What Shaykh Hamad al-Ansaari[1]
said
About
Salafeeyah
Compiled & translated[2]
By
Abbas Abu Yahya
1 – The Term Salaf
‘The Salaf are the Companions, and those who followed them in goodness until the Day of Judgement. In the best generations were the Qadareeyah, Mua’tazilah[3], Jahmeeyah[4] and other than them from the ahl-ul-Bida’. However the term ‘Salaf’ is not applied to them, but rather it is applied to the Companions and those who followed them in goodness. The Salaf did not have hypocrisy .’[5]
2 – Ascription Salafi[6] & Salafi Scholar
a) AbdulAwal bin Hamad al-Ansaari said:
‘I would hear my father say a lot in gatherings with students of knowledge: ‘Adhere to the ‘Aqeedah Salafeeyah’ and he -Rahimullaah- would say if the names of certain scholars were mentioned in his gatherings: ‘This one is Salafi, and this one is not a Salafi.’[7]
b) ‘al-Hasan al-Alawee al-Maghrabi narrated to us that when he intended to travel to Saudi Arabia, Shaykh Taqi –ud-Deen al-Hilali said to him: When you get to Madina go to Shaykh Hamad al-Ansaari for he is a scholar from the scholars of the Salaf, one who has a Salafi ‘Aqeedah and adhere to sitting with him.’[8]
c) My father said: ‘It is obligatory upon the one who travels to seek knowledge, once he reaches the city or the country that he aimed for, that he should search for a Salafi scholar.’[9]
3 – Scholar of the Sunnah
My father said: ‘If a student of knowledge enters any country, it is obligatory upon him that before he starts studying knowledge at the hand of one of the scholars, that he checks and seeks out the scholars of the Sunnah, so that he does not fall into the net of the Ahl-ul-Bida’ like the Mua’tazilah, Asha’ira etc.’[10]
4 – Biographies of the Salaf
‘It is obligatory upon a student of knowledge to get to know the biographies of the Salaf and follow them. Indeed our era has been trialled with not studying the biographies of the Salaf.’[11]
5 – Spreading the ‘Aqeedah Salafeeyah
‘From towards the end of the rule of the Abbasids to recent times, the Islaamic countries were upon the ‘Aqeedah al-Asha’reeyah or the ‘Aqeedah al-Mu’atazileeyah, this is why we believe that this country of Saudi Arabia is the country which spread the ‘Aqeedah Salafeeyah, which is the ‘Aqeedah of the Salaf as-Salih after a long time of stoppage and being away from it except for a group of people.’[12]
6 – Scholars of Hadeeth
8 – ‘The majority of the scholars of hadeeth are Salafiyoon, as for most of those people who deal with Arabic literature are either Jahmi, Mua’tazili or Maturidi.’[13]
[1] For a Brief Biography of the Shaykh refer to : http://followingthesunnah.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/a-brief-biography-of-shaykh-allaama-al-muhaddith-hamad-al-ansaari/
[2] The statements here were taken from the biography of the Shaykh, which was compiled by the Shaykh’s son AbdulAwal bin Hamad al-Ansaari who is a teacher in the faculty of Hadeeth in the prestigious Islaamic University of Madina. The Collection is called: ‘al-Majmoo’ Fee Tarjama al-Allama al-Muhaddith ash-Shaykh Hamad bin Muhammad al-Ansaari -Rahimullaah- wa Seeratahi wa Aqwaalihi wa Rihlatihi’. It is a large two-volume collection of the sayings, wisdom and various biographies of the Shaykh. The statements in this translation are all from his son AbdulAwal unless stated otherwise.
[3] A sect which only accepts from the revelation that which conforms to the intellect.
[4] A sect which denies all of the Names & Characteristics of Allaah.
[5] [Vol.2 p.518 No.247]
[6] For a Brief Explanation of Ascription to the Salafi Manhaj & other groups refer to:
http://followingthesunnah.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/ascription-to-the-salafi-manhaj/
[7] [Vol.1 p. 422 No. 237]
[8] [Vol.2 p.855 No.1]
[9] [Vol. 2 P.567 No.105]
[10] [Vol.2 P. 571 No.136]
[11] [Vol.2 P.574 No.163]
[12] [Vol.2 p. 495 No. 133]
[13] [Vol.2 p. 550 No.454]