One of the things we learnt from our sheikh, sh. Ja’far Idris (may Allah preserve him), is that scholars of the Islamic sciences share something in common with scientists.

When the scholar of science looks at something in the universe which he doesn’t understand; he doesn’t express science as being problematic, or there being a mistake with the universe, but rather puts it down to his need to further investigate.

In the same way; when the scholar of Islam learns something of the religion which supposedly doesn’t make sense; he shouldn’t label the Islamic narrative as ‘problematic’, but rather express his ignorance, and dire need to further learn and study.

Especially in light of the many messages you have sent me regarding the authorative nature and authenticity of Ya’juj and Ma’juj narrations; please find an article filled with knowledge about tafseer narrations by a beloved colleague of mine from America, Dr. Ahmad Abdel-Wahab, who is a specialist in Jurisprudence and Jurisprudence methodology.
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All praise is due to Allah, and may His praise and peace be upon His beloved Prophet, his family and companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgement.

By the grace of Allah, the scholars of our ummah had a very meticulous and academic system of criticizing the authenticity of reports (which can be seen in the science of hadeeth), and another very meticulous system of correctly deriving rulings from religious texts (which is studied in the science of Usūl al-Fiqh and the sciences of the Arabic language).

Many of our classical scholars of tafsīr, hadeeth, and history would mention all narrations regarding a subject matter, including weak narrations and isrā’īliyyāt (reports taken from the People of the Book). This was not meant to be something that Muslims follow, believe, or act upon, as Muslims only follow from the narrations what Allah and His Messenger have brought (i.e. the Quran and authentic Sunnah). The scholars have mentioned weak reports so that they may be scrutinized by other specialized scholars, and in the case of reports from the people of the Book, then there was a concession from the Prophet (praise and peace be upon him) to relay them without believing or disbelieving in them.

Imam Ibn Kathīr (may Allah have mercy on him) says in his Tafsīr of Surat Al-A’rāf:

“These āthār (reports from the Companions and Tābi’een) seem to be- and Allah knows best – from the reports of Ahl Al-Kitāb (the People of the Book), and it is authentically reported that Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s praise and peace be upon him) said, ‘If the People of the Book narrate to you, then do not believe them and do not disbelieve them.’

Their reports are of three types:

Some we know are true due to what is proven in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger.

Some we know are lies, because the Book (of Allah) and the Sunnah prove what is contrary.

Some are maskūtun ‘anhu (not explicitly proven or disproven; for are neither supported nor contradicted by the Quran and Sunnah). This is what has been permitted to narrate, due to his statement, peace be upon him, ‘Relay the reports of the Children of Isrā’īl (i.e. the People of the Book), and there is no problem (in this).’ It is such (reports) which cannot be believed or disbelieved, because he said, “So do not believe them or disbelieve them.’ This athar (referring to a specific narration that was said by a Companion), is it from the second category or the third? It is a matter that must be looked into. As for those who reported it from the Companions or Tābi’een, then they believed it was from the third category. As for us, then we are upon the opinion of Al-Hasan Al-Basrī – may Allah have mercy on him- regarding this, and Allah knows best.” (Tafsīr Ibn Katheer, Surat Al-A’rāf, Āyah 189).

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Information is widespread today, and it is this ‘widespread’ nature of information that has caused ignorance to prosper at rapid speeds as well.

The culprit of this dilemma is the camera, internet, and the need of some teachers to broadcast every lesson they teach about Islam globally, in the name of ‘dawah’.

They failed to realise that ‘dawah’ doesn’t allow you to shout over the voices of local scholarship, and that local scholarship does have a greater right to their communities, over those who teach with the camera on.

They thought the whole world is the West, and failed to realise that speaking without context can actually lead some to doubt that which they never ever questioned previously.

They used the term (sheikh) and (mufti) in front of their names, but never applied the ‘fiqh of da’wah’, despite considering themselves modern day sources of the noble science.

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In the 6th year of Hijrah, the Prophet (ﷺ) and his supporters left Madinah to the blessed city of Makkah; their original home. Makkah carried a special place in the heart of our messenger and so he was eagerly anticipating making Tawaaf around the Kaa’bah and going back to the place he was born and bred.

Hundreds of Muslims marched forth in their Ihrams ready to perform Umrah only to be be stopped by the Quraysh who sent Khalid bin waleed who at the time wasn’t Muslim with his fighters to confront them.

The Prophet (ﷺ) wanted to avoid this confrontation, the Muslims were unarmed and less in number than the disbelievers, and so they retreated to a place called Hudaibiyah on the edge of the city.
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