And Safar al-Hawali said at the end of the first side and the beginning of
the second side of his cassette, ‘Duroos ut-Tahawiyyah (2/272), "This
metropolitan is like a hotel in one of the Gulf States, Dubai…In this
hotel – there is one who says, openly proclaiming – there are drinks
in this hotel, which they call spiritual drinks, meaning that khumoor (various
types of intoxicants) are presented in relation to what is available (in the
hotel) of amusements and videos etc. - So this is an open and clear call –
and all the people present are happy with this – that contain images that
establish that they… - and refuge is from Allaah – have mixed
dancing and nakedness along with the consumption of khamr (intoxicants). We seek
refuge in Allaah from this kufr, because declaring what Allaah the Blessed
and Exalted has made unlawful to be lawful (istihlaal) is without doubt, clear
and open kufr!!!"
I say: Reflect carefully! He has already presented this image of open
sinfulness and then he called the reason or motive behind it
"istihlaal". And then built upon this he quickly moved onto the ruling
of takfir, a ruling in which he leaves no room for interpreting this action as
"the lesser kufr" (kufr doona kufr), saying, "[it is] clear and
open kufr (kufr sareeh). And the great mistake and blunder of these people
concerning the issue of "istihlaal" is what has made them graze in the
madhhab of the Khawarij. And if this is not so, then what is the difference
between this sin and others. And is it impossible to find a sinful person in the
earth who does not invite his associate or friend to partake in his sinfulness?!
It certainly does grieve us that this is the explanation of
Aqidatut-Tahawiyyah!
And we see that Aa’id al-Qarni’s methodology is the same when he
made some recantations from some of his serious blunders stating,
"Fourteen: I had said in a cassette, ‘Whoever makes it obligatory
upon the people that he should be an Ikhwani or a Salafi or a Tablighi or a
Sururi, then his repentance should be sought. Either he repents or he is to be
killed.’ This is an error that emanated from me and I seek Allaah’s
forgiveness from it. What I meant was that whoever did that, then he has
legislated (into the religion). However, it is an error regardless and I
pardon myself from it. I believe that the madhhab of the Salaf is the correct
madhhab and it is the one that is obligatory for the people to follow, to be
guided by it and to traverse its path." [refer to al-Ajwibah al-Mufidah of
Jamal bin Harith]. So will al-Qarnee then apply his principle to the many
thousands if not hundreds of thousands of partisans who have made it obligatory
to be a Hanafi, or a Maliki, or a Shafi’i? And who have declared it haram
to choose from each of the madhhabs. Will he rule that every single one of them
has legislated into the religion and has such has become an apostate and
renegade? May Allaah kill this unlicensed desire and ignorance!!
And Shaikh al-Albani was asked concerning the book, "Dhahiratul-Irjaa
fil-Fikr al-Islami" of Safar al-Hawali, and in this book takfir is
performed on account of certain sins! He replied, "I gave my viewpoint on a
matter about thirty or so years ago when I used to be in the [Isamic] University
(of Madinah) and I was asked in a gathering about my opinion on Jamaa’at
ut-Tabligh. So I said on that day, ‘They are the Sufis of this era’.
And now it has occurred to me that I should say about this Jamaa’ah who
have emerged in the present times and who have opposed the Salaf, I say here, in
accordance with the statement of al-Hafidh adh-Dhahabi: They have opposed
the Salaf in much of the issues of manhaj, and it is befitting that I label them
the Khawarij of the era. And this resembles their emergence at the current time
– in which we read their statements – because they, in reality,
their words take the direction and objective of that of the Khawarij in
performing takfir of the one who commits major sins. And perhaps I should say,
this is either due to ignorance on their behalf or due to devised plot!! And I
say this in light of [the statement of Allaah], "Let not the hatred of a
people make you depart from justice. Be just and fair and that is closer to
taqaa". I do not know whether they say that every major sin takes one
outside the fold of Islaam! However, they always revolve around certain major
sins but remain silent or just pass by other major sins! And for this reason I
do not see that we should make this label absolute, and that we should say,
‘They are Khawarj’, except from certain aspects. And this is the
justice that we have been ordered to abide by…" [The Cassette:The
Surooriyyah are the Khawarij of the Era, end of the first side].
[2] Laalikaa’ee in Usul ul-I’tiqad [no.1834]
[3]Al-Kitab ul-Latif [no. 17]
[4] Aqidat us-Salaf wa Ashabul-Hadith [109]
[5] Dhahirat ul-Irjaa (1/361)