بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Indeed these people are Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jamaa'ah; those who pursue the tracks of the Prophet ﷺ, and are as Ibn Taymiya described them:
"Ahl as-Sunnah (The People of the Sunnah) are the finest selection of the Muslims, and are the best people towards people"
So adhere to the path: [6:153]:
الجماعة refers to the main body of Muslims, and Sunnah was used to distinguish between the Shia who had broken between the main body of religion. However, many deviant groups use this term for themselves and call those who adhere to the Qur'an and Sunnah other names, such as "Ahlul Hadith" or "Wahhabis".
For example, the largest Muslim group in Trinidad, call themselves أهل السنة و الجماعة, while they believe in that the Prophet ﷺ can see everything, and is everywhere (arguing that if the Shaytan can have such attributes, the Prophet ﷺ should be able to as well).
Ibn Uthaymeen continued with the discussion concerning the People of Innovation who went into علم الكلام, and the different groups.
Know, there are among the later scholars, who said that أهل السنة are divided into two groups:
1) مفوّضة - The Delagators
Those who say that Allah knows best what His names and attributes mean.
2) ومؤولة - The Allegorists
Those who say that Allah's names and attributes are allegorical; they shouldn't be taken literally.
And they made the Asha'rees and Maturidees and those similar to them fall under these categories.
Those who claim to be أهل السنة today are amongst these two groups.
E.g. Al-Azhar University follows the philosophical Asha'ree Schools.
These groupings are inheritors of the way of an early group which deviated and challenged the known understandings of the Names and Attributes of Allah - The Jahmites - who denied all the Names of Allah; and those who followed were the Mu'tazilah, who recognized Names and Attributes, but held that they were not to be interpreted.
So the deviants groups of أهل الكلام adopted Greek Philosophy; saying that God can't be described in any way, shape, or form. But the Salaf didn't delegate the attributes as humans recognize it; they affirm its realities - So they locked the former group into the general heading of "مفوّضة". Allah has Names and Attributes, but they're not like ours.
The Ash'arees and Maturidees accept 7 of the Names and Attributes of Allah, and interpreted the other Names and Attributes based on these 7 - accepting and rejecting based on their logic.
There are those, hearing these arguments from one side, going back and forth, standing back and saying, "Allah knows best" and leave it at that. And these are the real مفوّضة.
But to include the Salaf in this category is incorrect, because this wasn't their position.
Ibn Taymiya said the claim of the مفوّضة is the most evil statement amongs the People of Innovation and Al-Ilhad.
He used as proof: If we don't know the meanings of what Allah informed about Himself of His Names and Attributes, the philosophers would come to us and say we are ignorant, and then they'll say whatever they wish.
So when you say ألله أعلم, you're saying you're ignorant, and opening the door for philosophers.
The intent of the text is like this or that. To say that the text has a meaning is better than saying it doesn't have a meaning or to say I don't know.
Therefore, and note this well; because some people are of the opinion that أهل السنة include these deviant groups of علم الكلام, they also say that the way of the Salaf is safer, whereas the way of the latter scholars is more knowledgeable and wiser - because it involves depth of knowledge, reflection, "wisdom".
But how could that be? Is it possible for something to be wiser and more knowledgable, and not safer? Wouldn't that be the safer thing? It is more knowledgable and wiser for someone to say this has a text has a meaning I believe in, than for someone to say I don't know. Thus there is no safety except with knowledge and wisdom.
The statement that the Salaf were safer, and the Khalaf were more knowledgeable and wiser, contains a big contradiction. Because one can't exist without the other; for one to be safer, he has to have knowledge, and if one has knowledge, he'll be safe.
The most correct statement in this regard is to say the way of the Salaf is more knowledgeable, safer, and wiser.
It's necessary, considering that we are students following the way of the Salaf, to encourage studying the methodology of the Salaf; until we know their way and follow their path. We shouldn't merely study their statements, but their understanding as well.
E.g. The translation of the creed of Imam Barbahaari, created havoc in the ranks of the awakening Muslims, who took it out of context. You can take out isolated texts and interpet it wrongly.
That's why we should read books about the methodology of the Salaf (such as سير أعلام النبلاء), which identify the way in which they handled the authentic texts and understanding the Qur'an and Sunnah.
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4. Commit to Fearing Allah, the Most High
Beautify yourself by filling your outer and inner-self with fear of Allah, the Most High, by observing the apparent characteristics of Islam and manifesting the Sunnah and spreading it by implementing it and calling towards it, leading (the way) to Allah with your knowledge, manners and actions, and adorning yourself with masculinity (or femininity), leniency, and pious conduct.
Imam Ahmed رحمه الله said:
"The Foundation of Knowledge is the fear of Allah, the Most High"
The student of knowledge is not free of sin, his heart is committed to obedience of Allah. And this is because He knows who Allah is, and accordingly fears Him.
الخشية is fear based on knowledge and greatness of the One feared. And this is why Allah said in [35:28], "It's only the knowledgeable amongst the slaves of Allah who fear Him"
If a person knows Allah with true knowledge, this will undoubtedly fill his heart with fear of Allah. If He knows that He knows that His Lord is Great, Strong, قاهر, who knows the secrets of the hearts, - then he'll become upright with perfect obedience to Allah.
The difference between الخوف and الخشية
The Scholars said that:
الخشية is fear based on the greatness of the One feared
Whereas الخوف is fear based on the one who fears, even if the one feared isn't necessarily great.
Allah said in [3:175]:
This is used in the context of people, with the word الخوف. It means don't fear people in terms of consequences, or a stronger person causing you harm, but fear Allah and His punishment.
Hence, both fears should be present with the fear of Allah. We need to fear Allah out of awe of His greatness, as well as fear His punishment.
...So adhere to fearing Allah openly and in secret, for the best of all people are those who are fearful of Allah, and no one truly fears Him except a knowledgable person; therefore the best of all people is the scholar.
Let it not slip your mind that the scholar cannot be considered a scholar until he acts (upon his knowledge), and no scholar implements his knowledge, until it earns him the fear of Allah.
Lanes Lexicon is the best Arabic-English dictionary, written by an Orientalist named Edward Lane. He worked on Arabic books like Lisaan ulArab and others, dedicating his entire life to it. He was neither a Muslim nor an Arab. In the perspective of his field, he's considered a scholar, but not from an Islamic perspective - because he didn't act upon the knowledge he acquired.
Acting upon knowledge is a necessity. You find people studying Islam merely for certificates, and not the knowledge. These people are cursed by Allah and they become hard hearted. And they are among the first people who will be thrown into the HellFire and used to light it:
Allah said in [2:44]:
Imam ash-Shafi'i complained to his teacher of being unable to memorize, and his teacher said to cut back on sins, as Allah didn't give knowledge to sinners. There's a direct relation between sin and inability to acquire knowledge.
Al-Khateeb narrated through a chain of narrators which has a subtle point due to it being narrated through nine forefathers, that Abul-Faraj AbdulWahhab bin AbdilAzeez Ibn AlHaarith Ibn Asad Ibn Al-Layth Ibn Sulaymaan at-Tameemee, who narrated from his memory that, his father narrated, that his father narrated, that his father narrated, that his father narrated, that his father narrated, that his father narrated, that his father, that his father narrated, that his father narrated: I heard Ali Ibn Abi Talib say:
"Knowledge calls for action, so either the call is answered or (knowledge) will take off"
And it was also narrated that Sufyan ath-Thawri said something similar to this in meaning.
In [47:17]:
If you act upon your knowledge, Allah will increase your guidance and increase your Taqwa.
And acting upon your knowledge firmly grounds you, and prevents you from forgetting. A person who learns how to pray, and then implements that and prays 5 time a day won't forget how to.
We have to take account of ourselves on a daily basis and ensure that our intentions are correct and we're getting closer to Allah through the course of our knowledge. The first thing we need to remember that we're seeking knowledge worshipping Allah, and then we have to follow the way of the Salaf. But if we don't have Taqwa of Allah, both these factors are useless.
Sufyan Ath-Thawri's mother advised him not to pass writing ten words without checking if he benefitted from them.
Our acts of worship are meant to take us closer to Allah. If it's not, it's defective; so we need to constantly assess it.
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