Question:

Assalamualaikum Hazrath, I have got a job in Saudi. My question is all masjids in Saudi are Bad Aqeedah and Wahabis, so how can we perform our Salaah, especially the Jummah Salah?

Q 2 Agar maloon nahi k imaam sunni hai aur jamaat shuru hone wali to aise halaat kya karen (Translation - If one does not know if the Imaam is Sunni and the Jama'ah is about to start, what should one do in this situation?)

Answer

Wa Alaykum Al-Salam

Al-Jawaab:

The Saudi Government rules under the 'Wahabiyah' sect in Islam. This is a sect which has caused havoc amongst the Muslims since their existence and continues to do so. Many laymen from amongst the Muslims have been misled, misguided and radicalised to violent and non-violent extremism through their false banner of Tawheed (monotheism). Their heretical beliefs are a disgrace to the Islam that our Saviour and Master Muhammad ﷺ brought to us from Allah.

This sect came into existence in the year 1209 Hijri under the leadership of its founder Muhammad Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab Najdi. He spread many misguidances throughout the whole of the Arab world, especially throughout Haramayn Shareefayn. Under his command and leadership, they heartlessly slaughtered and butchered the rightly guided Ulemaa' (Scholars), as though the whole of the Arab world was a slaughter house. Anyone who disagreed with them, whether a scholar, layman, male, female, young or old, was labelled as a kafir and mushrik and then was killed. Streams of blood were flowing in the streets. They destroyed the graves and shrines of the blessed pious predecessors which included the great companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. They named the shrine of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ the 'Sanam Akbar' which means the biggest idol. They strongly desired to destroy the holy shrine of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and they still do which becomes apparent once a year when one of their clerics decides to spill his rage in a public speech or through an article or edict but they have failed to do so because Allah has protected it and may Allah continue to protect it for it is the centre of our faith.

In Radd Al-Muhtaar, Imaam Ibn Abideen Al-Shaami has written a chapter regarding the followers of Muahmmad Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab Najdi and has regarded them as traitors of Islam and also called them Khawaarij. He then writes,

“The followers of Abd Al-Wahhab have appeared in our time who have come from Najd. They have taken both the Haram (Makkah Mukarramah and Madeenah Munawwarah) and they impersonate the Hanbali School. However, they believe that only they are Muslims and whosoever opposes their beliefs is a Mushrik. With this, they legalised the killing of the Ahl Al-Sunnah and their Scholars.”

Muhammad Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab Najdi, himself said,

“The holy and eminent grave is an idol and a false god in all meanings of idolatry, only if the people realised.”

This can be found in the footnotes of Sharh Al-Sudoor Bi-Tahreemi Raf' Al-Quboor written by himself. On one hand he regards it as Holy and eminent and, on the other hand, he calls it an idol and false god, only if he realised. It is a well established and known fact that none from amongst the Muslims besides these 'Wahaabiyah' regard the Holy Shrine of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as an idol or false god.

From amongst the heretic beliefs of the 'Wahaabiyah' are, Allah can lie, Muhammad is just a normal human like us, he does not know what will happen to him, he is dead, he cannot hear us, he cannot see us, he has no authority in any matter, he can not be used as a means to reach Allah, all Prophets and Messengers and Awliya are worse than dirt in the court of Allah, thinking of the Prophet during salah is worse than thinking of a donkey, voting in a non-Muslim country for a non-Muslim government is shirk (polytheism), following a man-made law, is shirk, Allah has body parts like we do, Allah moves from one place to another and Allah sits and stands on and from His throne etc. May Allah forbid and may Allah protect us from these kufriyah beliefs.

These are only some of the beliefs of the 'Wahaabiyah' sect and it is from this sect that the 'Deobandiyah' sect appeared in the Sub-Continent. One can see the similarities in the beliefs by studying the 'Deobandiyah' books of Fataawa like the Fataawaa Rasheediyah of Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi.

Imam Bukhari has recorded several traditions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in his Saheeh from Sayyiduna Ali Ibn Abi Taalib and Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri, Allah is pleased with them both, regarding a people that will come in this nation from the East who will perform Salah in a manner that we will find our Salah to be inferior, they will fast in a manner that we will find our fast to be inferior and their actions will be such that we will find ours inferior. They will recite the Qur'aan (beautifully) but it will not pass below their throats. They will leave Islam (instantaneously) like the arrow leaves its game or target and they will not return to Islam unless the arrow returns to its bow (by itself which is never). These people will kill the Muslims and leave the idolators. In a narration, one of their signs that are mentioned in Bukhari is that their beards will be thick and their heads shaven. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also said that if I were to find the time of these people then I would kill them like the killing of the people of Thamood. 

It is clear that Salah is invalid behind an Imam who follows such a sect whether it is the five times daily Salah or the Friday afternoon Salah. The rightly guided Scholars of the Ahl Al-Sunnah have said and written in various edicts that performing prayer behind Imams of these sects who hold such heretic beliefs is the same as performing prayer behind a Hindu or Sikh Imam, may Allah forbid, for reference please see Al-Ataaya Al-Nabawiyah Fi Al-Fataawa Al-Ridwiyah. This is simply because these nominal Muslims have left the boundaries of Islam and are wondering lost in the realms of kufr. Anyone who has faith in his heart and genuinely cares about his worship will never compromise to perform his prayer behind such individuals who follow the 'Wahaabiyah' or 'Deobandiyah' sects.

If there is no other Imam then one must pray individually and instead of the Friday afternoon prayer, one should perform the Zuhr Salah.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said regarding the people of innovation (those who innovate a new path that is against the path of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and the path of his companions, Allah is pleased with them),

"Do not sit with them, do not eat with them, do not drink with them, do not say salam to them, do not visit them when they are sick, do not perform salah with them and do not perform their Janazah salah when they die."

In Fataawa Mustafawiyah, it clearly says that it is impermissible to perform prayer behind those who openly sin. If that is the case regarding those who openly sin then what must be the case of those who openly hold heretic beliefs as mentioned above? Imam Mufti Al-A'zam Mustafa Rida Al-Hanafi Al-Qadiri, Allah is pleased with him quotes a Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ,

“When a faasiq is honored, the Lord becomes angry and the arsh trembles due to it.”

The great Mufti of his era writes that what more honor can be given to a person than making him the leader in the religious affairs (Salah).

Therefore, it is clear that prayer behind such heretics causes the anger of Allah and is not only impermissible but invalid.

We are ordered to judge people according to that which is apparent upon us and not according to our guesses and assumptions. If there is a person who is apparently a Muslim then we must accept the person as a Muslim and not make assumptions unless there are signs that have otherwise become apparent. If there is a person who is a Muslim and apparently fulfills the conditions of Imaamah (leadership in prayer) then one may perform his prayer behind him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

“The order/law is according to that which is apparent and I have not been ordered to look into the people's hearts and to rip open their chests (to see what is inside).”

However, if this apparently fit for Imaamah person is leading the prayer in a Qaadiyani, Shi'ah or Wahaabi Masjid then it is apparent and clear who he is and Allah knows best.

Faqeer Zahid Hussain Al-Qadiri
(Beggar at the doorstep of Scholars)
1st Rabi al Thani 1437 AH

Question

Salam just got this text Ahmad Raza Khan said,

“If someone is in the land of the disbelievers residing in a village, for example if there are only hindus there and this person is unable to leave the place for some reason. So then tell us if a situation arises then who will he immediately ask (ie ask for a fatwa)? Then it will be said to him, “Ask the Pandit (a Pandit is a hindu priest).” (Fataawa Rizwiyyah 3/253)

Similarly on one hand Ahmad Raza Khaan held the nikah (marriage) of a Wahhabee to be invalid yet on the other hand he says if a Brahaman (A high form of Hindu priest) performs the nikah, the nikah will be valid!!!!! His exacts words, “The nikah will be valid as a nikah is the accepting of the vows, even if a brahaman performs it.” (Ahkaam Sharee’at 2/225)

What is the Sunni response? Is this true?

Answer

Al-Ayaazu Bi-Allah, Al-Ayaazu Bi-Allah, Al-Ayaazu Bi-Allah!

The curse of Allah is upon those who lie and Allah hates the liars while the satan is pleased with them. Those who fabricate lies upon the great reviver of Islam and the leader of all scholars, the honorouble Imam Ahmad Rida Khan Al-Barelwi are conceding their failure to challenge the magnificent and incomparable work that he miraculously produced.

These deceitful tactics of the deviants are not new but actual traditions of theirs and it would not be wrong to say that it is their religious ritual as those who follow the satan must religiously commit evil which includes treachery, trickery, deceit, falsifying information, lying, fabricating, stealing, thieving, robbing etc. Those who are familiar with the deviant sects in Islam especially the Deobandi School and its unlawful descendant, the Tableeghi Jama’at will know that these attributes perfectly fit their leaders.

The above two objections are nothing but lousy deceitful attempts to misguide the innocent laymen by lying and stealing. It is lying because it is not what Imam Ahmad Rida has written in his Fatawa and it is stealing because they have stolen some words from the original text in order to completely distort the original meaning. It is also clear that this is not the work of a contemporary mischievous deviant (although somewhere along the line a contemporary has taken part by giving a new life to this matter) because the reference provided for both are from an old publication of the original texts, which are not published anymore.

The first is from Al-Fatawa Al-Ridawiyyah which in the new publication is on page five hundred and seventy four of the sixth volume. The final part of the question is that if a person is living in a place which he cannot leave but has no rightly guided scholars to seek guidance (answers for his religious queries) from then what must he do? And from the former parts of the question it is clear that this questioner is seeking permission to seek guidance from the Wahabi scholars that are the only scholars living in his town or city for his religious queries. The Chief of all Jurists Imam Ahmad Rida, after forbidding the people to perform Salah behind these Wahabi scholars, then comes to the final part of the question and writes,

“If a person lives in Dar Al-Harb (a land that is not governed by Muslims nor has it been in the past) specifically in a town of non Muslims, for example a place where there are only Hindus and he says that I cannot leave this place therefore please advise me, who should I ask my necessary and immediate Islamic queries? Will it be said to him that you may ask the Hindu pundit? - Allah forbid”

It is apparent that the great Imam is forbidding the questioner from seeking guidance from the Wahabi scholars and that the Wahabi scholars are far away from Islam like the Hindu Pundits are. In the original text of the Urdu Fatwa, the particle ‘Kyaa’ is written in the beginning, which is a particle used for questioning. This particle is stolen by these thieves which changes the sentence from interrogative to declarative. This is a text book example of distortion with the intention of deceit and falsifying texts. Furthermore, the great Imam has added the Tarjee’ at the end which is a partial verse of the Quran,

“We belong to Allah and we shall return to Him.”

This is used when a calamity or any other form of misfortune occurs. In this context it is used to mean, ‘May Allah forbid’. If we pushed our kindness to its limits and supposed that the person who raised this false objection missed the interrogative particle ‘kyaa’ due to some extremely rare form of temporary blindness which prevents him from seeing interrogative particles then the question arises that how in the world did he miss the whole sentence of Tarjee’ at the end which consists of six words in the original text? I am forced to say that this is nothing but a deceitful tactic to fool the innocent laymen – Allah forbid.

The second is from Ahkaam-e-Shariat and the translation of the actual text is as follows,

“Question: If a Wahabi leads the nikah, will it occur? Answer: Nikah will of course occur even if a Brahman (Hindu) leads it. This is because nikah is the name given to a mutual agreement through a proposal and acceptance. However, if a wahabi leads it, it expresses respect towards him which is haram therefore it is necessary to abstain.”

Again, the original text gives a completely different picture to the text provided in the objection. This is because the context is not provided in the objection. This again is an example of distorting texts and fabricating lies against the pious predecessors. If a piece of text is taken out of context and used as a pretext, it potentially distorts the whole aim of the original text.

The original text aims to inform us that nikah occurs and remains valid as long as its required elements and conditions are fulfilled and that if an impermissible and sinful act takes place in the procedure, it does not affect its validity.

It is unanimously agreed upon that if the required elements and conditions of a matter are fulfilled then the matter becomes existent and established even if an unlawful act takes place in its establishment like the unlawful child is born even though the act of adultery is forbidden. Islam acknowledges the child’s existence and rights. Only a fool would say that the child does not exist even though the child is physically in front of him.

Another example is that it is unanimously agreed upon by all Muslim Scholars that it is obligatory for women to cover the head in the presence of ghayr mahaarim (those of the opposite gender who they can potentially marry). If a woman comes to her nikah ceremony without covering the head in the presence of ghayr mahaarim and then the nikah takes place, it will be established and valid. Now if someone asked the question, is the nikah valid if a woman comes to her nikah ceremony without covering her head? And someone replies, of course it will occur even if she attended without any clothes as nikah is the name of a mutual agreement through a proposal and acceptance. However, it is obviously Haram to do so. Then what wrong has he said? The same can be said about the man who does nikah with a clean shave – Allah forbid.

Another example is that it is forbidden to recite the Quran from back to front. If a person performs his Salah and recites a Surah from the latter part of the Quran in the first unit and a Surah from the former part of the Quran in the second unit, his Salah is valid and established but it is haram to recite the Quran in that manner. This is an established rule in the Hanafi Fiqh that can be found in nearly all the books that hold the chapter of Salah.

Another example is that it is Haram to give Talaq to one’s wife when she is in her menstrual cycle. However, if a man gives Talaq to his wife while she is in her menstrual cycle, it will still occur and remain valid. This is also an established and agreed upon rule in the Hanafi School. What one must understand is that the establishment and validity of a thing and its permissibility or impermissibility are separate matters.

If one has still not understood, then imagine a person working at the Home Office. He is forbidden to deal with an application of his family, friends and relatives due to confidentiality and a possible conflict of interest. However, if he receives an application from a friend or a family member and he processes the application and sends the passport out without disclosing the fact that the applicant is a family member or friend, the passport is valid however the process was illegal.

After understanding the above, it is clear that Imam Ahmed Rida is saying that it is Haram to let a Wahabi or a Brahman lead the Nikah however it will occur and remain valid.

The objector gives the picture that Imam Ahmed Rida has regarded the nikah valid if a Brahman leads it but not if a Wahabi leads it. This is also a deceit and distortion. The original text clearly implies that the nikah will be valid regardless if a Wahabi, Brahman, Christian, Sikh, Jew or Athiest leads it. It doesn’t matter who leads the nikah as long as the Ijaab (proposal) and Qubool (acceptance) of two Muslims takes place in the presence of Muslim witnesses.

It is common in our custom that the person who leads the nikah is a wakeel (official representative) of the bride. It is not permissible to make a deviant an official representative because it expresses respect towards him although the nikah will occur and remain valid.

This is not a rule fabricated by the great Imam Ahmed Rida but is an established rule of the great Hanafi Jurists. Bearing in mind that validity and permissibility are two different matters and that the word ‘ijaazah’ in this context means ‘valid’ rather than ‘permissible’, In Al-Fatawa Al-Hindiyyah it says,

“The wikaalah of an apostate is valid. If a Muslim made an apostate his representative it will be valid and it is the same if the representative was a Muslim at the time of wikaalah and then became an apostate (it is still valid).”

In Al-Bahr Al-Raa’iq and Radd Al-Muhtaar it says,

“It is not a condition for wikaalah that he must not be an apostate therefore if an apostate is made a wakeel then it is valid.”

These texts simply mean that if a person sends an apostate or a deviant to the shop with some money to buy a beverage and he returns with a beverage then the transaction is regarded as valid and you have become the owner of the beverage. In the same way if the bride sent an apostate to the nikah ceremony to represent her and he went and took part in the proposal and acceptance before the witnesses, the nikah is valid and the woman has become married.

That proves the validity of the matter and as for the impermissibility that Imam Ahmed Rida has issued in his Fatwa, it is established in the Hanafi School that never mind an apostate or deviant, it is not even permissible to express respect towards a faasiq (open sinner). In Tabyeen Al-Haqaa’iq, Radd Al-Muhtaar, Tahtaawi’s Haashiyah on Al-Durr Al-Mukhtaar and Fath Al-Mu’een it says,

“To disrespect a faasiq is waajib according to the Shariah.”

And Imam Taftazaani has written in Maqaasid and Sharh Maqaasid,

“The rule towards a deviant is that one must dislike him and regard him as an enemy, turn away from him, express disrespect towards him and slander and curse him.”

It is recorded in Tabraani Kabeer that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ peace and blessings be upon him said,

“He who expresses respect towards a deviant has helped to destroy Islam.”

This is because these deviants are treacherous traitors of Islam and any government of today would expect the same treatment towards a treacherous person, traitor or terrorist. A traitor or a person who commits treachery would be locked and jailed behind bars in any country whether governed by Muslims or non Muslims. In today’s day and age one can understand this by looking at the deviant Wahabi and Salafi sect. ISIS and those that follow a similar ideology are an off shoot of the Wahabi and Salafi sect which is supported by the Deobandis and Tableeghis. Do these people deserve respect from us? Are they capable of being our official representatives in any matter? It is clear that their cause is to deform and destroy Islam. If we believe they deserve respect or if we sympathise for them, are we not supporting them in their cause? The Wahabis, Shias, Deobandis, Qaadiyaanis and Tableeghis etc have deformed and attempted to destroy Islam throughout their history and as Muslims it is our duty to stay away from them and condemn them in order to safeguard our faith and Allah knows best.

Zahid Hussain Al-Qadiri
(Beggar at the doorstep of Scholars)
17th Thu Al-Hijjah 1436 AH