THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN PARTISANSHIP AND FANATICISM
It goes without saying that partisanship and fanaticism are
interwoven, one cannot be separated from the other, because the result of
partisanship is fanaticism. If partisanship is found, then it is inevitable
that bigotry will coexist. And that which the scholars use as a basis is that
every person who does partisanship and differs, then it is inevitable that we
close its door, and that the end does not justify the means with us, that is, with
us Muslims, but the means justifies the end.
SIGNS
OF PARTISANSHIP IN AN INDIVIDUAL
After it is clear that partisanship in Islam is forbidden
and that it results in fanaticism, the souls will learn without a doubt the
distinctive qualities of the one who adorns himself with partisanship.
I shall now point out some signs that can be recognized in a
partisan whether he is a leader or a follower and they are:
1 His affiliation with a group or specific society with a
specific methodology, differing from the methodology of the pious predecessors
and the people of hadeeth like The Muslim Congress(TMC) and Jamma’at
at-Tadaamun in Nigeria and Jamaa’atu Tableegh, and his helping his group or
society in truth or falsehood. And concerning Jamaa’atu Tableegh, many foolhardy
youths utilize the fataawa of some of the people of knowledge especially that
of Sheikh Muhammad bn Saalih Al-Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him when he
praised them because the Kuffaar accepted Islam from their hands, and the
sinners repented due to their efforts, and their cheerful faces, and these are
some of the things the Sheikh praised Jamaa’atu Tableegh for. I say: these are
not specific to Jamaa’atu Tableegh alone but Allah grants it for any of His
slaves He wishes. For how many a prophet did no single soul submit to Islam at
his hands, and how many a sinner did not repent due to his advice? And the best evidence is our prophet Muhammad
SAW with his uncle, the father of Imam Alee, may Allah be pleased with him, Abu
Taalib whom the prophet SAW strived his utmost to call him to guidance but he
was not guided as was in the decree of Allah before, that he would not be
guided, for the matter of guidance is from Allah and not in the hands of
anybody. Then the Sheikh corrected his statement about Jamaa’atu Tableegh with
numerous statements some of which are: “…however they have little knowledge and
understanding of the religion”. I say, what could be worse than this?
Especially one who takes it upon himself to call others to Allah, glorified and
exalted is He. And possessing knowledge is a prerequisite to calling others to
Allah as Allah says: Say (O Muhammad SAW):”This is my way; I invite unto Allah
(i.e. to the Oneness of Allah-Monotheism) with sure knowledge, I and whosoever
follows me (also must invite others to Allah i.e. to the oneness of Allah-monotheism)
with sure knowledge. (12:108). And it is not possible that a man be a caller to
Islam until he is an Aalim (Scholar) in what he is calling to, and it is
compulsory on the callers that they learn first and act on what they learn,
then call the people”. End quote. And this statement manifests the reality of
the Tableeghs in Saudi Arabia, then if this is their reality, then what about
the Tableeghs in other countries and non Arab-speaking countries. And it is an
amazing thing, what the Tableeghs are upon especially in Nigeria. They have
uneducated and fanatic adherents. And what is even more surprising is there
renouncing of true knowledge, just as one of them said, and I choose not to
mention his name: “How much knowledge did the prophet SAW have before the beginning
of his call to Islam!?”
Verily this statement makes my skin crawl because I have
never heard the likes of this statement, and that which we hear also is the
statement: “How much knowledge did the Sahaaba have before calling to Islam?”
this is an indication of the ignorance such people have of the religion. And a
mention of what the Jamaa’atu Tableegh are upon of their principles, part of
which is knowledge, even though in reality it is knowledge of assembling people
to their group, and not the knowledge of the Sharee’ah which stems from the
Qur’an and the Sunnah and what the pious predecessors were upon. And we also
mentioned earlier that among the principles of the Mu’tazilah is Adl although
there is no justice in them when they deny Qadar, and there is no Tawheed in
them while they deny the attributes of Allah, and there is no commanding of
good and forbidding of evil in them while they revolt against their leaders.
2 His sitting and walking with one of the aforementioned groups
or other than them from the people of deviation in aqeedah and actions, whether
it is a group or an individual, following or being followed. Because
Al-Mustapha SAW said: “souls are like recruited soldiers, what is good from them
is agreed upon and what is wrong from them is differed upon.
3 His avoidance and denial of the callers of what the people
of the narrations are upon, and his denial in obeying Allah and His messenger
SAW and the leader of the Muslims, and walking on the path of the Salaf.
4 His criticism of Ahlus-Sunnah and turning his face when he
hears reprimand of partisanship of the time and the companions of secret
organizations and hidden coalitions.
5 And from the signs of partisanship is their strong love
for songs (nasheeds) and theatrical performances, and their passionate urge of
it and its adherents, and most of the traits found in the ranks of The Muslim
Brotherhood is their love for their judges, and their party of wretched youths
who are deluded, and among the women, the weak and deluded, may Allah return
all of them to the truth. And these songs and nasheeds are a remnant of the
ways of the Sufis which is present among the ikhwaani muslimeen and their
groups due to the differences between them. And for this reason, Sheikh Saalih
Al-Fawzaan, may Allah preserve him, was asked about the mention of many Islamic
nasheeds and he answered: “this nomenclature is not correct, it is a new name
and there is nothing called ‘Islamic nasheed’ among the books of the Salaf, and
the people of knowledge hardly considered their statements, and what is known
is that the sufis took nasheeds as a part of the religion and they listened to
it, and in our times when different groups have emerged, it has become an issue
for every group, songs for stirring up emotions and hence were named Islamic
nasheeds. This name is not correct and as such, it is not permissible to take
these nasheeds as a part of Islam, and spreading it amongst the people, and
with Allah is all success.
Also, Sheikh Ahmad bn Yahya bn Muhammad An-Najmee, may Allah
have mercy on him said: “the spread of nasheeds night and day, i.e, singing them,
and I do not say listening to poetry is haram for verily, the prophet listened
to poetry, but these people make as a methodology in these songs a madhhab of which
the Sufis are upon, in their singing which stirs up emotions”.
6 And from their signs is that they see that the warning of
bid’ah in the religion necessitates denial of assisting the Muslims, that is, they
see that if one should speak negatively about the principles in their groups
which do not agree with the Qur’an and the Sunnah, that person is trying to
cause division in the religion. And they say: ‘”he busies himself with the
mistakes of the muslim brotherhood and he keeps quiet about the enemies of the
world”. And one of the principles of the muslim brotherhood is: “rebuking hardens
the heart”. But where is their adherence to the pious predecessors, among the
nation that Allah is pleased with in regard to their innovated stance which
deviates from the right way?
7 Their praising and extolling the leaders of their
societies and they imagine it is compulsory to attach their hopes on them.
8 And from their signs is the division of the religion into
peel and core, that is, they consider some aspects of the religion as primary
like prayer and fasting and neglect others saying it is secondary such as
keeping the beard and not dragging the lower garment, whereas the above
mentioned are all part of the religion of Islam. And it is surprising that
these groups busy the people with politics of the time and neglect the politics
of the religion. We say: “it is incumbent on you before you start calling
people to politics that you first educate the people as regards answering the
call of Allah and his messenger by using the Qur’an and the Sunnah”.
9 Their piling of large numbers of people without paying
attention to the foundation which this group is built, and their making of a
congregation of people, each with a different nature. So, this one is an
Ash’aaree and the other is a Maatureedee and the next is a Sufi, and the fourth
is a Murji’ee, and maybe a Hizbee and maybe a Takfeeree who adheres to the
methodology of the Khawaarij, and they compile corruption in a single unit, and
their beliefs are different. This is not so for those who believe in what the
pious predecessors believe in and adhere to what they were upon. And from the
principles of the Salafee call is: “…education and knowledge before piling
large numbers”. While the deviant groups use the erroneous principle: “let us
unite on what we agree on and excuse each other in our differences”, and this
principle is in opposition to the sharee’ah.
10 Secrecy in actions: And among the traits of Hizbiyyah is
practicing secrecy in actions of da’wah. And among the signs of the people of
misguidance is their meeting in secret hiding from the eyes of the people,
saying things in secret which they cannot say in the open and likewise doing
things in secret which they cannot do in the open, so they are like a two-faced
mole and the prophet SAW said: “verily, the worst of people are the
double-faced people who come to these with a face and to those with another
face”. Whoever reads the history of the people of knowledge will find that this
was not their way. Imam Al-Qurtubi said: “the two faced person is the worst of
people, for his case is like the hypocrite causing corruption on the earth”.
We should know that the aqeedah of the people of innovation
and their statements does not manifest except with a strong authority, or a
stubborn devil assisting them, deceiving the people with their innovations. Or
compelling the people with his sword or his whip or helping them with wealth in
order to deviate from the path of Allah, strongly devoted to his innovation
causing the Muslims to turn on their heels in face of the enemy after their
love for the obedience of Allah. We ask Allah for safety from these people.
And a speaker amongst them said: “…secret
da’wah is established in the actions of the prophet SAW when he called the
people in secret in Makkah. The answer to this is in a number of angles:
1 This evidence is false because the Prophet was commanded
to proclaim the religion and manifest it as Allah says: “therefore proclaim
openly (monotheism) that which you are commanded and turn away from
Al-Mushrikoon (polytheists, idolaters, disbelievers, etc) {15:94}. So the Prophet
preached Islam openly in Makkah and bore with patience the harm of the
idolaters. This shows that secrecy in calling to Islam is forbidden because the
command of something prohibits the opposite. And Ibn Abee Aasim narrated in ‘As-Sunnah’
from Ibn Umar RA that he said: A man came to the Prophet SAW and asked him for
advice and the Prophet SAW said: “Worship Allah and do not associate any
partner with obey your Muslim ruler and proclaim and beware of secrecy”.1
And from Zaid bn Aslam Al-‘Adawee, from his father who said:
“News reached Umar bn Khataab that a group of people would gather in the house
of Faatimah RA, and he went to her and said: “O daughter of the Messenger of
Allah SAW, no one is dearer to us amongst the people than your father, and no
one after your father is dearer to us than you, and it has reached me that
these people gather in your presence, and by Allah! If this reaches me again I
shall burn the house with them. So when they came to Faatimah RA, she said
verily Ibn Khataab said so and so, and verily, he will do it, so they departed
when Abu Bakr was pledged as Ameer.
And from Al-Awza’ee, he said: Umar bn Abdul-Azeez said: “If
you see a people discussing something in their religion, with the exclusion of
the masses, then this is the foundation of misguidance2
And Muhammad bn Nadr Al-Haarithee said: “The people of
desires adopt misguidance and they destroy guidance so beware of them”.3
I say: “And from their methodology in their establishment of
misguidance and destroying guidance is their practice of secrecy in their
da’wah.
1 Reported from Ibn
Abee Shaybah in “Al Musaanaf” and Ibn Abee Aasim in Al-Mudhakkir wa tahkeer wa
dhikr with a saheeh isnad. And taken from the book Al amr bi luzuum
jamaatil-muslimeen of Ibn Barjis page54
2 Imam Ahmad reported it in Az-Zuhd and Ad-Daarimee in his
sunan number 51, and Laalikaee in shahr
usool I’tiqaad Ahl-Sunnah and Ibn abd barr in “jaami bayaan al-ilm wa fadlihi”
and Al-Bayhaqee in As-sunan
3 Abu Naeem reported it in Al-hilyah 8/218, check
Al-intiqaadaat Al-ilmiyyah
The second angle is that the speaker thinks that the ummah
has fallen into a time like the first period of his SAW call in Makkah and I
say: praise be to Allah that we are not in a time like the period of ignorance
of old, nay, we are in good and well being, and none says that we are in a
period of ignorance like that of old except that one is bent on takfeer, and
his heart is filled with rage upon the ummah.
The third angle is: the speaker does not distinguish between
secret da’wah and concealment from the enemy due to necessity, and concealment
from the enemy was one of the actions of the Messenger SAW, and the evidences
are many like the story of the submission of ‘Amr bn ‘Absa RA when he said: “I
was in ignorance, I thought the people in ignorance, and were upon nothing, and
they worshipped idols, and then I heard of a man in Makkah proclaiming. So I
mounted my mount and proceeded to him and there he was in concealment, bold and
daring to his people”. Muslim reported the hadith. And this hadeeth is an
evidence that the Prophet SAW concealed himself from his enemy when necessary,
and it is not an evidence that the Prophet SAW practiced secrecy in his call.
Fourthly, about secrecy in the da’wah of the Prophet is a
mere assumption and hypothesis. He used to call the people and urge them on in
carrying out good deeds and he did not indicate that a ruler be removed unlike
what conspires amongst the secret groups and parties.
Without wishing to delve too deeply into secrecy in da’wah,
therefore, from the above mentioned facts, it is incumbent that one avoids
secrecy in calling people to Islam and that issues be made clear to the people
without keeping them ignorant about matters in the religion and with Allah is
all strength.
