The Saplings-ala albani

Questioner: Virtuous, kind father, we would like you to explain to us what the correct methodology in the Salafi da’wah is, especially in this time in which tribulations have increased and knowledge has decreased, and what is the difference between organising …? We would like a clarification, may Allaah reward you with good.

Al-Albaani: Concerning da’wah, then none except the people of knowledge who maintain justice are to carry it out. As for what has become widespread in this time where lots of people who have been given an amount of knowledge that can hardly [even] be mentioned call themselves, ‘Callers to Allaah,’ then—and maybe you will find this surprising but I take the responsibility for what I [am about to] say—in my opinion this is one of the innovations of the present age.

It is from the innovations of this day and age that thousands of callers have spread out amongst the people who do not have knowledge of the Book nor the Sunnah or the narrations of the Salaf, in fact, [they do] not [even have knowledge concerning] the existent madhhabs that are blindly-followed today.

All they know are a few simple rulings and maybe some aayahs and some hadiths—which even someone from the people who has the least amount of knowledge can say—and then they prop themselves up as callers.

When they are then asked about a topic they are at a loss and are not able to answer, and they may go and answer based upon manifest ignorance, this is from the blights of the present day and age.

And it doesn’t stop at these sprouting youth, rather we may find old men who have not been given an abundant share of knowledge who have become famous as callers to what? To Islaam, but they [in fact] fight Islaam by fighting the Sunnah of Allaah’s Messenger ﷺ without which a Muslim cannot understand Allaah’s Book, so how can someone who is ignorant of the knowledge of the Sunnah and who fights some of it, [who] at the very least [fights it] in ’aqeedah, [how can someone like that] be a caller to Islaam?

… likewise today there are callers who have not been given an abundant amount or a lot of knowledge of the Sunnah according to which the Noble Quraan can be explained correctly.
So what is one to say about people like these?

In fact, what are we to say about the present day saplings who have barely finished secondary school let alone obtained a more advanced certificate from … even a professor’s certificate … even in Sharee’ah … what are we to say about these people who have propped themselves up to call to Islaam?

And he ﷺ said as is reported in Saheeh al-Bukhaari and Muslim, from the hadith of ’Abdullaah ibn ’Amr ibn al-’Aas, “Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, so that when no scholar remains, the people turn to the ignorant as their leaders. Then they are asked to deliver religious verdicts and they deliver them without knowledge—so they go astray [themselves], and lead others astray.”

… before everything, calling to Allaah must be done based upon knowledge:

وَمَنۡ أَحۡسَنُ قَوۡلٗا مِّمَّن دَعَآ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَٰلِحٗا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ
“And who is better in speech than he who invites to Allaah and does righteous deeds and says, ‘I am one of the Muslims.’” [Fussilat 41:33]

If he is not a scholar who acts upon his knowledge then he will not be a righteous scholar, and someone who does not have something, as was said in the past, cannot give it.

So it is obligatory that the caller be a scholar, and this [too] is not enough, he must be a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah and not of some of the fiqh opinions of those who came later …

… this is the first thing, that he be a scholar, and secondly that he be a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah on the methodology of the Salaf as-Saalih. And lastly that he acts upon his knowledge, because even if calling to Allaah were done correctly one hundred per cent but is not coupled with that caller’s actions then it will not have the desired effect on the masses because people pay heed to following the actions of the people of knowledge and excellence more than they do their statements.