Our Call to The Ummah by Shaykh Muqbil bin Hādī Al-Wādi’ī
1. We believe in Allāh and His Names and Attributes, as they were mentioned in the Book of Allāh and in the Sunnah of Messenger ﷺ of Allāh, without tahrīf (distortion), nor ta’wīl (figurative interpretation), nor tamthīl (making a likeness), nor tashbīh (resemblance), nor ta’tīl (denial).
2. We love the Companions (may Allāh be pleased with them all) of the Messenger ﷺ of Allāh, and we hate those who speak against them. We believe that to speak ill of them is to speak ill of the Religion, because they are the ones who conveyed it to us. And we love the Family of the Prophet ﷺ with love that is permitted by the Sharī’ah. ‘Imrān Ibn Husayn (may Allāh be please with him) said, “O people! Learn the knowledge of the Religion from us; if you do not do so, then you will certainly be misguided.” (Al-Kifāyah (p.15) of al-Khatīb al Baghdādī)
3. We love the People of Hadīth and all of the Salaf of the ‘Ummah from Ahlus-Sunnah. Imam Shātibī (d.790H) (may Allāh have mercy on him) said, “The Salaf us-Sālih, the Companions, the tābi’īn and their successors knew the Qur’ān, its sciences and its meanings the best.” (Al-Muwāfiqāt (2/79) of ash-Shātibī).
4. We despise ‘ilmul-kalām (knowledge of theological rhetoric), and we view it to be from amongst the greatest reasons for the division in the ‘Ummah.
5. We do not accept anything from the books of fiqh (jurisprudence), nor from the books of tafsīr (explanation of the Qur’ān), nor from the ancient stories, nor from the Sīrah (biography) of the Prophet ﷺ, except that which has confirmed from Allāh or from His Messenger ﷺ. We do not mean that we have rejected them, nor do we claim that we are not in need of them. Rather, we benefit from the discoveries of our Scholars and the jurists and other than them. However, we do not accept a ruling, except with an authentic proof.
6. We do not write in our books, nor do we cover in our lessons, nor do we give sermons with anything except the Qur’ān or the authentic and authoritative Hadīth. And we detest that emanates from many books and admonishers in terms of false stories and weak and fabricated ahadīth. ‘Abdullāh Ibnul-Mubārak (d.181H) (may Allāh have mercy on him) said, “The authentic ahadīth are sufficient and the weak ahadīth are not needed.” (al-Jāmi’ li-Aklāqir-Rāwī (2/159) of as-Suyūtī).
7. We do not perform takfīr upon any Muslim due to any sin, except Shirk with Allāh, or the abandonment of Prayer, or apostasy. We seek refuge in Allāh for that.
8. We believe that the Qur’ān is the Speech of Allāh and it is not created.
9. We hold that our ‘obligation is to co-operate with the group that traverses the methodology of the Book and the Sunnah, and what the Salaf of the Ummah were upon: in terms of calling to Allāh the Glorified, and being sincere in worship of Him, and warning from Shirk, innovations, and disobedience, and to advise all of the groups that oppose this (from a fatwa by the Committee of Major Scholars dated: 11/16/1417. (no. 18870). It was signed by al-‘Allāmah ‘Abdul-Azīz Ibn Bāz, Shaykh Abdul Azīz ibn Abdullāh ālush-Shaykh, Shaykh Abdullāh Ibn Abdur-Rahmān al-Ghudayyān, Shaykh Bakr Ibn Abdullāh Abū Zayd, and Shaykh Sālih Ibn Fawzān al-Fawzān). So co-operating upon righteousness and piety (Taqwā) and mutual advising necessitates warning against evil and not co-operating with the wicked (From the words of Shaykh Ibn Bāz in al-Furqān magazine (issue no. 14, p. 15).
10. We do not deem it correct to revolt against the Muslim rulers as long as they are Muslims, nor do we feel that revolutions bring about reconciliation. Rather, they corrupt the community.
11. We hold that this multiplicity of present day parties is a reason for the division of the Muslim and their weakness. So therefore, we set about freeing the minds from the fetters of blind following and the darkness of sectarianism and party sprit. ‘(Fiqhul-Wāqi’ (p.49) of al-Albānī)
12. We restrict our understanding of the Book of Allāh and of the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ of Allāh to the understanding of the Salah of the Ummah from the Scholars of Hadīth, not the blind followers of their individuals. Rather, we take the truth from wherever it comes. And we know that there are those who claim Salafiyyah, yet Salafiyyah is free from them, since they bring to the society that Allāh has prohibited. We believe in ‘cultivating the young generation upon this Islām, purified from all that we have mentioned, giving to them a correct Islamic education from the start without any influence from the disbelieving western educations.’ (Fiqhul-Wāqi (p.51) of al-Albānī).
13. We believe politics is a part of the Religion, and those who try to separate the Religion from politics are only attempting to destroy the Religion and to spread chaos.
14. We believe there will be no honour or victory for the Muslims until they return to the Book of Allāh and to the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ of Allāh.
15. We oppose those who divide the Religion into trivialities and important issues. And we know that this is a destructive da’wah.
16. We oppose those who put down the knowledge of the Sunnah, and say that this is not the time for it. Likewise, we oppose those who put down acting upon the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ of Allāh.
17. Our Da’wah and our ‘Aqīdah is more beloved to us than our own selves, our wealth and our offspring. So we are not prepared to part with it for gold, nor silver. We say this so that no one may have hope in buying out our da’wah, nor should he think that it is possible for him to purchase it from us for dīnār or dirham.
18. We love the present day Scholars of the Sunnah and hope to benefit from them and regret the passing away of many of them. Imām Mālik (may Allāh have mercy on him) (d.179H) said, “The knowledge of Hadīth is your flesh and blood and you will be asked concerning it on the Day of Judgement, so look who you are taking it from.” (Al-Muhaddithul-Fāsil (p.416) and al-Kifāyah (p21) of al-Khatīb).
19. We do not accept a fatwa except from the Book of Allāh and the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ of Allāh.
These are glimpses into our ‘Aqīdah and our da’wah. So if one has any objection to this, then we are prepared to accept advice if it is truthful, and to refute it if it is erroneous, and to avoid it if it is stubborn rejection. And Allāh knows best.
This explanation of our call has been summarized from Tarjumah Abī ‘Abdur-Rahmān Muqbil Ibn Hādī al-Wādi’ī (p. 135-142) of Muqbil Ibn Hādī al-Wādi’ī with minor additions from other sources.