by 
Are the followers of an innovator abandoned as he is abandoned?
by the Noble Scholar, the ʿAllāmah, Rabīʿ Ibn Hādī Al-Madkhalī (حَفِظَهُ اللهُ)
أتباع المبتدع هل يلحقون به في الهجر؟
للعلامة ربيع بن هادي عمير المدخلي (حَفِظَهُ اللهُ)
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Transcript:
Question: Are the followers of an innovator abandoned as he is abandoned?
The Answer: The one who is deceived from them is to be taught, my brothers. Do not be hasty. Teach them and clarify to them, for verily many of them want good — even some from those Sūfiyyah! By Allāh, if there was a concerted Salafī effort [in daʿwah], you would see them entering into Salafiyyah — in their droves and as individuals.
So do not let your principle be just ‘Hajar, Hajar, Hajar!’ (‘Abandonment, Abandonment, Abandonment!’)
The foundational origin is the guidance of the people, and the entry of the people into goodness.
The [affair of] abandonment (hajar) can be understood incorrectly: if you abandon all of the people, who will then enter the Sunnah?! If we place barriers and obstacles between us and them, and between them and the Sunnah — by way of your abandonment of them — when will they enter the Sunnah? That kind of abandonment — my brothers — was in the time of Imām Ahmad; when the Dunyā was filled with Salafis. So when Imām Ahmad would say: ‘So-and-so is an innovator’ — he would be cut off.
As for now, then you have Salafiyyah which is [as rare] as one white hair on a black bull; and so nobody is to be abandoned except for the obstinate, arrogant innovator. As for the ones who are deceived, then be patient, careful, and considerate with them. And they are to be invited to Allāh with wisdom and with a fair admonition — and perhaps then many of them will answer.
The foundational origin is the guidance of the people, and liberating them from falsehood and misguidance — so call them and become close to them, and present to the people beneficial books and treatises of knowledge, and recordings of knowledge. Use all the legislated means of Daʿwah, and from those are sermons and lectures — and then a lot of good will come about by way of this InshāAllāh, and the body of the Salafis will be increased if Allāh wills.
And the thing which causes you to lose many people [is the accusation]: ‘You hold everyone to be misguided — and you do not advise, nor clarify, nor anything else?!’
This is a mistake! This means the closing of the doors of good in the faces of the people — so do not allow yourselves to have only ‘Abandonment and more Abandonment.’
The foundational origin is the guidance of the people, their entrance into the Sunnah, and liberating them from misguidance. Let this be the principle with you. And be patient and be lenient and wise, and so on and so forth. And thereafter, whoever is obstinate after clear clarification, then [know that] the last resort in medicine is to cauterise — as for cauterisation from the start, then this is an error. May Allāh bless you all.
So O brothers, let the principle with you be to salvage the people — for, by Allāh, many of the people want good! They want Jannah, O brothers! They want good, so let your manners be wise! By Allāh! Those wise and merciful manners, whereby he feels that you are not aloof from him, and that you do not want to insult him — rather be humble with him, show him your gentle side, and be lenient with him.
السؤال: أتباع المبتدع هل يُلحقون به في الهجر ؟
الجواب: المخدوع منهم يُعلّم يا إخوة ، لا تستعجلوا ، علموهم وبيِّنوا لهم ، فإن كثيراً منهم يريد الخير ، حتى من هؤلاء الصوفية والله لو هناك نشاط سلفى لرأيتهم يدخلون فى السلفية زراقات ووحداناً .
فلا يكن القاعدة عندكم فقط هجر و هجر و هجر ، الأساس هداية الناس ، وادخال الناس فى الخير ، الهجر هذا قد يُفهم غلطاً ، إذا هجرت الناس كلهم من يدخل فى السنة ، إذا وضعنا السدود والحواجز بيننا وبينهم بالهجر وبين السنة متى يدخلون في السنة ؟ الهجر هذا يا إخوتاه في وقت الإمام أحمد ..الدنيا مليئة بالسلفيين ، وإذا قال الإمام أحمد : فلان مبتدع ؛ سقط ، أما الآن فعندك السلفية كالشعرة البيضاء فى الثور الأسود ، فلا يُهجَر إلا المبتدع المستكبر المعاند ، أما المخدوعون فتأنَّ بهم ، ويُدعون إلى الله بالحكمة والموعظة الحسنة ، فقد يستجيب منهم الكثير .
الأساس هداية الناس وإنقاذهم من الباطل والضلال ، فادعوهم وقرِّبوهم ، وقدِّموا للناس الكتب والرسائل العلمية النافعة ، والأشرطة العلمية ، واستخدموا كل وسائل الدعوة المشروعة ، ومنها الخطب والمحاضرات ، فسيحصل بذلك الخير الكثير إن شاء الله ، و يكثر إن شاء الله سواد السلفيين وما تخسرون كثيراً من الناس ……
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Source: Having Gentleness and Wisdom with the General Muslim who is not a Caller to Misguidance
Translated by: Abdullāh Abdul-Wāhid Alam
From a transcribed and thereafter published lecture entitled Verily Allāh Loves for you Three Things, and Hates for you Three Things — page 38.
