[English Translation] [October 2024] In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the master of the prophets and messengers, and upon his family and true companions.
Some brothers may have recently read a letter from Maulana Salman Nadwi addressed to a scholar in Africa. In it, he wrote that you are eager for the blessed visit of Amir al-Jama’ah Maulana Saad Sahib, etc. Then he wrote that the Amir is the main authority and the Shura is subordinate to him. This led some young people to question who is truly right – is it the Shura or the Amir?
I told these young friends: First, tell me why the respected and authentic scholars disagree with Maulana Saad Sahib. What is the actual point of disagreement? They said they don’t know and assumed it was just a dispute between the Shura and the Amir, with some saying the Shura is correct and others saying the Amir is correct.
I said no, this is incorrect. People are being misled and deceived about this. As Maulana wrote in his letter, people are being greatly deceived about the nature of the disagreement. The disagreement that respected and authentic scholars have with Maulana Saad Sahib is not about this. Their disagreement stems from the fact that Maulana Saad Sahib has made statements in his speeches that deviate from the Quran, Sunnah, consensus, and the views of the majority of scholars. No one has ever made such statements before. It is due to this ideological deviation that respected and authentic scholars have disagreed with him.
Some say Maulana has retracted his statements, but his retraction was vague. A proper retraction would involve addressing each statement one by one and clarifying: “I said this in this statement, and it was wrong. I said that in that statement, and it was wrong.” No good scholar wants anyone to apologize. That’s why no respectable scholar is asking Maulana Saad Sahib to apologize. The main concern is to save the ummah from misguidance. Maulana is being asked to retract the misleading statements he has made that can lead people astray. The ummah can only be saved from misguidance when Maulana takes each statement and says, “This statement of mine was wrong, that statement was wrong,” and so on.
Then the youth asked me to provide some examples so they could understand what kinds of statements Maulana makes. I told them they could find many examples in the Darul Uloom Deoband fatwa. They read it and found some things there. But I said I have other examples of Maulana’s statements as well, with proper records of what he said in his speeches.
They asked if I could provide some examples. I said one of Maulana’s most concerning statements is when he says in his speeches that this method of dawah (invitation to Islam) is the only way – meaning that walking and moving about is the only method of dawah, and Allah’s help only comes through this. In Maulana’s own words, which I’m quoting: “If you convey the message through any other means, that is not the method of dawah.” Meaning, if you invite someone to Allah through a letter, or if you’re inviting to Allah through social media, these are not methods of dawah according to him. The only method of dawah is to go out from your home, move about, and call people to Allah. All other means are not methods of dawah.
When Maulana was questioned about this, pointing out that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent letters to kings and rulers, Maulana’s interpretation was that the Prophet didn’t send letters, but rather sent groups (jama’at). Maulana claims he sent groups, not letters. Even a young person with little knowledge would say, “Maulana, what are you saying? The Prophet (peace be upon him) sent letters. The groups weren’t going to give dawah to the kings; the letters were being read.” If groups had been sent, they would have given dawah. But there’s not a single example of this.
Firstly, what group was sent? How many individuals were in it? It would be very kind of Maulana to tell us. But no group was sent. One or two individuals were sent. And since the journey was dangerous, it was necessary to have a companion. So on some occasions, he sent two companions, and on others, just one. There’s no example of a group being sent to give dawah. Rather, these letters of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were read.
So Maulana made this interpretation, and it’s clear from this that the method of dawah is not only what Maulana describes. There are other means of dawah that are included in the call to Allah and on which Allah’s help descends. But Maulana insists that there is only one method of dawah, and that method is moving about, physical movement. According to him, this is the only method of dawah. All other means are not methods of dawah.
When did Maulana say this? I can tell you with full evidence: It was in the gathering in Bulandshahr on December 1, 2018, after the Maghrib prayer. This is one example, and I will give more.
Another statement of Maulana that went viral – I’ll quote his exact words so you understand. Maulana said in a wedding gathering (the gathering was in Aurangabad on February 24, 2018): “Avoid extravagance in weddings. The more extravagance, the more difficulty there will be.” Then he gave an example: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) in all his marriages sometimes served cheese, sometimes distributed dates, sometimes scattered dried dates and said, ‘Eat, this is your mother’s walima (wedding feast).'”
Then Maulana said, “Today, if someone serves dates in a walima, no one will consider it a walima. No one will accept it as a walima, even though this is the exact Sunnah. Not just one wedding, but all weddings were like this, except for the wedding of Zainab (may Allah be pleased with her), where the Prophet (peace be upon him) arranged for bread.” Zainab used to take pride in this, that meat and bread were arranged for her nikah.
Now listen to Maulana’s next sentences – may Allah protect us. Maulana says, “It’s Allah’s glory that in the wedding that deviated from your norm, you experienced difficulty.” O Allah, protect us! Meaning, in the Prophet’s wedding where he served meat etc., which deviated from his norm, he had to face difficulty because of it. He had to endure hardship.
However, any action of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that was not followed by any divine revelation prohibiting it becomes a Sunnah. Yet Maulana is saying that because you deviated from your norm, you faced difficulty in this wedding.
Here’s another statement from Maulana from the same gathering in Aurangabad on February 24, 2018. Listen to Maulana’s words: “People spend money on joining two private parts (referring to marriage), but they don’t spend money on joining creation with the Creator (referring to dawah).” He’s saying that when there’s a nikah (marriage), people serve biryani and spend money, but they don’t spend money on calling people to Allah. Then he says, “Although this (marriage) was such a lowly act, and that (dawah) was such a good act.” Now think about it – he’s calling the Sunnah of nikah “such a lowly act.”
There are more such statements from Maulana, and I’m presenting them to you with full evidence.
Similarly, there’s another statement of Maulana regarding the Prophets (peace be upon them all). He made this statement in a three-day consultation after Fajr prayer on September 10, 2018. Maulana says, “The sacrifices of all the Prophets (peace be upon them) were involuntary.” Meaning, they were not by choice. The sacrifices made by other Prophets – excluding Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) – were all involuntary, not by their own choice. We seek refuge in Allah from such statements.
That’s why he goes on to say that when Allah gave the Prophets (peace be upon them) a chance that one prayer would be answered if they asked, the Prophets asked for the destruction of their people. Why did they ask for this? Just because their sacrifices were involuntary, not voluntary. Then he says that only the sacrifices of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were voluntary.
Think about how the status of the Prophets (peace be upon them) is being discussed. This is why scholars have disagreed. Respected, authentic scholars have disagreed for this reason.
Similarly, Maulana has a statement that he gave after Fajr prayer in Kerala on October 28, 2018. Listen to what Maulana is saying: “All of Allah’s commands are against natural inclinations.” Think about it – Allah’s command being against nature, against fitrah (innate disposition). However, Islam is in accordance with nature, in accordance with fitrah. The whole world today accepts that there is no violation of nature or fitrah in any practice of Islam.
Let me explain with an example so you’ll understand. For instance, Islam says to trim the mustache – this is a natural inclination. It’s in human nature that one never likes a long mustache. Similarly, Islam says to cut the nails – this is all part of nature. So Islam teaches this. No command of Islam is against nature. Maulana is saying that all natural inclinations, all of Allah’s commands are against natural inclinations. Maulana should have said that Islam’s commands are against carnal desires, not natural inclinations. So it seems to me that Maulana said ‘natural’ instead of ‘carnal’.
Similarly, Maulana has a statement from the same Kerala gathering, after Fajr prayer on July 8, 2018. Maulana is saying that in the Quran where Allah says, “If you help Allah, Allah will help you,” Allah’s help will only come when you move physically and do the work of dawah. Besides this, whatever work you do, Allah’s help will not come in it. So it’s not Allah’s help, it’s help for Muslims. You’re helping Muslims, you’re not helping Islam. If you’re feeding a widow, you’re helping a Muslim, you’re not helping Islam. Allah’s help will not come for this.
I will add to this on my own and say that perhaps Maulana means to say that if you’re spending on a madrasa or any other religious field, you’re not supporting the religion, so Allah’s help is not going to come.
Allah Almighty – there are many more statements and examples. We repeatedly request Maulana and those who follow him that there is no real disagreement. The only issue is that Maulana should properly retract these kinds of statements he has made and not make such statements in the future. If he doesn’t have knowledge about something, he should ask the respected scholars and speak after consulting them. May Allah Almighty grant us correct understanding.
