Shaykh Zayd al-Madkhali: Salafiyyah Is Both Creed and Action Which Are Inseparable
The three volume book “Al-ʿAqd al-Munaddid al-Jadīd Fī al-Ijābah ʿan Masāʾil al-Fiqh wal-Manhaj wal-Tawḥīd” (1421) was compiled by one of the Shaykh's students, Shaykh Fawwāz al-Madkhalī and contains valuable answers to questions on methodology.
Shaykh Zayd al-Madkhalī (رحمه الله) said:[1]
That which should be known (and understood) is that Salafiyyah is creed (ʿaqīdah), methodology (manhaj), preaching (daʿwah) and acting (ʿamal). Creed and action are binding (inseparable) and one cannot be separated from the other. Hence, it is not possible to find the sound and complete creed alongside deviation in action and vice versa.
This contradiction (between creed and what it necessitates of action) is deception as has preceded, it is a form of deception, to claim agreement with a people in creed, but opposing them in methodology and action, and claiming agreement with a people in action but opposing them in creed. This is confusion and deceiving oneself and the people, and this what leads to some people to go astray.
In conclusion, the person upon this ideology and this methodology must abandon it and align himself with the Salaf and with those who proceed upon the path of the Salaf in creed, worship, dealings, and in the methodology of daʿwah, the methodology of enjoining good and prohibiting evil, the methodology of loyalty and disloyalty and the position towards those in authority, and in every affair and every subject from the subject matters of knowledge and action.
We call him to that, oblige him with it and caution him from his action and seek protection from Allāh for him from vacillation (dithering, wavering) through which he will waste himself in what harms and does not benefit, and Allāh knows best.
Notes
01 Separating between ʿaqīdah (creed) and manhaj (methodolog) is from the ways of the Ḥizbiyyīn (partisans) and is a form of deception, because they use their proclamation of the Salafī creed to conceal their violations in action and methodology. However, this is a contradiction, because a sound creed necessitates conformity in methodology and action. This proves that there must also be deviation in creed, otherwise, the violation in action and methodology would not have happened. Or it is a matter of following worldly desires and ambitions that lead a person to oppose what the creed requires of him.
02 One of the clearest examples to illustrate this is the issue of obedience to the ruler (whether righteous or sinful, just or unjust) and not rebelling against him. This is a matter of creed, and anyone who engages in actions which oppose what this creed necessitates, then it indicates a lack of belief or conviction in this specific creed. Thus, anyone who rebels, or calls to it, or supports it, then he has corruption in creed, methodology and action, not just methodology and action, because all of these affairs are binding and inseparable.
Arabic text:
Footnotes
1. Al-ʿAqd al-Munaddid al-Jadīd (no. 50).