‘Aqeedah or to Fiqh?

So he is either an Ashaari or a Matroodi, or either he is from the Ahl-ul-Hadeeth, or Hanafi, or Shafia’i, or Maliki, or Hanbali from those who enter into the title of Ahl-ul-Sunnah wal Jammah. Even though he who ascribes to the Ashaari Madhab or to the four Madhahib then he ascribes to people who are without doubt not infallible, even though there are some from those scholars who are probably on the correct way, however I wish they had rejected the likes of these ascriptions to individuals who are not infallible.

As for the one who ascribes to the Salaf as-Salih, then he ascribes to that which is in general infallible, and indeed the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- mentioned that from the signs of the ‘Firqat an-Najeeha’ is that they adhere to that which the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- was upon and what the Companions were upon, so whoever adhered to it is with certainty upon guidance from his Lord. Without doubt the clear, manifest, distinguished, evident proof of this title and ascription, which is to say: I am a Muslim upon the Book and the Sunnah and upon the methodology of our Salaf as-Salih, and that is to summarise it by saying: ‘I am a Salafi’.’[ an-Nabthaa al-Waafi fee wajoob al-Intessab ila Salafeeyah p.26-29].

TO BE CONTINUE INSHA ALLAH