By Shaykh ‘Ubayd al-Jaabiree Translated by Taariq Preston
All praise is for Allaah. May Peace and Blessings be upon the Messenger of Allaah, upon his family, his companions and upon all those who follow his guidance. To proceed:
Question 1: A questioner directs his questions towards Shaykh ‘Ubayd al-Jaabiree and says: "When did ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah first begin? Did ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah begin - as some people claim - just two hundred years ago?
Answer 1: Shaykh ‘Ubayd al-Jaabiree began answering the question by first praising Allaah saying:
"All praise is for Allaah, the Lord of all the Worlds. The good end (or Paradise) is for the pious. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship in truth, except Allaah, who is alone without partner the true deity of the first creation and the true deity of the last creation. And I further bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger and His chosen, reliable, faithful servant, may the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him and his family and upon his good and pure Companions.
To proceed:
I will first speak about the meaning of (the word) Salafiyyah. What is Salafiyyah?
The linguistic meaning of Salafiyyah refers to those who have preceded us. So the Saalif (the singular of salaf) means predecessor. And the meaning of the verb salafa means to be past, to be bygone, or to precede. And the legal meaning in Islaam of the word Salafiyyah is everyone who preceded us after the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahi ‘alayhi wa sallam) from the Companions and all those who followed them in righteousness and piety, following the Qur’aan and the authentic Sunnah (whoever does that) then he is Salafee.
So based upon this, ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah is the da‘wah of the people to act in accordance with that which the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahi ‘alayhi wa sallam) was upon and that which his Companions were upon after him, from worshipping Allaah with sincerity and acting in accordance with the Qur’aan and the Sunnah in worship, as well as in our day to behaviour in our association with others. This is Salafiyyah.
As for (answering your question) when did ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah begin, then this requires the explanation of two things:
1. Firstly, ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah is the pure Religion which calls to Tawheed and sincerity of worship. It is the da‘wah or the call to belief in Allaah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Day of Judgement, and belief in Qadar (pre-Decree). Therefore, ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah is the da‘wah of all of the Prophets, from Nooh who was the first Prophet, all the way to Muhammad (sallallaahi ‘alayhi wa sallam) who was the last and final Prophet and Messenger to be sent to mankind. May Peace and Blessings be upon them all. Therefore, the history of ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah begins with the first Prophet. It can even be said that ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah begins with Aadam (‘alayhis salaam) because it is the pure Religion. And ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah is understanding the Qur’aan and the Sunnah as Allaah and His Messenger (sallallaahi ‘alayhi wa sallam) have commanded us to do so. And it is doing what Allaah and His Messenger have commanded us to do desiring the reward that is with Allaah. And it is staying away from that which Allaah and His Messenger have prohibited fearing the Punishment of Allaah. So the history of ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah is not something that can be limited to one hundred years or two hundred years or five hundred years. The only thing that can be limited to any specific time period are the activities of certain astray da’wah groups such as the Ikhwaanul-Muslimeen and Jamaa‘atut-Tableegh and the Surooriyyah/Qutubiyyah and other than them from the da‘wah groups that have recently arisen. That was the first thing I wanted to explain clearly.
2. As for the second thing, ad-Da‘watus Salafiyyah was not founded by any specific person. And perhaps this is the reason why people ask when did ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah begin. So I say that adDa‘watus-Salafiyyah was not founded or established by any one specific person. Rather the Prophets and Messengers (’alayhimus salaam) were sent with this Da‘wah by Allaah the Glorified and Exalted. Therefore my son, the origin of the Da‘watus-Salafiyyah is the text (the Qur’aan and the Sunnah) and Ijmaa‘ (consensus of the scholars) and its origin is not based upon a simple notion, concept or opinion. So the leaders of ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah are the Prophets (‘alayhimus-salaam) and they are the Imaams of creation. And then, after them are the Companions of the Prophets. And after them are the scholars. Just as we find in an authentic Hadeeth: "The leaders of the Children of Israa’eel were prophets and every time a prophet was killed (halaka), another prophet came after him, and there is no Prophet after me." [1] So Allaah has rendered the leadership of this Ummah in the hands of the scholars.
And the scholars are those who are described and known to have knowledge and they explain matters of religion based upon the Qur’aan and the Sunnah. And they explain and solve any problems or difficulties that they encounter in understanding the texts (of the Qur’aan and Sunnah) by utilizing the Seerah (biographies) of the Salafus-Saalih (Righteous Predecessors) from the Companions (radiyallaahu ‘anhum) and the scholars of the Taabi‘een (the generation after the Companions), as well as the scholars of the three preferred generations which are the best of generations of people as the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:
"The best of people are my generation, then those after them, then those after them." [2]
Therefore, it is not correct to say that Salafiyyah is a notion or thought or a concept that someone came up with because ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah was not founded or established by any one individual, rather this Da‘wah is what the Prophets and Messengers came with, then those who came after them from the Companions of the Prophets and Messengers, then those who called to the Religion of Allaah upon knowledge thereafter. They are the ones who call to ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah. So from amongst the Salafees of the Ummah of Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) that Allaah decreed to renewers of ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah were four:
1. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (d.241H). He renewed ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah amongst those Muslims who were tested with the statement that the Qur’aan is created. Imaam Ahmad and those with him in spreading ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah - and he was the best of them and most patient of them and the strongest of them - until Allaah healed the Ummah through him. He explained to the people that the Qur’aan was the uncreated Speech of Allaah revealed from Him. And that Jibreel came down with it to Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).
2. The second renewer was Shaykhul-Islaam, al-Imaam Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728H). Whoever reads his book, and from them is Majmoo‘ul-Fataawaa, then he will see how Shaykhul-Islaam advises with the Sunnah and opposes innovation (in matters of religion) and how he exerted himself in clarifying the Sunnah and educating the people. However, these two Imaams, Imaam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah - may Allaah have mercy upon them both - did not have a country behind them helping them and defending them.
3. The third renewer of ad-Da‘watus-Salafiyyah was Shaykhul-Islaam Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab (d.1206H) and with him was his brother in Islaam, al-Ameer Muhammad Ibn Sa‘ood (rahimahullaah). Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab explained the Religion with his tongue and his brother Muhammad Ibn Sa‘ood helped him with the sword and the spear. So a country, founded upon Tawheed, sprang up in the heart of Najd and then there came about some dissension and breaking apart and weakness, until Allaah brought the fourth renewer.
4. And he was Imaam ‘Abdul-‘Azeez Ibn ‘Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Faysal and those with him from amongst the Imaams of the Da‘wah. And during their time was the fourth revival. And we, all praise is due to Allaah, live under the shade of a country founded upon Tawheed in the shade of the fourth revival, and we ask Allaah to complete this blessing upon everyone. And perhaps here ends our answer to your first question, O gathering of British students.
Source: http://www.allaahuakbar.net/scholars/jabiree/questions_and_answers_concerning_dawatus_salafiyah.htm
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