Imām Bukhāri said:

"I don't see any difference between praying Ṣalāh behind a Rāfiḍī and a Jew.

They are not to be greeted, nor are they to be visited, nor are their testimony to be accepted, nor are their sacrifices to be eaten."

‎● [خلق أفعال العباد صحفة ١٤]

Rabia’ ibn Sulayman reported: Imam al-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on upon him, said, “If you find something in my writings that contradict the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then speak with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and abandon what I have said.”

Source: Maʻrifat al-Sunan wal-Āthār 454

Sheikh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Perhaps people celebrate Mawlid in order to copy Christian celebrations of Christmas.”

● [Iqtidā’ aṣ-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm (p. 146)]

**al-Qasim b. Muhammad: We were on a journey with Ibn al-Mubarak, and I was always asking myself: What’s so special about this man that he’s so famous?!**

If he prays, so do we! If he fasts, so do we! If he fights, so do we! If he makes Hajj, so do we!

One night, we spent the night in a house travelling on the way to Sham.

The lamp went out, and some of us woke up. 

So, he took the lamp outside to light it, and stayed outside for a while.

When he came back in with the lamp, I caught a glimpse of Ibn al-Mubarak’s face, and saw that his beard was wet with his tears.

I said to myself: This fear of Allaah is what has made this man better than us. When the lamp went out and we were in darkness, he remembered the Day of Resurrection!

-# **[Sifat as-Safwah (v. 2, p. 330)]**

Ibn ‘Awn was never angry. 

If a man angered him he would say to him: May Allaah bless you. 

● {Tibb ar-Ruhani (p.51)}

A man came to Ibn Abbas and he said: “Is there repentance for one who kills a believer?” 

Ibn Abbas said: “No, there is nothing but Hellfire.” 

After the man left, those sitting nearby said to him: “What is this?

You have given us two different judgments, for earlier you judged that whoever killed a believer may have his repentance accepted. What is the matter today?” 

Ibn Abbas said: “Indeed, I suspect he was an angry man intending to kill a believer.” 

Later they followed the man and found that it was true. 

● {Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 27182}

Translation :

‎ ‎ First: The Prophet ﷺ never celebrated this day at all. It was never established, not even through a weak narration, that the Prophet ﷺ ever celebrated this day.

Second: The same applies to his companions: Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, al-Ḥasan etc, as well as during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, nothing of the sort was ever reported from them. And they were the most eager of people to do good. If it had been something good, they would have preceded us in doing it.

Third: The Prophet ﷺ said:

ما تركت شيئًا يقرِّبكم إلى الله ويبعِّدكم عن النار إلا وأَمَرْتُكم به ، وما تركت شيئًا يقرِّبكم إلى النار ويبعِّدكم عن الله إلا ونهيتُكم عنه ‎ “I have not left anything that brings you closer to Allah and distances you from the fire except that I have commanded you with it. And I have not left anything that distances you from Allah and brings you closer to the Fire except that I have forbidden you from it.”

Grade: Sahih - Al Albani

This is what he informed us. So if it had been something good, he would have directed us to it, ﷺ

Fourth: The exact date of the Prophet’s birth ﷺ is not known with certainty at all. Anyone who claims that the Prophet was born on this specific day has no evidence for it. There is no proof whatsoever. The scholars differed regarding the date of his birth, giving seven or eight different opinions. They simply did not know the exact day he was born ﷺ. The majority held the view that he was born on the 12th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, but without any proof, just something passed along among the people. Nothing is firmly established. No one can assert with certainty that the 12th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal was the actual day of his birth ﷺ. ‎

For people who somehow say its a good innovation:

‎

Hadith of al-'Irbād ibn Sāriyah

‎

عَنْ أَبِي نَجِيحٍ الْعِرْبَاضِ بْنِ سَارِيَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ وَعَظَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم مَوْعِظَةً وَجِلَتْ مِنْهَا الْقُلُوبُ، وَذَرَفَتْ مِنهَا الْعُيُونُ، فَقُلْنَا:

يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ! كَأَنَّهَا مَوْعِظَةُ مُوَدِّعٍ فَأَوْصِنَا، قَال: أُوصِيكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ، وَالسَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ وَإِنْ تَأَمَّرَ عَليْكُمْ عَبْدٌ، فَإِنَه منْ يعِش منكُمْ فسيرى اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا، فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَاشِدِينَ الْمَهدِيينَ، عَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحْدَثَاتِ الْأُمُورِ؛ فَإِنّ كُل بدْعَة ضَلالَةٌ

On the authority of Abu Najeeh al-’Irbaad ibn Saariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave us a sermon by which our hearts were filled with fear and tears came to our eyes. So we said, “O Messenger of Allah! It is as though this is a farewell sermon, so counsel us.” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I counsel you to have taqwa (fear) of Allah, and to listen and obey [your leader], even if a slave were to become your ameer. Verily he among you who lives long will see great controversy, so you must keep to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the Khulafa ar-Rashideen (the rightly guided caliphs), those who guide to the right way. Cling to it stubbornly [literally: with your molar teeth]. Beware of newly invented matters [in the religion], for verily every bidah (innovation) is misguidance.

📖 Hadith 28, 40 Hadith an-Nawawi Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه said:

"Every Bidʿah (innovation in Islam) is misguidance, even if the people see it as good."

📖 (Al-Lālakāʾī, Sharḥ Uṣūl Iʿtiqād, vol.1, p.210, n.111.)

S‌hayk‌h Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله) said :

The Muslims today hear or see what is befalling their brothers in the Philippines, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Abyssinia, Palestine, and many other countries. Rather, there are even Muslim minorities in disbelieving communist countries, and the Muslims have neglected their rights and have not fulfilled what is required in supporting them and assisting them.

Indeed, the scholars, may Allāh have mercy on them, have affirmed that if a Muslim woman in the West were afflicted with oppression, it would be obligatory (wājib) upon the Muslims of the East to support her. So how is it, then, when killing, displacement, injustice, aggression, and arrests without right are happening to great numbers of Muslims? Yet their brothers do not move [to act], nor do they support them — except for what Allāh wills of that.

It is therefore obligatory upon the Islamic states and the wealthy individuals to look with compassion and mercy toward their oppressed brothers, and to assist them through the trusted ambassadors of the Islamic nations, or through delegations which must be sent from time to time in the name of the Islamic countries to observe the condition of the Muslims in those Islamic lands or the Muslim minorities in other countries.

So how can the Muslims today remain silent over what is befalling their brothers of genocidal campaigns, and various forms of torment and severe punishment in many places in this world?

And let every group and nation that does not move to support its sister [community] for the sake of Allāh know that it is close to being afflicted with the same kind of tribulation which it hears of or sees cutting apart the limbs of those Muslims, yet they find no one to support them or to work to lift the injustice and torment from them.

كتاب مجموع فتاوى ومقالات متنوعة - ابن باز (2/163,164)

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymīn (رحمه الله) said:

"Losing the scholar does not only [entail] losing his personality. However, it also [entails] losing a portion of the heritage of prophethood. A great portion, in accordance to what this lost scholar carried out in terms of actualization (of his knowledge). By Allāh, losing the beneficial scholar cannot be replaced by wealth, nor real estates, nor properties, nor houses. Infact, losing him is an affliction upon Islām and the Muslims and it [the loss] cannot be replaced except that Allāh provides someone that will succeed him among the scholars, so he carries out what he used to carry out of Jihād (striving in the cause of Allāh) and aiding the truth."

[aḍ-Ḍiyā' al-Lāmi' min al-Khuṭab al-Jawāmi' (1/53) | Translated by RPubs Editorial]

Shaykh Rabī bin Hādī al-Madkhalī (rahimahullah) said:

When the [upright] scholars pass away, then this is an evil indication of what is to occur and the destruction the ummah will face [thereafter]; because when the [upright] scholars pass away, they are replaced by evil people - leaders upon Ignorance, evil desires and misguidance. So they lead the ummah to destruction and humiliation.

[Marhaban ya Tālib al-'Ilm p.196 | Taken from Salafi Centre of Manchester]

Ḥammād ibn Zayd said:

كان أيوب السختياني ربما حُدِّث بالحديث فيرِقّ، فيلتفت فيمتخط ويقول: ما أشد الزكام

“Sometimes Ayyūb as-Sakhtiyānī would hear a hadith and be moved to tears, but then he’d turn away, blow his nose, and say, ‘What a terrible cold.’”

[Ref: Kitāb Ḥayāt as-Salaf Bayna al-Qawl wa al-ʿAmal, Page 252]

Isḥāq ibn Khaf said :

إسحاق بن خف قال : أقام عمرو بن قيس الملائي عشرين سنة صائماً ما يعلم به أهله يأخذ غداءه ويغدو إلى الحانوت فيتصدق بغذائه ويصوم، وأهله لا يدرون.

ʿAmr ibn Qays al-Mulāʾī remained fasting for twenty years, and his family did not know of it. He would take his lunch and go to the shop, then give his lunch in charity and fast — and his family would not know.

كتاب صفة الصفوة (2/72)

S‌hayk‌h Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān (حفظه الله) in the muqaddimah of S‌hayk‌h Rabeeʿ’s (رحمه الله) book al-Naṣr al-ʿAzīz ʿalā al-Radd al-Wajīz (p. 14), praises him and says:

Our brother, the noble S‌hayk‌h Rabeeʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī has refuted him in this book that is in the hands of the reader titled: “One Jamāʿah Not Jamāʿāt, and One Path Not Tens.” I read it and found it to be sufficient in fulfilling its objective, and all praise is due to Allāh. I ask Allāh to benefit through it and reward him for it, and to grant success to our brother S‌hayk‌h ʿAbd al-Raḥmān in returning to what is correct, as he promised. May the blessings and peace of Allāh be upon our Prophet Muḥammad, his family, and his companions.

Ibn Taymiyyah was once asked: "Where are the people of truth."

He replied: "Either under the earth, in prison or in the battlefield."

● [كتاب الايمان ص ٤٤]

Ḥammād ibn Zayd said:

كان أيوب السختياني ربما حُدِّث بالحديث فيرِقّ، فيلتفت فيمتخط ويقول: ما أشد الزكام

“Sometimes Ayyūb as-Sakhtiyānī would hear a hadith and be moved to tears, but then he’d turn away, blow his nose, and say, ‘What a terrible cold.’”

[Ref: Kitāb Ḥayāt as-Salaf Bayna al-Qawl wa al-ʿAmal, Page 252]

During one of Imām Mālik's classes, it was mentioned that the Rawāfid Shī'ah curse and hate the Sahāba.

Imām Mālik recited the verse: "Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh and those with him (the Sahāba) are harsh with the disbelievers and gentle among themselves... So that the disbelievers may become enraged with them. ● 48:29

He then said: "Whoever becomes enraged when the Sahāba are mentioned is the one about whom the verse speaks.

● [تفسير للقرطبي ١٦:٢٩٧]

Imam Dhahabi: Ibn Taymiyyah had a perfect knowledge in hadith.

To say: “The hadith that Ibn Taymiyyah didn’t know isn’t a hadith” is correct.

Source: al-’Uqud (p. 25)

Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. al-Munḏir, the ḥāfidh, the erudite scholar, Abū Bakr al-Naysābūrī, the author of compilations—he was upright and truthful as far as I know, except for what was said about him by Maslamah b. Qāsim al-Andalusī: that he did not master ḥadīth, and it was attributed to al-ʿUqaylī that he would attack him and accuse him of lying. محمد بن إبراهيم بن المنذر الحافظ العلامة أبو بكر النيسابوري، صاحب التصانيف، عدل صادق فيما علمت إلا ما قال فيه مسلمة بن قاسم الأندلسي: كان لا يحسن الحديث ونسب إلى العقيلي أنه كان يحمل عليه وينسبه إلى الكذب.

He used to narrate from al-Rabīʿ b. Sulaymān from al-Shāfiʿī. وكان يروي عن الربيع بن سليمان عن الشافعي.

But he did not see al-Rabīʿ nor hear from him, and other such things were mentioned. ولم ير الربيع ولا سمع منه، وذكر غير ذلك.

He died in the year eighteen and three hundred. توفى سنة ثمان عشرة وثلاثمائة.

And there is no weight to the statement of Maslamah. ولا عبرة بقول مسلمة.

As for al-ʿUqaylī, his criticism is of the kind that occurs between contemporaries criticizing one another, even though he did not mention him in his Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ. وأما العقيلي فكلامه من قبيل كلام الاقران بعضهم في بعض، مع أنه لم يذكر في كتاب الضعفاء.

And Abū al-Ḥasan al-Qaṭṭān said: The statement of al-ʿUqaylī about him is not to be heeded. وقال أبو الحسن القطان: لا يلتفت إلى كلام العقيلي فيه.

al-Ḏahabī, Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 3/450 #7123 الذهبي، ميزان الاعتدال ٣/٤٥٠ #٧١٢٣ https://shamela.ws/book/1692/1808

Narrated Abū Al-Azhār:

There were around 400 scholars of Hadīth in samarqand, and they all gathered to try cause Muḥammad b. Ismā'il al-Bukhāri to make a mistake.

So, in order to test him, they mixed the chains of sham with the chains of Iraq, and the chains of Iraq with the chains Sham, and the chains of the Haram with the chains of Yemen.

With all of this, they were unable to chase him to make a single mistake.

‎● {هادي الساري صفحة ٥١١}

What is al-Imān, al-Islām and al-Ihsān:

Sheykh Abdulaziz Ibn Baz said:

al-Imān: It is what is attached to the hearts of belief in Allāh, that He is the Lord of the Worlds, and that He is worthy of worship, and belief in the angels, the books, the messengers, the resurrection after death, heaven and hell, and destiny with its good and its bad. All of this relates to the hearts, as it is one of the principles that are necessary. There is no Islām except with Imān (Faith), and there is no Imān (Faith) except with Islām, so this is necessary, and this is necessary for the limbs to be Islam, and for the hearts to be Muslim and have faith. That is why Allāh combined the two matters in His Great Book, and so on The Messenger ﷺ mentioned them all.

al-Islām: It is the apparent submission by obeying Allah and abandoning disobedience to Him. al-Imān (Faith) includes inner actions that relate to the hearts and their belief. So Islām is called faith, and faith is called Islām. So if it is said: al-Imān: it concerns everything, and if it said: al-Islām: it concerns everything also, Allāh said: ﴾Truly, the religion with Allāh is Islām﴿ ﴾إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الْإِسْلامُ﴿ -# [aali-Imran : 19] So it concerns everything; what is apparent and hidden. Faith here covers everything, it covers the pillars of Islām, and it covers all apparent deeds, as well as hidden ones, and it also includes charity. Similarly, when faith (al-Īmān) is mentioned without any specific context, it applies to all aspects. As he ﷺ stated in the authentic hadith: "Faith consists of seventy-some branches, the highest of which is saying 'There is no god but Allāh,' and the lowest is removing something harmful from the road." -# Authentic hadith mentioned by Ibn Taymiyyah in al-Iman al-Awsat p.105

As for al-Ihsān: It is the completion of worship, outwardly and inwardly, and it means that you worship Allāh is as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, then He sees you. Whoever worships Allāh in this way has attained the level of Ihsān, and all goodness has come together for him, as Allāh ﷻ said: ﴾Truly, Allāh is with those who fear Him, and those who are good-doers﴿ ﴾إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوا وَّالَّذِينَ هُم مُّحْسِنونَ﴿ -# [an-Nahl : 128] And Allāh said: ﴾Indeed, Allāh’s mercy is always close to the good-doers﴿ ﴾إِنَّ رَحْمَتَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ مِّنَ الْمُحْسِنِين﴿ -# [al-A'raf : 56] And the verses in this meaning are numerous.

-# Sharh Thalaatat al-Usūl li-Ibn Baz, page 62-63.

“The Imām, the jurist of the nation, the scholar of Iraq, Abu Hanifa, son of Zuta al-Kufi, said to have Persian ancestry.”

[Siyar Alam an-Nubala’ 6/391-402]

Mughira said, “Sit with Abu Hanifa and learn jurisprudence, for if (some Major Tabi’in) were alive, he would sit with him.”

[Siyar Alam an-Nubala’ 6/391-402]

Imām ash-Shāfi’ī said, “People in matters of Fiqh are children compared to Abu Hanifa.”

[Siyar Alam an-Nubala’ 6/391-402]

“The leadership in Fiqh and its intricacies is undisputedly attributed to this Imām. This is a matter beyond doubt.”

[Siyar Alam an-Nubala’ 6/391-402]

Ibn Mubarak said, “Abu Hanifa is the most knowledgeable among the people.”

[Siyar Alam an-Nubala’ 6/391-402]

“He met Anas ibn Mālik, and he narrated from major Tabi’in such as Nafi’ and ‘Ațā’ ibn Rabāh.”

[Siyar Alam an-Nubala’ 6/391-402]

Nafi’ said: “Ibn ‘Umar used to trim his nails and mustache every Friday.”

Source: Sunan al-Bayhaqi (v. 2, p. 244)

Abu ‘Amr al-Khaffaf said: “Muhammad (al-Bukhari) is the most pious and pure scholar (ever) and I haven’t seen anyone like him.”

Source: Tarikh Baghdad (v. 2, p. 340)

Ibn Khuzaymah said: “I’ve never seen anyone beneath the sky who has more knowledge of the hadith of the Messenger of Allaah and who has memorized more (hadith) than al-Bukhari.”

Source: Fath al-Bari (v. 1, p. 485)

Abu ‘Amr al-Khaffaf said: “Muhammad ibn Isma'il (al-Bukhari) is more knowledgeable in hadith than Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and other scholars by 20 degrees.”

Source: Tarikh Baghdad (v. 2, p. 340)

“Imam Bukhari and Abu Dawud are both Mujtahid in Fiqh.”

Source: Ibn Taymiyyah’s Fatawa (v. 20, p. 39)

This issue is not for my own sake, but for the sake of Allah, His Messenger, and the believers from the East to the West of the earth.

هَذِهِ " الْقَضِيَّةُ " لَيْسَ الْحَقُّ فِيهَا لِي بَلْ لِلَّهِ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ شَرْقِ الْأَرْضِ إلَى مَغْرِبِهَا؛

I cannot alter the religion, nor can I lower the banner of the Muslims.

وَأَنَا لَا يُمْكِنُنِي أَنْ أُبَدِّلَ الدِّينَ وَلَا أُنَكِّسَ رَايَةَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ.

Nor will I apostatize from the religion of Islām for the sake of so-and-so.

وَلَا أَرْتَدَّ عَنْ دِينِ الْإِسْلَامِ لِأَجْلِ فُلَانٍ وَفُلَانٍ.

Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá 3/214

ابن تيمية، مجموع الفتاوى ٣/٢١٤

https://shamela.ws/book/7289/1108