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Clarifications
All praise is due to Allāh, the Lord of the Worlds and may the ṣalāt and salām be upon the Messenger, to proceed: In a recent interview (see here) Yāsir Qādhi claimed that Salafi Islam is not "intellectually stimulating" enough for his liking and that the "Salafi movement" (Salafiyyah) is "not capable of addressing modern issues." In this series of short articles observations and comments are made regarding the implications of what Yāsir Qādhi has expressed.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah: Sound intellect never opposes Salafiyyah (indicating that Yasir Qadhi's "intellectual stimulation" is from the shubuhaat (doubts) against the truth that are easily refuted. Read article here).
Yasir Qadhi, the Egyptian revolution, Divine Law and the Revealed Texts
We established in the previous two articles in this series (here and here) that by definition, Salafiyyah is the pure, authentic Islam and that Yasir Qadhi cannot claim ignorance of this, he knows this matter full well on account of his stretch at the Islamic University of Madinah. We also alluded to the hint of arrogance in the claim of Yasir Qadhi that Salafiyyah is not "intellectually stimulating" enough for him, and that Salafiyyah cannot address modern problems, and we alluded to the fact that Yasir Qadhi appears to be operating upon an understanding of aql (reason, intellect) other than the one defined, spoken of and praised by the Scholars of Islam, Sunnah and Salafiyyah. We now come to illustrate the misguidance of Yasir Qadhi more clearly and how he considers his own intellectual stimulation, his own understandings and his fikr (thought) and ra'i (opinion) to be more enlightening than speech made on the basis of Divine Law and to be above the erudition of the Scholars of Sunnah and Salafiyyah. A person's inner realities can be deciphered and known when he reveals thoughts in relation to complex events, and what we are going to do in this article is to analyze comments made by Yasir Qadhi regarding the Egyptian revolution in 2011 to see what kind of aql Yasir Qadhi is coming from. The full article can be read here (screenshot).
Yasir Qadhi began his piece with the following:
 The recent events in Egypt have left us all completely and totally astounded. The mass protests, organized via impromptu SMS texts and Facebook messages, has shown the world that there is still life and honor in Muslim lands!
And amidst all of this clamor abroad, Muslims here in America are asking others, especially their scholars and clerics, what they should be doing. And it is here where the situation becomes more complicated. Some people try to quote traditions that seem to prohibit fighting against the rulers, as if suggesting that the people of Egypt (and Tunisia) have done some type of wrong and incurred sin upon themselves by protesting their conditions. Others, lost in the exuberance of the moment, seem so sure of positive change and so obsessed with getting rid of the current evil, that they do not think two steps ahead, and do not plan for the possibility of failure.
And a little later he says:
I say this loud and clear: as Allāh is my witness, my heart jumped for joy as I heard news of these protests, and saw the masses of Egyptians pour out onto the streets, wanting positive change, tired of the puppet-regime that had ruled them for three decades...
And he also said:
But for those here in America, who dare criticize the Egyptian masses based upon their own understandings of a set of hadith, I say to them, "Hold your tongues! You are not living in their situation. You have not experienced years and decades of economic, social and political repression. You have no right to pass verdicts on the situation of a people other than your own. Live their lives for a decade, and then feel free to comment on what they are doing."
There are some observations on this, so the first thing is:
How Politicians and Thinkers Position Themselves To Maximize Acceptance and Minimize Rejection
It is important to distinguish the Scholars of Sunnah and Salafiyyah from the politicians and thinkers, feeble-minded, seekers of fame, repute, position and authority.
The Scholars of Islam, Sunnah and Salafiyyah have an obligation to explain the truth and clarify it to the people and not to conceal it, to speak with what is plain, clear and manifest from the revealed texts "(And remember) when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture to make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it..." (3:187). As such, their overriding concern is making truth clear from falsehood, and making benefit clear from harm and outlining paths for their attainment. Their "intellectual stimulation" derives from this, and their intellectual pursuits are founded upon this. The origin point for these Scholars is the texts (nusoos) of revelation (wahy). When they speak on this basis, they know and understand that not all souls and hearts are accustomed to hearing affirmation of truth and rejection of falsehood and as such speaking with the manifest truth and reality of the situation will lead to separation and splitting. That separation and splitting is inevitable, it is a separation and splitting between people whose souls incline towards truth and people whose souls incline towards denial and rejection of truth through the following of desires, whims and sentiments, because such truth is not in accord with their whims and desires. Genuine Scholars could not care less about blame and rebuke, and as such their statements, advices and directions are plain and simple, without compromise - they do not need to calculate their statements and to craft them in certain ways, hoping for acceptance and applause. These types of scholars suffer much abuse and revilement from narrow-minded and small-brained people who consider themselves knowledgeable yet have not been granted fiqh (understanding). Yet, after the dust settles, it becomes clear that they (the Scholars) were right all along. [Later in the same article, Yasir Qadhi belittles and mocks these types of Scholars - to be covered in a future article inshaa'Allaah].
Politicians and thinkers on the other hand are interested in followers and large numbers. Hence, their intellectual stimulation derives from fikr (thought) and ra'i (opinion) - it cannot fundamentally be derived from wahy (revelation), the texts of the Sharee'ah, because this is antithetical to their goals and objectives - even if they may employ Sharee'ah texts as part of their (personal) goals. For that reason, the thoughts and opinions of politicians and thinkers are aimed at winning the sentiments of the largest group of people possible (who may also have differences amongst themselves), placating them and saying things that are taken positively and met with acceptance by the majority amongst them. The aim is to win the support and recognition from diverse factions and segments of society. It is in this cauldron that their intellectual stimulation lies. Of this type of politician and thinker is Yasir Qadhi. The "intellectual stimulation" he is speaking of can be detected in his articles written with systematic calculation aimed at striking chords in segments of society holding opposing views and values. He puts forward a sentiment, thought or position which agrees with the whims and desires of a particular segment, whilst making sure at the same time he covers his back (with disclaimers and qualifiers) knowing that things may not turn out the way such sentiments anticipate them to turn out, and thus he has both crowds in the bag. In the course of this intellectual activity, the usool (foundations) and manaahij (methodologies) of Sunnah and Salafiyyah (the pure Islaam) do not really mean much to Yasir Qadhi, because if they did, they would have been the highlight and central focus of his article. This is why we see the writings of politicians and thinkers largely devoid of Sharee'ah texts which relate directly and specifically to such nawaazil (issues affecting Muslims) - [see later in this series regarding the rulers] or we see them citing texts which are used out of their place because they are coming as politicians and thinkers, not as genuine, bona-fide Scholars of the Sunnah, or we see them undermining such texts with their opinions. What we have here then is a politician and a thinker who finds intellectual stimulation in crafting articles aimed at receiving acceptance from the largest possible number from his audience. We do not have a person who has the bravery and courage to apply what he apparently learned (of the affairs of Tawhid, Qadar and the likes) which have a direct bearing upon understanding and correlating the field of human actions to the hikmah (wisdom) and adl (justice) of Divine actions - and so it simply becomes a matter of the blind leading and directing the blind. This article written by Yasir Qadhi proves that he is a man whom Allaah misguided upon knowledge. This will only be recognized by people who value the Islamic aqidah and see it not as a static object, a thing whose details are just learned as rote-fact, but rather as a dynamic, living element whose ramifications are all around us. The greatest aspect of which is to understand and relate the Names of Allaah and His attributes and His actions to what we observe in His creation and out of which we can correctly identify what is dhulm (oppression) and what is adl (justice) and what is hikmah (wisdom), and what is beneficial and what is harmful and correlate this to what see taking place of events and occurrences. A heart blinded by Allaah will not be able to see this, even if the mind is as intellectually stimulated as the minds of the most shrewd and intelligent people of the Earth.
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said in al-Fawaa'id (p. 233):
For this knowledge, there are two vast doors: The first: Reflection and deep thought over all the verses of the Qur'an, and having a specific understanding of them [taken from] Allaah and His Messenger. The second: Reflecting over his witnessed (observed) signs, pondering over His wisdom therein and His power, subtleness, benevolence, justice and establishing justice with respect to His creation. And what gathers all of that together is: Fiqh (understanding) of the meanings of His Beautiful Names, their loftiness and perfection, and Him being singled out in all of that and how they (the Names) are connect to al-khalq (creation) and al-amr (the command). As a result (of all of that) he becomes a faqeeh (scholar) of His commands and prohibitions, a faqeeh regarding His ordainment (qadaa) and decree (qadar), a faqeeh in His Names and Attributes, a faqeeh in the religious judgement pertaining to legislation (shar') and the worldly judgement pertaining to [divine] decree (qadar) and "that is the bounty of Allaah, He gives it to whomever He wills and Allaah is Full of Great Bounty.
What Ibn al-Qayyim has mentioned here is the type of fiqh that is found with the deeply-rooted Scholars and which the politicians, thinkers and pretenders to knowledge are either a) devoid of in the first place or b) have not been given success in acting upon this fiqh because they have been misguided after having clear knowledge and they have not been chosen and specified with the bounty of Allaah. This fiqh (understanding) allows a person to see things for what they actually are. It allows him to relate whatever is happening in the creation and in the lives of the creatures through al-qadaa wal-qadar to the Names and Attributes of Allaah and to His legislative commands and prohibitions and to the wisdom and justice of Allaah in everything. The faqeeh has all of this knowledge combined and this is because his uncorrupted aql (reason) follows the revealed texts (there can never be any conflict between sound reason and authentic text and Salafiyyah - see here).
So let us lay down some of the usool (foundations) through which we can see the misguidance of Yasir Qadhi and establish that he is an opposer to the light of wahy (revelation) through the darkness of his fikr and ra'i, and that he finds intellectual stimulation in that darkness and then he considers it superior to "Salafiyyah."
Divine Law, Prophetic Methodology and the Fiqh (Understanding) Bestowed Upon the Scholars Who Venerate Tawheed and the Sunnah with a Genuine Practical Veneration Versus Yasir Qadhi's Intellectual Stimulation
So from such usool (foundations) are the following:
{A} Tawhid, Amn (Public Safety) and Rizq (Economic Welfare, Sustenance). Shirk, Khawf (Public Insecurity, Fear) and Joo' (Economic Poverty). We mention this principle in light of the saying of Yasir Qadhi:
The recent events in Egypt have left us all completely and totally astounded. The mass protests, organized via impromptu SMS texts and Facebook messages, has shown the world that there is still life and honor in Muslim lands!
Pay attention to the part that has been highlighted (by us) in underline - because it is represents the perception of a person who has been blinded in his baseerah (insight) even though his eyes may be fully-functional.
Allaah, the Exalted said:
 وَضَرَبَ اللّهُ مَثَلاً قَرْيَةً كَانَتْ آمِنَةً مُّطْمَئِنَّةً يَأْتِيهَا رِزْقُهَا رَغَدًا مِّن كُلِّ مَكَانٍ فَكَفَرَتْ بِأَنْعُمِ اللّهِ فَأَذَاقَهَا اللّهُ لِبَاسَ الْجُوعِ وَالْخَوْفِ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَصْنَعُونَ 
And Allah puts forward the example of a township, that dwelt secure and well content; its provision coming to it in abundance from every place, but it (its people) denied the Favours of Allah (with ungratefulness). So Allah made it taste the extreme of hunger (famine) and fear, because of what they used to do. (An-Nahl 16:112)
The exegetes explain this verse to be in reference to Makkah in its origin, but that it is a general rule and pertains to all inhabitations. Thus, amn (security) and rizq (provision) is provided by Allaah, and when His favours are rejected through Shirk (polytheism), kufr (disbelief), bid'ah (innovation), and ma'siyah (sin, disobedience), then that amn and rizq turns to khawf (fear) and joo' (hunger, poverty). This is the legislative criterion for looking at nations, cities and townships and it is a Divine law operative in the creation, and one can see this Divine law clearly illustrated by comparing between two nations. The nation of Saudi Arabia and the nation of Egypt.
So as for the nation of Saudi Arabia, then it is a land that witnessed a revival of the call to the Tawheed of the Messengers, and the dhulm (oppression) of Shirk and kufr was cleansed and worship was made for Allaah alone. It was not a political or economic call, nor one of seeking leadership, but a call founded upon making worship purely and sincerely for Allaah alone. As a result of that we see the land enjoying great blessings and from them al-amn (public safety). We see that the vast majority of the people actually love their scholars and rulers and support them (despite the attempts of the Kharijites, Munaafiqeen, Raafidah and Sufiyyah to sow dissension), and whilst we do not deny shortcomings, a just and honest person can clearly see that there are blessings resultant from the purity of Tawhid established in that land centuries ago and maintained today by the Scholars and rulers. As for the nation of Egypt, then it has never been cleansed thoroughly from the Shirk entered into it by the Baatinee Ismaa'eelee Ubaydiyah of 4th century hijrah, and saint-worship has never ceased to be present until this day of ours, where millions flock over land, sea and mountain to worship the idols of al-Badawi, al-Dusuqi, Sinjar and others. And upon the divine law, rizq (economic welfare, sustenance) and amn (public safety) are withdrawn and removed and instead we have the clothing of khawf (fear, public insecurity) and joo' (economic poverty). And we can analogize with this for other nations, such as Pakistan for example. As a side point, note how in every nation in which Tawheed has not been established upon the methodology of the Prophets, the people hate their rulers, despise them, because of what they see of oppression, tyranny, injustice and so on. Reflect! Egypt, a nation in which idols are worshipped besides Allaah. Syria, those Baatinee, Nusayree disbelievers. Saddams Ba'thist regime. Pakistan, a nation full of grave-worship running parallel with deep-rooted corruption and so on and so on. The heart and mind illuminated by revelation will grasp this matter well.
This leads us naturally to the issue of the ways and means through which such fear (khawf) and hunger, poverty (joo') is brought upon cities and nations. And Allaah is the doer of whatever He wills, He can bring upon fear, hunger and poverty through whatever ways He wishes, be that through famine, be that through war, be that through repressive political structures, be that through the interplay of unfair economic activity between nations, be that through defeat or colonization by another nation, be that through removal of the Sharee'ah laws which guarantee amn (safety) and adl (justice) and protection of one's blood, wealth and honour, or be that through an oppressive tyrannical ruler (or government) as a recompense for the deeds of the servants (in order that they may return), or a ruler (or government) that hoards wealth at the expense of the subjects and so on. Those who deny the favours of Allaah through ungratefulness are taken by istidraaj (gradual, imperceivable onset of punishment) as is mentioned in the Qur'an, and this too will have its associated multitude of ways and means through which it is effected in accordance with the divine wisdom and justice.
Now, do you want to see some hardcore intellectual stimulation? Here, let Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) demonstrate it for you, and through it you will see the reality of feeble-minded, pseudo-intellectuals such as Yasir Qadhi, Ibn al-Qayyim says in Miftaah Daar is-Sa'aadah, Daar Ibn 'Affaan Publishing, (2/177):
And reflect in His, the Most High's wisdom in making the kings of the servants, their leaders and their rulers to be of the same species as the actions [of the servants]. Rather, it is as if their actions became manifest in the appearances of their rulers and kings.
If they remain upright, then their kings will remain upright, and if they turn away (from uprightness), then they (the kings) too will turn away from uprightness.
And if they (the servants) oppress [themselves and others], then their kings and rulers will oppress [them].
And if their appears plotting and deception from them, their rulers will [be made to] behave likewise, and if they (the servants) prevent the rights of Allaah that are between themselves and become miserly with respect to them (i.e. withhold the rights of each other), then their kings and their rulers will withhold the right that they (the servants) have upon them and will become miserly with respect to them.
And if they take from the one who is considered weak, what they do not deserve to take from him in their dealings (i.e. misappropriate from him), then the kings will take from them (the servants) what they do not deserve to take (from them) and will inflict them with taxes.
And everything that they (the servants) take away from the weak person, the kings will take away from them with power, force.
So their actions (those of the servants) become manifest in their actions (those of the kings and rulers). And it is not from the Divine wisdom that the evil-doers and the sinners are made to be ruled over [by anyone] except by one who is of their like.
And when the very first band (of Islaam) was the best of the generations, and the most pious of them, then their rulers were likewise. And when they became tarnished (i.e. corrupted), the rulers were made corrupted over them. Thus, the wisdom of Allaah refuses that the likes of Mu'aawiyah, and 'Umar bin 'Abdil-'Azeez are put in authority over us in the likes of these times [the 8th Century Hijrah], let alone the likes of Abu Bakr and 'Umar. Rather, our rulers are in accordance with our (nature) and the rulers of those before us were in accordance with their (nature).
And this is just regarding transgression and oppression between the servants. How then with Shirk with the Lord of all the Worlds, the greatest dhulm?! And there is no doubt that this intelligent Salafi Imaam (Ibn al-Qayyim) has spoken with such intellectuall stimulation because he has taken it from the fountain of revelation:
Abdullah bin Umar narrates that the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: "O gathering of the Muhaajireen, there are five, which if you are put to trial with, and I seek refuge in Allaah that you should be put to trial with them: [1] Never does obscenity manifest in a people (society) until they openly display it (in public) except that plagues and diseases spread amongst them, those which had not passed in their forefathers who passed (before them). [2] Never do they cheat in the weights and measures except that they are taken by years (of famine, hardship), scarcity in provision and (جور السلطان عليهم) the oppression of the ruler over them..." Related by Ibn Majah, al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak and al-Tabarani in al-Awsat and refer to Shaykh al-Albanee's Saheeh al-Jaami' al-Sagheer (no. 4019). This Prophetic statement correlates with the verse that we mentioned earlier and it alludes to economic poverty and oppression of rulers.
Reminder: Ibn Taymiyyah: Sound reason and authentic text never oppose the way of Salafiyyah! (see here). And we ask the reader to be sincere and to answer the question truthfully. That if in one hand he was given the speech of the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) and the speech of Ibn al-Qayyim, and then he was given the ramblings of Yasir Qadhi in the other, in which hand would he find aql (reason) and hikmah (wisdom). And subsequently, with whom is aql (reason) and hikmah (wisdom), the Salafis who hold fast to the texts of revelation as understood by the Salaf and those upon their way, or pseudo-intellectual politicians and thinkers like Yasir Qadhi and whoever follows or is stupefied by his dark and feeble intellect?
And it is from there that we start fathoming the misguidance of Yasir Qadhi, in that he sees "life and honour" in Muslim lands on the basis that groups of people (from the Muslims, Secularists, Modernists, Socialists, Communists, Grave-worshippers, Jahmites, Ittihaadees, Huloolees and others) come out in protest and revolt against the ruler, against his oppression and tyranny, and that this is a sign of their "life and honour". He apparently does not see that "life and honour" is in singling out Allaah with worship and rejecting the taaghoot (false deities) because if he did, that would have been the first thing to point out in the article, especially considering that many millions of of the people of Egypt are guilty of the worst oppression, as Luqmaan said to his son, "Verily, Shirk is a great injustice" (31:13) - an oppression greater than the oppression of the ruler upon his subjects in material matters - for they travel over land, sea and mountain to worship the idols (tombs) of al-Badawi and others, and here is Nuh (alayhis salaam), speaking of his people who worshipped idols (representing righteous men), "Then verily, I proclaimed to them in public, and I have appealed to them in private, I said (to them): 'Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving; He will send rain to you in abundance; And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers. What is the matter with you, [that you fear not Allah (His punishment), and] you hope not for reward (from Allah or you believe not in His Oneness)'." (71:10-13). Nuh (alayhis salaam) informed them of abundant rizq (sustenance, economic welfare) from their Lord, should they turn to worshipping Allaah alone and abandon the worship of others besides their Lord (righteous men and their representations just as in Egypt there are saints whose tombs are sought after and solicited for help, aid, rescue, healing, intercession). Yasir Qadhi does not apparently see the likes of this as intellectually stimulating.
For this reason, we say, that if the Scholars of Egypt, and the teachers and educators and the schools and institutions and universities were to call to the Tawheed of the Messengers and call to the singling out of Allaah in worship and the removal of the idols worshipped besides Allaah, and if they were to instill Tawheed into the hearts of the common-folk such that they sought aid from Allaah alone, sought rescue in times of calamity from Allaah alone, sought offspring from Allaah alone, sought healing from Allaah alone, invoked Allaah alone and so on, and all of this was done not as a mere academic exercise, but taken as a practical methodology of reform, then indeed, there would be "life and honour!" to be found in the hearts. This is the true and real revolution! But unfortunately it is not intellectually stimulating enough for Yasir Qadhi because if it was, it would have taken centerpiece in his article.
To conclude here, we have illustrated that there are two ways to look at and explain things, a way that is based upon the light of revelation and the usool of Sunnah and Salafiyyah (pure Islam by definition) which comprises aql and hikmah and a way that is based upon fikr (thought) and ra'i (opinion). The values, judgements, sentiments and propositions that are based upon fikr and ra'i will inevitably clash with the texts of wahy (revelation) and this is what we see here and will continue to see as we progress through the rest of Yasir Qadhi's article where he invalidates the usool of Islam, Sunnah and Salafiyyah and the ahaadeeth of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) one by one, all in the name of intellectual stimulation and superiority he arrogantly claims for himself.
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