Shaykh Rabīʿ Bin Hādī (رحمه الله) said:[1]
01 The way of Ahl al-Sunnah is in moderation (wasaṭiyyah) in all spheres of religion, in various affairs of creed, in methodology, worship and conduct. Hence, in the affairs of Allāh’s Attributes they are in between the way of the Jahmiyyah Muʿaṭṭilah and their offshoots and the way of the Mushabbihah, Mujassimah. And the same applies in the issues of Qadar and Īmān, and that of the Companions and Rulership and so on. Likewise, in their dealings with Ahl al-Bidʿah and the errant from Ahl al-Sunnah, it is all in accordance with the balanced methodology founded upon truthfulness and justice, and proceeding upon foundations and principles, not blind-following, partisanship and pedestals.
02 In recent decades the daʿwah has been put to trial with two deviations, that of the Ḥaddādiyyah and that of the Mumayyiʿah and in reality, these are some of the insidious, infiltrating and lingering effects of the daʿwah of the Ikhwānīs, which if a person does not cling tightly to the Sunnah, the way of the Salaf, and to the truth and guidance made clear by various contemporary scholars, he may be prone to falling into the snares and the behavioural manifestations of one or the other, whether the Ḥaddādiyyah or the Mumayyiʿah.
The Ḥaddādī way is characterised by undue harshness, anger, and enmity, often driven by misguided zeal (ghīrah) for the religion, and dubious motives lurking in the background. The Mumayyiʿ way is characterised by weakness, cowardice, desertion, lack of conviction and certainty, fearing blame and rebuke, and putting personal and private interests before the truth.
03 Shaykh Rabiʿ’s speech provides a description of a process, a sequence by which we can identify Ḥaddādi-type behaviour, it provides a forensic, analytical tool. This highlights the great importance of returning to the deeply-rooted scholars, to their insightful speech, to their legacy in which there is truth, guidance, and illumination.
04 So here in this brief but concise speech, the Shaykh explained that from the way of the Ḥaddādīs is that they attack and revile. Because their aim is to bring people down, they revile, and they take presumed, alleged or actual errors of people, and revile them by accusing them of innovation, misguidance, heresy and leaving the fold of Ahl al-Sunnah. Then, they continue to revile, and revile some more, thinking that the more they revile, the more it becomes true and the more it will stick.
Then, when the way of the shaykh, or figurehead is made clear, that it is incorrect, not just, not based on evidence, not proportional, not warranted, and opposes the way of Ahl al-Sunnah, then their response is to exaggerate in him. They raise him, mention his tazkiyāt (commendations), inflate his status, mention all his good and his life-history, his biography and so on. This is not a sincere, truthful way of responding, and indicates bankruptcy in knowledge and evidence.
To the extent that even when their shaykh makes explicit tabdīʿ which cannot be justified or evidenced, and is overwhelmingly rejected by sane and just people, they will still turn a blind eye to this injustice, and being driven by love of personalities, they will rush to clap their hands and sing hymns in his praise. This is not the behaviour of men.
Hence, they knowingly, wilfully and stubbornly reject the evidences which prove that the way of their shaykh or figurehead is wrong, and instead, their path is to praise and exaggerate in that person and revile anyone who does not follow behind them. All the while, they never engage in actual knowledge-based discussions. It is for no reason that Shaykh Rabīʿ said of this behavioural conduct that it is worse than the original Ḥaddādiyyah. He (رحمه الله) said this out of insight and direct experience.
Many tribulations have passed in which these affairs became manifest, from them the affair of Maḥmūd al-Ḥaddād, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf Bāshmīl, Fāliḥ al-Ḥarbī, Fawzī al-Baḥrainī, then after them Yaḥyā al-Ḥajūrī, and Muḥammad bin Hādi. Their followers displayed the same behavioural pattern.
05 In all honesty, this seems to be the reality:
There are people with agendas, ambitions and goals, often based on ideological and sectarian convictions. They see certain people as obstacles in their way. So they target them and try to bring them down. They watch and wait to get the opportunity. Often it is a unintended slip, a genuine error, or something they have twisted, or just outright lies. They operate, as if like snakes and scorpions, lying in wait to take their opportunity. Then the people of dubious motives and self-interests show up all of sudden, coming out of the woodwork. These people reveal their true colours and rally behind those ones, supporting their cause, looking for a free meal. These affairs have been explained by Shaykh Rabīʿ in past fitan, in explaining how things start and evolve when this type of “vile, beastly methodology” is let loose.