salafimanhaj serious

Be A Serious Salafi!

________________________________________________________________

BBee aa SSeerriioouussSSaallaaffii!!

BByy SShhaayykkhh ’’AAbbdduussSSaallaaaamm bbiinn

SSaaaalliimm bbiinn RRaajjaaaa’’ aass--SSuuhhaayymmeeee

____________________________________________________________________

© SalafiManhaj 2007

1


________________________________________________________________

BBee aa SSeerriioouuss SSaallaaffii!!11

By Shaykh ’AbdusSalaam bin Saalim bin

Rajaa’ as-Suhaymee

(Associate Professor at the Department of Fiqh in the Sharee’ah College, the

Islamic University of Madeenah)

Checked by Shaykh, Dr Saalih bin Fawzaan bin

’Abdullaah al-Fawzaan

(Member of the Council of Senior Scholars, KSA)

With introductions by

Shaykh al-’Allaamah ’Ubayd bin ’Abdullaah al-Jaabiree

and

Shaykh al-’Allaamah ’Ali bin Muhammad bin Naasir al-Faqeehee

Translated by ’AbdulHaq ibn Kofi ibn Kwesi al-Ashanti

1 Shaykh ’AbdusSalaam bin Saalim Rajaa’ as-Suhaymee (Associate Professor in the Department of Fiqh,

College of Sharee’ah, Islamic University of Madeenah), Kun Salafian’alaa’l-Jaadah! [Be a Serious Salafi!]

(Cairo: Daar ul-Manhaj, 1426 AH/2005). With introductions by Shaykh ’Alee bin Muhammad bin Naasir al-

Faqeehee and Shaykh ’Ubayd bin’Abdullaah al-Jaabiree (hafidhahumullaah).

____________________________________________________________________


2


________________________________________________________________

CCOONNTTEENNTTSS

44 PPRREEFFAACCEE BBYY TTHHEE NNOOBBLLEE PPRROOFFEESSSSOORR,, DDRR ’’AALLII BBIINN NNAAAASSIIRR AALL--FFAAQQEEEEHHEEEE

55 PPRREEFFAACCEE BBYY TTHHEE NNOOBBLLEE SSHHAAYYKKHH ’’UUBBAAYYDD BBIINN ’’AABBDDUULLLLAAAAHH AALL--JJAAAABBIIRREEEE

88 IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN

2211 TTHHEE IINNTTEENNTT OOFF TTHHEE SSUUNNNNAAHH

2233 LLEEGGIISSLLAATTEEDD NNAAMMEESS FFOORR AAHHLL UUSS--SSUUNNNNAAHH WWAA’’LL--JJAAMMAA’’AAHH

3300 TTHHEE IINNTTEENNTT OOFF ‘‘TTHHEE SSAALLAAFF’’

3333 TTHHEE MMAANNIIFFEESSTTAATTIIOONN OOFF TTHHEE MMAADDHHDDHHAABB OOFF TTHHEE SSAALLAAFF AANNDD AANN

EEXXPPLLAANNAATTIIOONN OOFF TTHHEEIIRR PPOOSSIITTIIOONN OONN TTHHEE PPEEOOPPLLEE OOFF IINNNNOOVVAATTIIOONN

3355 TTHHEE PPEERRMMIISSSSIIBBIILLIITTYY OOFF AASSCCRRIIBBIINNGG TTOO TTHHEE SSAALLAAFF AANNDD UUSSIINNGG TTHHEE NNAAMMEE

‘‘SSAALLAAFFII’’

3388 SSOOMMEE EEVVIIDDEENNCCEESS WWHHIICCHH IINNDDIICCAATTEE TTHHEE OOBBLLIIGGAATTIIOONN TTOO FFOOLLLLOOWW TTHHEE

SSAALLAAFF UUSS--SSAAAALLIIHH AANNDD AADDHHEERREE TTOO TTHHEEIIRR MMAADDHHDDHHAABB

4411 TTHHEE MMAANNHHAAJJ OOFF TTHHEE SSAALLAAFF IINN ’’AAQQEEEEDDAAHH

4444 TTHHEE MMAANNHHAAJJ OOFF TTHHEE PPEEOOPPLLEE OOFF IINNNNOOVVAATTIIOONN AANNDD DDEESSIIRREESS

4455 TTHHEE PPAATTHH TTOO SSUUCCCCEESSSS IISS IINN FFOOLLLLOOWWIINNGG AANNDD NNOOTT IINNNNOOVVAATTIINNGG

5566 SSOOMMEE PPRRIINNCCIIPPLLEESS IINN TTHHEE SSAALLAAFFII MMAANNHHAAJJ

6633 TTHHEE PPOOSSIITTIIOONN OOFF TTHHEE SSAALLAAFF OONN TTHHEE IINNNNOOVVAATTOORRSS

6677 TTHHEE MMAANNHHAAJJ OOFF TTHHEE SSAALLAAFF IINN RREEFFUUTTIINNGG TTHHEE OOPPPPOOSSEERR

7722 PPRRIINNCCIIPPLLEESS WWHHIICCHH HHAAVVEE TTOO BBEE MMAAIINNTTAAIINNEEDD FFOORR IINNDDIIVVIIDDUUAALLSS AANNDD

GGRROOUUPPSS

7777 TTHHEE TTIIMMEESS WWHHEENN BBAACCKKBBIITTIINNGG AANNDD CCRRIITTIICCIISSIINNGG IISS PPEERRMMIISSSSIIBBLLEE

AACCCCOORRDDIINNGG TTOO TTHHEE ’’UULLAAMMAA OOFF IISSLLAAAAMM

____________________________________________________________________


3


________________________________________________________________

PPRREEFFAACCEE BBYY TTHHEE NNOOBBLLEE PPRROOFFEESSSSOORR,, DDRR ’’AALLII BBIINN

NNAAAASSIIRR AALL--FFAAQQEEEEHHEEEE

To the noble brother, Dr ’AbdusSalaam bin Saalim as-Suhaymee, may Allaah grant him

success:

As-salaamu alaykum wa Rahmatullaah wa Barakaatuhu.

To proceed:

I have read your research entitled ‘Be a Serious Salafi’ and I found it to be a good piece of

research in its area of study and I have no observations against it except for some terms of

expression or suggestions that I have made which you will see on some pages. If you view

them as suitable then take them into consideration. May Allaah grant you success! As-

Salaamu ’alaykum wa Rahmatullaah wa Barakaatuhu.

Professor, Dr ’Ali bin Muhammad Naasir al-Faqeehee

24/2/1424 AH – 26/4/2003 CE

____________________________________________________________________


4


________________________________________________________________

PPRREEFFAACCEE BBYY TTHHEE NNOOBBLLEE SSHHAAYYKKHH ’’UUBBAAYYDD BBIINN

’’AABBDDUULLLLAAAAHH AALL--JJAAAABBIIRREEEE ((HHAAFFIIDDHHAAHHUULLLLAAAAHH))

All praise is due to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds, and may the final reward be for the pious

and may there be no transgression except upon the wrong-doers. I bear witness that there is

no god worthy of worship except Allaah alone with no partner, The Sustainer of the

Heavens and the Two Earths, Who possesses divinity and acts of worship for Him from all

of creation. I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger and the seal of the

Prophets, the Imaam of the pious, may peace and blessings be upon him, his family and

purified and good companions. To proceed:

What is better than what was stated by the Imaam, al-’Allaamah, the ocean of knowledge, the

brilliant, Muhammad bin Abee Bakr az-Zura’ee ad-Dimishqee also well-known as “Ibn

Qayyim al-Jawziyyah”. This is in regards to what he said in his great and blessed book Zaad

ul-Ma’ad wherein he (raheemahullaah) stated:

Whoever spreads statements or forms principles based on his understanding and

interpretation then it is not obligatory for the Ummah to follow this or to refer judgement to

this (i.e. the man’s own principles and interpretations) until it is compared to what the

Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) came with. If it agrees with it and its

authenticity is authenticated then at that time it (i.e. a person’s own principles and

interpretations) will be accepted, but if it opposes what the Messenger of Allaah came with

then it will be rejected and discarded. If none of these sides are clarified then the matter

becomes deferred (and one should hesitate in making a definite decision). The best case is that

it is allowed to accept such views and issue fataawaa based on them, or they can be rejected.1

This is well-established with the Imaams of the Salaf us-Saalih, that the statements of people

and their actions have to be weighed up with the texts and consensus, whoever agrees with

the text or the consensus will have their view accepted and whoever opposes either of the

two will have his views rejected whoever he is. From what is known about the Imaams and

the callers to guidance from the Salaf us-Saalih – beginning with the Companions, the

Imaams of the Taabi’een and whoever followed their way and agreed with their narrations –

is that they all followed this way and they stood in the face of the people of innovation and

1 Zaad ul-Ma’ad, vol.1, p.38

____________________________________________________________________


5


________________________________________________________________

desires. They refuted them with the proofs that Allaah had given them from the strong

evidences from the Book and the Sunnah. They were rightly as is mentioned in the narration:

“This knowledge will be carried by the trustworthy ones in every generation, they will reject the distortions of

the extremists, the false claims of the liars and the interpretations of the ignorant.”1 And they were as the

truthful and believed one said: “There will not cease to be a group from my Ummah manifest upon the

truth who will not be harmed by those who abandon them and differ from them until the command of Allaah

comes.”

I say: Our noble brother Dr ’AbdusSalaam as-Suhaymee bin Saalim as-Suhaymee - Associate

Professor at the Department of Fiqh in the Sharee’ah College of the Islamic University of Madeenah –

has done exceptionally well and greatly benefitted because he has outlined the principles,

foundations and characteristics of the true Salafi Manhaj in a frank and academic way, in his

book entitled ‘Be a Serious Salafi’. May Allaah thank him and reward him and put the book in

his scales of good actions on the Day of Judgment.

From the principles, foundations and characteristics are:

1. Ahl ul-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah and that they are the best to be described with balance and

the middle way.

2. Imaam Muhammad bin ’AbdulWahhaab being a Mujaddid of Islaam and of the Salafi

Da’wah.

3. The enmity of the kuffaar towards Islaam and the Salafi da’wah.

4. The effects of partisan Islamic propagation on Islaam generally and on the Salafi

da’wah specifically.

5. The obligation of manifesting the madhdhab of the Salaf.

6. The permissibility of ascribing oneself to the Salaf and using the name Salafiyyah.

7. The most important distinguishing characteristics of the Salafi Manhaj.

8. The Manhaj of the Ahl ul-Bida’ wa’l-Ahwaa (the people of innovation and desires).

9. Some principles of the Salafi Manhaj.

10. Refuting the opposer.

11. The occasions when it is allowed to backbite and criticise – according to the scholars

of Islaam.

1 Reported by Ibn ’Adiyy and others. [TN]

____________________________________________________________________


6


________________________________________________________________

12. The punishment for allying with an innovator.

I also say: our brother Shaykh ’AbdusSalaam (hafidhahullaah), may Allaah keep him firm in

speech and action, has depended on evidences from the Qur’aan, the Prophetic hadeeth and

narrations from the Salaf within his book. This book, and all praise is due to Allaah, has

strong and trustworthy contents which are affirmed, by the will of Allaah, in his book.

I ask Allaah to grant me and the brother ’AbdusSalaam, and all of the Muslims, with sincerity

in speech, actions and in following the guidance of the Salaf us-Saalih who held firm to the

Book and the Sunnah. And I ask Allaah to show us the truth as what it is and suffice us to

follow it and to show us the falsehood as what it is and suffice us to stay away from it. And I

ask Allaah to not make anyone confuse us so that we become misguided, may Allaah keep us

on the right path and be Kind and Merciful with His servants.

May prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and all his companions.

’Ubayd bin ’Abdullaah bin Sulaymaan al-Jaabiree

Former Teacher – Islamic University of Madeenah

Saturday 30th Rabee’ al-Awwal 1423 AH (31st May 2002 CE)

____________________________________________________________________


7


________________________________________________________________

IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN

Indeed, all praise is due to Allaah, we praise Him, we seek His aid, and we ask for His

forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allaah from the evil of our actions and from the evil

consequences of our actions. Whomever Allaah guides, there is none to misguide and

whoever Allaah misguides there is none to guide. I bear witness that there is no god worthy

of worship except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the servant and messenger

of Allaah.

“O you who have believed, fear Allaah as He should be feared and do not die except

as Muslims (in submission to Him).”

{Aali-Imraan (3): 102}

“O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its

mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allaah

through whom you ask things from each other, and (respect) the wombs. Indeed

Allaah is ever, over you, an Observer.”

{an-Nisaa (4): 1}

____________________________________________________________________


8


________________________________________________________________

“O you who have believed, fear Allaah and speak words of appropriate justice. He

will amend for you your deeds and forgive your sins. And whoever obeys Allaah and

His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.”

{al-Ahzaab (33): 70-71}

To proceed:

Allaah sent Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) as a mercy to the worlds,

“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.”

{al-Anbiya (21): 107}

And Allaah made the Ummah a balanced nation,

“And thus we have made you a just community that you will be witnesses over the

people and the Messenger will be a witness over you.”

{al-Baqarah (2): 143}

Meaning: just and not inclining towards extremism or negligence, rather they are balanced

and just.

Therefore, the religion of Islaam warns against extremism and negligence and commands to

balance and justice in all affairs. From the most prominent features of this deen is: justice and

fairness and an avoidance of oppressions and ruling with just balance. The best example of

those who have balance in their statements, actions and beliefs, in regards to the balance that

Islaam came with, are Ahl us-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah. They are the ones who practice Islaam in

____________________________________________________________________


9


________________________________________________________________

all of their affairs based on the guidance of the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wassallam) and of

his Khulafaa’ ar-Raashideen in following the Book and the Sunnah. They also agree with the

understandings of the Salaf of the Ummah as their understanding is the first to have balance

and justice, so if every meaning of balance is affirmed for the Ummah then Ahl us-Sunnah

have a good share of this. They are a sample of the Ummah which Allaah made a balanced

nation and informed were the best Ummah sent for the people because they are the group

who truly follow the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi

wassallam) as opposed to other sects and groups of the Ummah. For there is no sect or group

except that it has statements and beliefs which oppose the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of

His Messenger.1

For that reason, Ahl us-Sunnah are the best group of this Ummah and the most

balanced of the sects, for they are the aided group and “the saved sect.”2 They are as how

Shaykh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (raheemahullaah): “They are the balanced ones among the

schisms just as how Islaam is balanced among the religions.”3 It is well-known that: Ahl us-

Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah are the companions of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi

wassallam) and the ones who followed them in goodness (the Taabi’een) and whoever follows

their way and methodology until the Last Day. Ahl us-Sunnah were not known by this name

of ‘Ahl us-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah’ except after the emergence of innovation and the

development of numerous sects of misguidance when all used to call to their innovation and

desires while outwardly ascribing themselves to Islaam.

As a result, the people of truth had to be known by names which would distinguish them

from others from the people of deviated and innovated beliefs, herein they were named with

names from the Divinely Legislated texts such as “Ahl us-Sunnah”, “Ahl us-Sunnah wa’l-

Jama’ah”, “Firqat un-Naajiyyah”, “at-Taa’ifah al-Mansoorah” and “Ahl ulHadeeth wa’l-

Athar”. However, when some of the groups of innovation named themselves as “Ahl us-

Sunnah” even though they did not have the beliefs of Ahl us-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah, the actual

Ahl us-Sunnah then began to use the names of “Salafi” and their da’wah as being “ad-Da’wah

1 Shaykh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said “The sincere truth which has no falsehood in it is with Ahl

us-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah and this is well-known when tracing the many creeds and

principles.” See Tareeq ul-Wusool ila’l-’Ilm al-Ma’mool, p.22.

2 Wastiyyah Ahl us-Sunnah Bayn’l-Firaq, p.278

3 Al-Fataawaa, vol.4, p.140

____________________________________________________________________


10


________________________________________________________________

as-Salafiyyah” and made a restriction to follow the Book and the Sunnah with the

understanding of the Salaf us-Saalih from the companions and the Taabi’een and whoever

followed them in goodness and were known for holding firm to the Sunnah, being Imaams

and staying away from innovation and warning against it. Allaah instructed us to follow the

Companions, their narrations and to traverse their manhaj,

“…and follow the way of those who turn back to Me [in repentance].”

{Luqmaan (31): 15}

Ibn ul-Qayyim (raheemahullaah) stated:

All of the Companions turned to Allaah in repentance, so it is a must to follow His path,

sayings and beliefs which are the most important of His path. The evidence that they turned in

repentance to Allaah is because Allaah guided them and said,

“..and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him].”

{ash-Shooraa (42): 13}1

Allaah was pleased with the Companions and with whoever followed them in good, Allaah

says

“The Foremost to embrace Islaam from the Emigrants and the Helpers and also those

who followed them in good conduct, Allaah is pleased with them and they are pleased

1 I’laam ul-Muwaqqieen, vol.4, p.120

____________________________________________________________________


11


________________________________________________________________

with Him. He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they

will abide by forever. That is the great success.”

{at-Tawbah (9): 100}

So it is not an innovation at all to name Ahl us-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah by the name ‘Salafi’ as the

term “Salaf” is exactly the same as the term “Ahl us-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah” and that is

understood by contemplating all of the terminologies related to the Sahaabah for they are the

Salaf us-Saalih and they are Ahl us-Sunnah.1

So just as it is correct for us to say “Sunni” in relation to Ahl us-Sunnah, it is also correct for

us to say “Salafi” in relation to the Salaf and not a sect.2

After the development of different sects and division the intended meaning of “Salaf”

became applied to whoever preserved sound ’aqeedah (creed) and manhaj (methodology) in

agreement with the understanding of the Sahaabah and the virtuous generations. The term

“Salaf” became synonymous with other Divinely Legislated names for Ahl us-Sunnah wa’l-

Jama’ah, and the da’wah to following the Salaf, or the Da’wah Salafiyyah, is only the da’wah (call)

to true Islaam and to the purified Sunnah and to returning to Islaam as it was revealed to the

Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) and accepted from him by the noble Companions. There

is no doubt that this da’wah is the truth and ascribing to it is also the truth. Shaykh ul-Islaam

Ibn Taymiyyah (raheemahullaah) stated: “There is no shame in manifesting the madhdhab

of the Salaf and ascribing oneself to it and refers to it. Rather, it is obligatory to

accept that from him by unanimous agreement, because the madhdhab of the Salaf

is nothing but the truth.”

The Imaams of Islaam from Ahl us-Sunnah had a big impact in calling to the Sunnah and

to returning to the way of the Salaf, their manhaj and guidance from them. The Imaams were

the likes of: Maalik, ash-Shaafi’ee, Ahmad, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Abee ’Aasim, al-

Asbahaanee, al-Aajuree and others. Then Shaykh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah and his students

such as: Ibn ul-Qayyim, Ibn ’AbdulHaadee, Ibn Katheer and adh-Dhahabee. Then Shaykh

ul-Islaam Muhammad ibn’AbdulWahhaab and the Imaams of the da’wah after him and from

what leads to manifesting the Salafi way throughout history is basing one’s deen and creed on

the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) and the way

1 Mawqif Ahl us-Sunnah min Ahl il-Bida’, p.63

2 Ibid.

____________________________________________________________________


12


________________________________________________________________

of the Salaf us-Saalih and resisting every manifestation of innovation which goes against this

basis.

I have gone to some length in explaining all of this and clarifying it because we hear and

read regularly of those who curse and abuse Salafiyyah and brand it as being partisanship and

that there is no difference between it and contemporary partisan groups. Some people even

say that the founder of Salafiyyah was Imaam Muhammad ibn ’AbdulWahhaab. The reality

is: Imaam Muhammad ibn ’AbdulWahhaab (raheemahullaah) was just one of the callers to

Salafiyyah and one of its revivers who revived learning it. He also established it purely in this

peninsula after it had been polluted by the transgression of innovation and superstition.

Indeed, this blessed state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, may Allaah protect it, is a Salafi

state and the da’wah that it is based on is the Salafi da’wah as one of the founders of it, King

’Abdul’Azeez bin ’AbdurRahmaan Aal Sa’ood (raheemahullaah) indicated when he said in his

speech given during Hajj in 1365 AH/ November 1946 CE: “Verily I am Salafi and my

creed is that of Salafiyyah which is based on the Book and the Sunnah.” He also said

in the same speech:

They say that we are “Wahhabis”, rather we are Salafis and we preserve our deen and

follow the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger and there is nothing

between us and the Muslims except for the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His

Messenger.1

So the Kingdom established the true Islaam which was based on the Book of Allaah and the

Sunnah of His Messenger in agreement with the Salaf of the Ummah2 and as a result its

politics was based on wisdom and justice and tolerance of the well-known madhaahib in fiqh.

Due to this, the students of the Islamic colleges in the Kingdom study the fiqh of the four

Imaams: Aboo Haneefah, Maalik, ash-Shaafi’ee and Ahmad, especially in the Islamic University

of Madeenah. This is because the differences between the madhaahib are not due to ’aqeedah

rather in the subsidiary matters of fiqh. King ’Abdul’Azeez (raheemahullaah) said:

What we traverse is the way of the Salaf us-Saalih and we do not make takfeer of

anyone except those who Allaah and His Messenger make takfeer of. There is not a

madhdhab like the madhdhab of the Salaf us-Saalih and we do not support one

1 Al-Mus-haf wa’s-Sayf, pp.135-36

2 And applied correct Islaam far from neglect and excess.

____________________________________________________________________


13


________________________________________________________________

particular madhdhab over another, for Aboo Haneefah, Maalik, ash-Shaafi’ee and Ibn

Hanbal are all our Imaams.

These are precious words which exemplify the correct meaning of Salafiyyah which in itself

exemplifies the correct Islaam. In these days Islaam generally and the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia1 along with the da’wah Salafiyyah specifically1, have bore the brunt2 of falsehood,

1 Due to it applying the Sharee’ah.

Translator’s Note: Like for example, Dore Gold a former Israeli diplomat and former advisor to Ariel

Sharon. Gold authored Hatred’s Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism

(Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2003). Gold makes odd claims in the book which demonstrate a

lack of knowledge of Islam, for example he claims that “Wahhabism” added a sixth pillar to Islam which was

jihad!? This is nonsense as jihad is something which is well-rooted within the Islamic tradition and is of

various levels and types, not something merely introduced by a mystical and shadowy “Wahhabi” fringe.

Mark Silverburg’s book is in the same vein. A US attorney and a listed author of the ‘Ariel Center for

Policy Research’ in Israel, Silverburg in his book The Quartermasters of Terror: Saudi Arabia and the

Global Islamic Jihad (Wyndham Hill Press, 2005) claims that Saudi Arabia has “spent 87 billion dollars

over the past twenty-five years to finance the propagation of Islamic extremism”!! In his

introduction, he also makes the same blunder as Nina Shea, Robert Spencer and Bernard Lewis, that the

“”…Muslim world is divided into two spheres, the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the

House of War (Dar al-Harb), which is non-Islamic. In his view, world peace, according to

Islam, is achieved only when the world is subjected to Dar al-Islam. “The presumption”, says

Lewis, “is that the duty of jihad will continue, interrupted only by truces, until all the world

either adopts the Muslim faith or submits to Muslim rule.”” Silverburg also demonstrates that he

has been influenced by the likes of Hishaam Kabbaanee as he states in the introduction, “In the estimated

80% of mosques that the Wahhabists control in America…” and Silverburg reached this figure

based on Hishaam al-Kabbaanee’s claim in 1998 that “80% of mosques in America are controlled by

Wahhabis”!! Therefore, the solution for all of this according to Silverburg is for Islaam to be modernized and

moderated, he claims, “in the same way that Christian and Jewish scholars have (over the

centuries) moderated the more strident aspects of their scriptures and promoted those

verses that spoke of the brotherhood of man, tolerance and understanding over those

portions that speak of exclusivity” (!!!) Has he heard of Jack Chick, Franklin Graham, Rabbi Yitzak

Ginsburg, Rabbi Meir Kahane and others? But then Silverburg states, in a clear demonstration ignorance of

the topic: “To this day, no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa

condemning Osama bin Laden.” Even though Imaam ’Abdul’Azeez Bin Baaz (raheemahullaah) issued

one in the 1990s!

There have been a number of studies which have challenged the simplistic method of branding Muslims

as ‘Wahhabis’ and the best research on this are: Dr Natan De Long Bas, Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and

Reform to Global Jihad (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); Jalal AbualRub, Alaa Mencke (ed.), The

Biography of Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab (Orlando, Florida: Madinah Publishers, 1424 AH/2003 CE);

James Haneef Oliver, The Wahhabi Myth: Dispelling Prevalent Fallacies and the Fictitious Link with Bin

Laden (Trafford Publishing, 2003) and the well researched paper entitled Does Saudi Arabia Preach

____________________________________________________________________


14


________________________________________________________________

oppression, confusion and things which are not the reality. This has been due to some

politicians, western writers who hate Islaam and those who promote the Zionists and their

views and agree with their oppression and falsehood and have thus been influenced by them

in certain countries.3 This is even though the Da’wah Salafiyyah is the furthest from takfeer (to

Intolerance in the UK and the US? – a detailed research paper compiled by Salafi researchers at the website

www.SalafiManhaj.com

1 Due to it exemplifying the correct understanding of Islaam.

2 The enmity of some of the Yahood and Nasaara and kuffaar towards Islaam is not strange, for Allaah says,

“And never will the Jews or Christians be pleased with you until you follow their religion.”

{Baqarah (2): 120}

3 Translator’s Note: Like for example the likes of Irfan Ahmed and Stephen Schwartz. As for Schwartz

then he is a neo-con Jewish convert to Hishaam Kabbaanee’s Naqshabandee Sufi order!? He is a journalist

yet is absolutely unqualified to discuss matters of the deen, on top of that he contributes to Front Page

Mag!? Clifford Geertz writing in the New York Review of Books, described Stephen Schwartz as being a

“strange and outlandish figure”, indeed, as we shall observe. Amir Butler has noted that Schwartz

beginning “as an anarchist-Trotskyist (calling himself "Comrade Sandalio"), Schwartz later

became the obituary writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. From there, according to

Geertz's article, he became a cheerleader for Reagan's war in Grenada, before finally moving

to Sarejevo where he worked as a freelance journalist of some description. At other times, he

has been described as a "New Age Rightist" and as an "internationally recognized surrealist

poet" who had found the philosophers stone of class struggle. The only consistency in

Schwartz's career has been the frequent ideological shifts that have characterised it. Since

September 11, this "strange and outlandish figure" has risen from the relative obscurity of

writing obituaries for the San Francisco Chronicle and as a freelance hack in Sarejevo to

holding court in such publications as Frontpage Magazine, Weekly Standard and the National

Review. Indeed, it only takes a cursory viewing of Stephen Schwartz's contribution to

Frontpage Magazine to understand where Schwartz's obsession lies. With titles such as

"Saudi Stench", "Saudi Spinning", "Saudi Mischief in Fallujah", "Wahabi Fireworks", "The

Dysfunctional House of Saud", "Saudi Arabia in Crises", and "Saudi Extremism in High

Places", it is obvious that Schwartz has cast himself as something of an expert on Saudi

Arabia and its state ideology. By doing so, he seems to have found what years writing snappy

obituaries for dead Californians never gave him: some sort of notoriety and standing as the

go-to guy for comment on Saudi Arabia and Wahabiism.” Yet Schwartz has never ever been to Saudi

Arabia!? And an example of his lack of knowledge of Islaam can be directly witnessed in his book The Two

Faces of Islam: The House of Sa’ud from Tradition to Terror, which is a book wherein Schwartz does not

even quote one verse of the Qur’aan to support his version of Islaam, let alone any of the works of Imaam

Muhammad ibn ’AbdulWahhab!! Within the book there is scant reference to the Qur’aan and hadeeth, if

____________________________________________________________________


15


________________________________________________________________

there is any reference to them at all! Yet he does see it fit to list 57 of his own writings and articles in his

bibliography!!? Amir Butler notes: “Schwartz goes on to draw bizarre comparisons between

Wahabiism and "Italian fascism", "Soviet Communism", and even "Japanese Militarism".

Indeed, one is left with the impression that either Schwartz doesn’t know what Wahabiism

means or he doesn't known what communism, fascism or militarism means (other than

being something ”bad"). Even in his congressional testimony, Schwartz makes completely

nonsensical claims about the nature of the Saudi state.” Another of Schwartz’s glaring errors, again

typifying the sheer lack of research undertaken and the utter deficiency of Islamic knowledge, is that he

states in the book on page 71 that: “Muhammad never once forecast that the Muslims would fall

back into polytheism, as Wahhabis have strenuously accused them of doing since the 18th

Century.” Hereby trying to assert that the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) never

stated that the Muslims would fall back into shirk. This is a common argument of some of the extremist Sufis

which others blindly follow with no further investigation. However, the reality is that the Prophet

Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) stated that shirk will return to the Muslim ummah at some

stage! It is verified in the Saheehayn from the hadeth of Abee Hurayrah that the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi

wassallam) said: “The Hour will not be established until the buttocks of the women of Daws move around

Dhu’l-Khalasah (an idol which was worshipped by the tribe of Daws during the period of Jaahiliyyah).”

Meaning: shirk will return to the Arabian Peninsula and to the ummah of Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi

wassallam). This hadeeth is reported by Bukhaaree in Kitaab ul-Fitan, Taghyeer az-Zamaan hatta Tu’bad

al-Awthaan, vol.13, p.76, hadeeth no.7116; Saheeh Muslim, Kitaab ul-Fitan, La Taqoom as-Saa’h hatta

Ta’bud Daws Dha’l-Khalasah, vol.4, p.2230, hadeeth no.2906. Both hadeeth are via Sa’eed Ibn Musayyib

(raheemahullaah) from Abee Hurayrah (radi Allaahu ‘anhu). ‘Daws’ are a tribe originally from Yemen and

Dhu’l-Khalasah was a house full of idols and named ‘Dhu’l-Khalasah’ because it was believed that whoever

circumbulated it would achieve ‘khallasa’ (purity). The hadeeth proves that Daws will apostate from Islaam

and return to shirk to the extent that their women will go around the idol with their rear-ends wiggling about

around it. Other hadeeth which state this are narrated by Muslim, on the authority of Thawbaan (radi

Allaahu ’anhu) that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) said: "Verily, Allah folded the

earth for me, so much so that I saw its East and its West: The kingdom of my Ummah will reach as far as

the earth was folded for me. The two treasures, both the red and the white were given to me. I prayed to

my Rabb that He may not destroy my Ummah by a widespread drought and not give sovereignty over

them to an enemy who annihilates them in large numbers except from among themselves. And then verily,

my Rabb said: “Oh, Muhammad! When I issue a decree, it is not withdrawn: I have promised your

Ummah that I will not destroy it by a widespread drought and I shall not give sovereignty of them to an

enemy who exterminates them in large numbers, even if they are stormed from all sides of the earth except

from among themselves. Only a portion of them will destroy another portion and a portion will take

another portion prisoner.” This was also narrated by Al-Barqaani, who added: “I fear for my Ummah those

leaders who will send them astray: When the sword is used among my people, it will not be withdrawn

from them until the Day of Resurrection and the Hour will not come until a tribe from among my Ummah

attach themselves to the polytheists and numbers of my people worship idols; and there will be among my

Ummah thirty liars, all of them claiming that he is a prophet, though I am the Seal of the Prophets - none

will come after me. But some of my Ummah will continue to hold to the truth and they will be victorious

____________________________________________________________________


16


________________________________________________________________

brand a Muslim as an disbeliever), tabdee’ (to brand a Muslim as an innovator) and tafseeq (to

brand a Muslim as a sinner) without evidence, it is also the furthest from extremism and

fanaticism. Yet this blessed da’wah has been associated with things which are not from it and

it has been ascribed to things which are not from its manhaj which all distorts it beauty and

reality.

One of the most glaring factors for this is: the existence of contemporary partisan

Islamic groups affected by the Khawaarij ideology and their well-known leaders agreed with

and they will not be harmed by those who oppose them until Allaah’s Command comes.” Also the Prophet

(sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) stated: “The night and day will not depart until al-Laat and al-’Uzza are

worshipped.” Relayed by Muslim in Kitaab ul-Fitan wa Ashraat is-Sa’ah, vol.4, p.2230, hadeeth no.2907

via Abee Salamah from Aa’ishah (radi Allaahu anhumaa). Also the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam)

stated: “O people fear the shirk which is more hidden than the crawling ant.” Reported by Ahmad in al-

Musnad, vol.4, p.403; Ibn Abee Shaybah in al-Musannaf, vol.6, pp.70-71, hadeeth no.29547 in the chapter

of Ta’oodh min ash-Shirk; Bukhaaree in Taareekh al-Kabeer. All are narrated via a man from Bani Kaahil

from Abee Moosaa al-’Ash’aree, al-Haythamee said in al-Majma’, vol.10, p.223: “Narrated by Ahmad and at-

Tabaraanee in al-Kabeer and al-Awsat and the narrators of Ahmad are sound except for Aboo ‘Alee and

Wathaq ibn Hibbaan.” Also reported by Aboo Ya’la in his Musnad (vol.1, p.60-2, hadeeth no.54, 55, 56) from

the hadeeth of Hudhayfah from Abee Bakr in a marfoo’ form and from the hadeeth of Mu’qal bin Yasaar in a

marfoo’ form, mentioned by al-Haafidh in al-Mataalib (vol.3, p.183) and referred it to the Musnad of Ishaaq

ibn Raahawayh and Aboo Bakr al-Marwazee narrated it in Musnad Abee bakr (p.55); Bukhaaree in Adab al-

Mufrad (p.105) from the narration of Mu’qal from Abee Bakr in a marfoo’ form, related by at-Tirmidhee

(p.397). al-Haythamee said in al-Majma’ (vol.10, p.224): “Related by Aboo Ya’la from his Shaykh ‘Umar bin

al-Husayn al-’Aqlee, who is matrook). Imaam al-Albaanee said in Saheeh al-Jaami’ (vol.1, p.694, hadeeth

no.3731) that it is saheeh. Aboo Nu’aym also relayed it in al-Hilyah (vol.7, p.112) from the hadeeth Qays bin

Haazim from Abee Bakr and Imaam al-Albaanee declared it saheeh in Saheeh al-Jaami’, vol.1, p.693,

hadeeth no.3730. on pages 72-73 of The Two Faces of Islam, he says that Imaam Muhammad ibn

’AbdulWahhaab was “something equally fearsome” as the Dajjaal!! First of all, Imaam Muhammad ibn

’AbdulWahhaab (raheemahullaah) was originally from the Bani Tameem about whom Aboo Hurayrah (radi

Allaahu’anhu) mentioned: “I have continued to love the tribe of Tameem ever since I heard three statements

from the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) about them. I heard him say “They are the

strongest of my Nation against the Dajjaal”.” Recorded in the Saheehs of Bukhaaree and Muslim. As the

research and Islamic source referencing in The Two Faces of Islam is scant to say the least, it is no wonder

that we find Schwartz saying things such as “Music is perhaps the greatest glory of Islamic

civilization…” (pp.72-73)!! Without any mention of Islamic monotheism!? He continues: “…Islam

without music would be like God without his creation.” Is this found in the Qur’aan? Did the

beloved Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) say anything of the sort? The answers to these questions are

emphatically “no!” So where on earth is Schwartz acquiring such aberrant understandings of Islaam from?

None other than from his teacher, Hishaam al-Kabbaanee. In an interview with National Review Online,

Schwartz also says that Saddam Hussein, Hamas and Hezbollah are all “Wahhabis”?!

____________________________________________________________________


17


________________________________________________________________

a few things from the Salafi manhaj in some matters.1 Indeed, some of them even spoke in

the name of Salafiyyah when the reality is that they were not from it and this confused many

people and the reality was hidden from them as they thought that these groups were Salafi or

“Wahhabi” as some of them named it. What is really strange is that some of these partisan

Islamic groups named themselves “Salafi Jihadis”, yet how can they by Salafi when they

oppose its ’aqeedah and manhaj?! The reality however is in the application and meanings not in

mere terms and names and as a result it is a must to bring attention to this confusion and

misguidance which is present in the Islamic world today.

So it is a must to purify Islaam from what has been ascribed to it and to cultivate the

Muslim on true Islaam which is based on the pure sources of the Book of Allaah and the

Sunnah of His Messenger (sallallaahu ’alayhi wassallam) and in agreement with the

understandings of the Salaf of this Ummah. Allaah blessed this Ummah with His Prophet

Muhammad (sallallaahu ’alayhi wassallam) to perfect their deen and complete His favour for the

Ummah and chose Islaam as the deen that He will accept,

“This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you

and have approved for you Islam as religion.”

{al-Maa’idah (5): 3}

And Allaah says,

“And, [moreover], this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow

[other] ways, for you will be separated from His way.”

{al-An’aam (6): 153}

Ibn ul-Qayyim said:

This is because the path to reach Allaah is one and it is the way that His Messenger

was sent with and the path that He revealed His books with, and none is able to reach

1 Even though they differed with most of the Salafi manhaj and ’aqeedah.

____________________________________________________________________


18


________________________________________________________________

Him except by this path. Even if a person tried to reach Him by all paths and try to

open all doors they will find that the paths are blocked and the doors are closed except

the one path which is connected to Allaah and reaches Him.1

Allaah instructed us to return to Him and His Messenger at times of dispute and referring to

Allaah is by referring back to His Book and referring back to the Messenger is by referring

back to his life and Sunnah after his death, Allaah says,

“And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allaah and the Messenger, if you

should believe in Allaah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.”

{an-Nisaa (4): 59}

The word,

“...anything...”

Here is in the context of every difference in principles and subsidiary matters.2 Ibn ul-

Qayyim also says,

If the ruling of a matter is not explained in the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His

Messenger

Allaah says,

“Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects you, [O

Muhammad], are not [associated] with them in anything.”

1 Tafseer Ibn ul-Qayyim, pp.14-15 2 As stated by Shaykh Shinqeetee (raheemahullaah) in Adwaa’ ul-Bayaan, vol.1, p.323

____________________________________________________________________


19


________________________________________________________________

{al-Anaam (6): 159}

Allaah also says,

“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-Nisaa (4): 115}

Allaah threatens whoever follows other than the way of the believers and indicates that

following the way of the believers in understanding the Divine Legislation of Allaah is

obligatory and opposing this is misguidance. Allaah praised the foremost from the

Muhaajireen and Ansaar and whoever follows them, He said

“The Foremost to embrace Islaam from the Emigrants and the Helpers and also

those who followed them in good conduct, Allaah is pleased with them and they are

pleased with Him. He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow,

wherein they will abide by forever...”

{at-Tawbah (9): 100}

The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wassallam) made clear that the best of people

are his generation and then those who come after them, he said (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam):

____________________________________________________________________


20


________________________________________________________________

“The best of people are my generation, then those who come after them and then those come after them.”1 The

Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wassallam) instructed to follow his Sunnah and the Sunnah of the

Khulafaa’ ar-Raashideen and he (sallallaahu ’alayhi wassallam) warned against opposing them,

he said: “Stick to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly guided Caliphs after me. Hold firm to it and

bite onto it with the molars, and beware of newly invented matters for every newly-invented matter is an

innovation and every innovation is misguidance.”2 The Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wassallam) described

the Firqat un-Naajiyyah as being “What I and my companions are upon.”3

These texts and others indicate the obligation of following the Book and the Sunnah and

of also following the way of the believers. The foremost believers whose path has to be

followed are: the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wassallam), as Ibn

ul-Qayyim stated: “All of the Companions turned to Allaah in repentance, so it is a must to

follow His path, sayings and beliefs which are the most important of His path.”4 Ibn

Mas’ood (radi Allaahu ’anhu) stated: “To follow and not innovate is sufficient for you” and

Imaam Ahmad (raheemahullaah) stated: “The Foundations of the Sunnah with us is: Holding

firm to what the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) and

following them and abandoning innovation.”5 So it is a must for every Muslim to: follow the

Book and the Sunnah with the understanding of the Salaf us-Saalih.

I participated in giving some lessons at the Sharee’ah College at the Islamic University of

Madeenah and, all praise is due to Allaah, delivered a number of lessons related to the correct

manhaj (methodology),6 the manhaj of the Salaf us-Saalih. This is because Salafiyyah means:

following the Islamic deen based on the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu

’alayhi wassallam) and those who followed them in their manhaj. Some brothers impressed

upon me to publish these lessons so I revised it and appended to it with that which was

1 Reported by al-Bukhaaree in his Saheeh

2 Reported by Aboo Daawood, at-Tirmidhee and Ibn Maajah and it is Saheeh.

3 Ibid.

4 I’laam ul-Muwaqqi’een, vol.4, p.120

5 Al-Laalikaa’ee, Sharh Usool ’I’tiqaad Ahl us-Sunnah, vol.1, p.156

6 The Shaykh, al-’Allaamah, Dr Saalih bin Fawzaan al-Fawzaan stated: “Manhaj is more general than

’aqeedah because manhaj can include: ’aqeedah, sulook, manners, interactions, and all

affairs of a Muslim’s life, all of what he goes through can be named ‘Manhaj’. As for ’aqeedah

then its intended meaning is: the foundation of eemaan, the meaning of the Shahaadatayn,

this is ’aqeedah.” Al-Ajwiba al-Mufeedah, p.75.

____________________________________________________________________


21


________________________________________________________________

relevant to the topic, I also saw that it be appropriate to name the book ‘Be a Serious Salafi’1

and I ask Allaah to provide me with sincerity in speech and action and to bless us and the

Muslims as a whole with beneficial knowledge and righteous actions and to bring benefit

with what I have written.

And may prayers and peace be upon His servant and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad and on his family

and all of his companions.

The one in need of his Lord’s pardon,

‘AbdusSalaam bin Saalim as-Suhaymee

Al-Madeenah al-Munawarrah

Safar 1423 AH [April 2002 CE]

1 This title is take from what was mentioned by the noble Shaykh, Dr Bakr Aboo Zayd in his superb book

Hilyah Tullaab ul-’Ilm, p.8 wherein he said whilst speaking about the manners of he student of knowledge:

“Be a serious Salafi, on the path of the Salaf us-Saalih from the companions (radi

allaahu’anhum) and those who came after them and followed their example in all affairs of

the deen such as: tawheed, acts of worship and the likes and were distinguished by sticking to

the narrations of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wassallam) . Occupy yourself

with the Sunan and leave argumentation and disputation and delving into ’Ilm ul-Kalaam

(rhetorical and speculative theology) which does not avert sins and merely blocks off the

Divine Legislation.”

____________________________________________________________________


22

salafimanhaj serious

Documents