Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī: On the Scholarly Duty to Respond Positively and Swiftly to the Call to Uphold Truth, Establish Justice and Suppress Fitnah
Shaykh Allāmah Rabīʿcorroborated the duty of the scholars to clarify their position when requested in his refutation of Ibrāhīm al-Ruḥaylī:[1]
It becomes clear from this that the request of many students who affiliate with the Sunnah for the scholars to clarify their position is truth and correctness, if the existence of this request is ascertained (i.e. that they have indeed made such a request). It is not to be counted among the errors. That (which is true and correct is) that the errant person is the one who declared them to have erred (for their request), and that the silence of the scholars at the time of need or necessity to clarify the truth is from concealing knowledge and from the great error which results in many harms (mafāsid), tribulations (fitan) and people being split into two or many groups, arguing and boycotting each other.
And then we have a practical illustration of this from ten or so years prior to the above statement:
Shaykh Allāmah Rabīʿ—may Allāh shower abundant mercy upon him—said in his treatise Iʿānah Abī al-Ḥasan ʿalā al-Rujūʿ Billatī Hiya Aḥsan (Assisting Abu al-Hasan in Retracting in the Best Manner):[2]
In the Name of Allāh, the Most Merciful (to His creation), the Ever Merciful (to His believing servants).
All Praise is due to Allāh; and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allāh, his family, his companions, and those who follow his guidance.
To proceed:
I have received a unified call from a large number of students of knowledge and callers to Allāh directed to the scholars. In it, they reproached the scholars for not embarking upon their duty regarding the tribulation (fitnah) that arose in Yemen, one that has has intensified and persisted for a long time without the scholars clarifying the truth regarding it. Rather, their silence contributed to the fanning of its flames and its escalation. We thank the (students and callers) for their zeal for the truth and their call (for the scholars) to proclaim it openly, to aid it, and to aid the oppressed.
And responding to this call—from you and from other young people eager to know the truth and for the fitnah to be suppressed—I say:
May Allāh grant you success and reward you with good. Proceed upon the path of truth and giving sincere advice. This is from the distinctions of the followers of the Salafi manhaj, who are always distinguished from the people of desires by their open declaration and aid of the truth, and by standing with the truth and the oppressed.
The position taken by them reflects the saying of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم): “Aid your brother, whether he is an oppressor or oppressed,” and the words of al-Ṣiddīq (رضي الله عنه) following the pledge of allegiance at Saqīfah—as reported by Ibn Kathir (رحمه الله) (5/248): “The weak among you is strong in my view until I restore his rights to him, if Allah wills; and the strong among you is weak until I exact justice from him, if Allah wills.” Ibn Kathir commented: “This is an authentic chain (isnād.”
I present to you a memorandum containing remarks on some statements that have reached me. It is preceded by some observations I have sent to Abū al-Ḥasan. Also included is advice to Abū al-Ḥasan from Shaykh Muḥammad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Wasābī al-ʿAbdali to whom the Committee had assigned the duty of clarifying the truth and suppress the fitnah. I hope that everyone benefits from this memorandum.
I would also like to inform you that, until now, we have received only the words of Abū al-Ḥasan as recorded in his tapes. As for the other party, nothing has reached us—neither words recorded in their own voices nor statements written by their own hands. Should any of their statements reach us, we shall—if Allāh wills—fulfill the obligation Allāh has placed upon us to openly declare the truth regarding them and to establish justice in their case.
I ask Allāh to make us all callers to the truth and its helpers, upholders of justice, and witnesses for Allāh, and to remove this tribulation and unite hearts. Indeed, my Lord hears all supplications.
Written by Rabīʿ bin Hādī ʿUmayr al-Madkhalī, 18/2/1423 AH | Makkah al-Mukarramah.
Note
This was written in May 2002, just as the fitnah of Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maʾribī peaked. After the death of the senior scholars—Shaykhs Bin Bāz, al-Albānī, and Ibn al-Uthaymīn (رحمهم الله)—Abū al-Ḥasan became open in shielding the aḥzāb (political factions) and those who had been refuted (such as al-Maghrāwī) by way of false principles aimed at suppressing refutation and disparagement of those who deserved it for opposing the foundations of the Sunnah. He also falsely accused shaykhs such as Shaykh ʿAlī al-Ḥudhayfī of being Ḥaddādīs for which he was refuted by Shaykh Rabīʿ.
The above citation shows how Shaykh Rabīʿ (رحمه الله) would swiftly respond and embark upon ending tribulation by establishing and upholding truth and justice and would take complaints of students of knowledge seriously if they complained about lack of clarity and shortcomings in scholarly duty. In this case, it was surrounding the fitnah of al-Maʾribī in Yemen.
From the benefits from these words include:
01 Students of knowledge can request scholars to clarify their position when required, there is no fault or blame in this.
02 Silence of the scholar(s) at the time of need or necessity is concealing knowledge.
03 Silence of the scholar(s) results in greater tribulations, splitting and boycotting because truth and its people have not been distinguished from the errant and/or oppressive in the affair(s) concerned.
04 Students of knowledge have made reproach against scholars and shaykhs for shortcomings in scholarly duty, when their continued silence led to escalation of the fitnah,
05 Shaykh Rabīʿ did not criticise or condemn them, but actually thanked such students for their zeal for the truth and for requesting scholars to openly proclaim the truth and to aid the oppressed. This is from the distinctions of the followers of the Salafī methodology. However, he found fault with those who say that such a request is an error and said that they are the ones who are in error.
06 Shaykh Rabīʿ would respond to requests of this nature and notified that he is collecting information from both parties in the dispute, and that he will not hesitate to declare the truth and to establish justice. Truth and justice was established when al-Maʾribī was shown to be upon falsehood, deviation and oppression and a position was taken against him shortly thereafter.
07 Shaykh Rabīʿ indicated that hearts are united when people are callers to truth, upholders and helpers of justice and are witnesses for Allāh, i.e. speak with the truth that they know, as opposed to resigning to silence.
Arabic text:
Footnotes
1. Bayān Mā Fī Naṣīḥah Ibrāhīm al-Ruḥaylī Min al-Khalal wal-Ikhlāl (p. 63).2. Majmūʿ Muʾallafāt al-Shaykh (13/53–54)