It has become common in some of the media to accuse the youth of the Islamic revival of being extremists and fundamentalists. What is your opinion of this?
Praise be to Allaah.
Whatever the case, this is a mistake that has come from
the east and the west, from the Christians, communists and Jews, and
others who try to put people off the call to Allaah and its supporters,
and who want to be unfair to the da’wah by calling it extremism or fundamentalism
or whatever other names they give it.Undoubtedly calling people to Allaah is the religion
of the Messengers, it is their path and their way. The people of knowledge
are obliged to call others to Allaah and to be active in doing so. The
youth are obliged to fear Allaah and to adhere to the truth, not to
go to extremes or be harsh. It may so happen that some of the youth
are ignorant, so they go to extremes in some matters, or they are lacking
in knowledge, so they are negligent in some other matters. But all the
youth and others, such as the scholars, must fear Allaah and seek the
truth with evidence (daleel), i.e., what Allaah and His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said; they must beware of
bid’ah (reprehensible innovations) and exaggeration. They must also
beware of ignorance and shortcomings. No one among them is infallible,
and some of the people may err by doing too much or by falling short.
But that does not mean that everyone is at fault; the fault rests with
those who make the mistake.But the enemies of Allaah among the Christians and
others who are following in their wake have made this a means of attacking
the da’wah and putting an end to it, by accusing its people of being
extremists and fundamentalists.What does “fundamentalism” mean?
If they are fundamentalists in the sense that they
adhere to the fundamentals or basic principles (usool), to what Allaah
and His Messenger said, then this is praise, not condemnation.
Adhering to the fundamentals, the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His
Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), is commendable and cannot be condemned. What is
to be condemned is when people overdo things or fall short, when they
go to extremes or are harsh or do not do what they have to do – this
is what is to be condemned. But the person who adheres to the right
principles, derived from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), is not at fault; this is perfect and is to be praised.
This is what is obligatory upon seekers of knowledge and those who call
others to Allaah: they should adhere to the fundamentals from the Book
of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and whatever they know
of the basic principles of fiqh, ‘aqeedah and hadeeth, whatever can
be used as evidence (daleel). They have to have basic principles which
they follow. Describing the daayi’ahs as fundamentalists is a general
word which does not mean anything apart from condemning them and putting
people off. Fundamentalism is not a bad thing, in fact it is something
good.If the seeker of knowledge adheres to the fundamentals,
paying attention to them and staying up at night to study them from
the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and what the scholars have
stated, there is nothing wrong with that. But going to extremes in following
bid’ah is what is wrong, and going to extremes of ignorance and falling
short is also wrong.The daa’iyahs are obliged to adhere to the fundamentals
of sharee’ah and adhere to the middle course to which Allaah has guided
them, for Allaah has made them an ummah justly balanced (cf. Al-Baqarah
2:143). So the daa’iyahs have to be justly balanced, treading a middle
course between exaggeration and negligence. They have to be steadfast
in adhering to the truth, and to adhere to it on the basis of shar’i
evidence (daleel). There should be neither exaggeration nor negligence,
but the moderation that Allaah has enjoined.
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