نشریه سراج منیر
سال هشتم شماره 29 (بهار 1397)

Salafis making references to some narration and Quranic verses including the verse 100 Chapter al-Tawbah claim that God, the Exalted, has approved of all the actions of the Salaf (i.e. the first three generations of Muslims) saying their understanding is authentic and authoritative. They state that those living at a later and more recent time should give up on their own ideas and turn to those of the predecessors. They are of the view that the purport of the verse is absolute and unrestricted in the sense that it encompasses all the predecessors and that, according to the verse, God, the Glorified is pleased with them and their followers in all times and circumstances. By studying reliable exegetical works, it can be concluded that the verse 100 of Chapter al-Tawbah does not include all the predecessors. The praise in the verse does not mean that whatever is understood by them is authoritative. Just as the obedience and subservience in the verse includes all Muslims until the Day of Judgment, so if one considers the understanding of the predecessors to be valid and authoritative, he must inevitably consider the understanding of all Muslims to be authoritative until the Day of Judgment.

The question about seeking intercession of the Holy Prophet (S) is one of the issues of contention between Wahabis and other Muslims. Muslims generally believe that seeking the Prophet's intercession is allowed and permissible today as it was permissible in his lifetime. One of the reasons for permissibility of this act is Uthman's b. Hanif's tradition which has been narrated in some Sunni books with a reliable chain of transmission. On the contrary, Wahabis have rejected seeking the Holy Prophet's intercession after his demise saying this act is tantamount to believing in invisible power for God's servants; such a belief amounts to shirk (polytheism). That is because Allah, the Exalted, alone is capable of doing things which are invisible and it is not permissible to associate any partners with him in this regard. For this reason, Wahabis are of the view that those who seek intercession are unbelievers. In their belief, Uthman b. Hanif's hadith does not signify permissibility of intercessions nor does it indicate that the predecessors did this. Even if this hadith is assumed to be valid, it still does not indicate permissibility of intercession after the demise of the Prophet (S).
Anyhow, if we look carefully at the purport of this tradition, it is inferred that the hadith, which does not seem to be having any difficulty, signifies permissibility of seeking intercession of the Prophet (S) in the intermediate world, and it can be said that the objections raised by Wahabis is rejected.

The authority of a "tradition with a single transmitter" (better known as khabar-e wahid) is one of the contentious issues among scholars from various sects and denominations. Some scholars do not generally consider it as valid in jurisprudence and beliefs; some others consider such a report valid in both of them while a third group has adopted a middle approach saying it is valid in jurisprudence and invalid in beliefs. The reason for this difference is that a tradition with a single transmitter sometimes leads to knowledge and other times to a strong probability (dhan). Those who believe that such a tradition leads to knowledge maintain that it also valid in beliefs. Ibn Taymiyyah, however, believes that all traditions transmitted with a single transmitter (except for two kinds of them i.e. a report accepted by the Ummah and the report which is surrounded by evidenced) lead to probability. In other words, it can be said that a solitary report is not valid in practices and beliefs. Any type of report which leads to knowledge can also be authoritative in beliefs and any type of report which leads to probability can be invalid in beliefs as well. Ibn Taymiyya has expanded the title 'receiving the news through public acceptance' saying that all the reports in the books authored by Bukhari and Muslim are mutawatir (frequently reported). The reason he has mentioned is consensus of the traditionists. Objections have been raised to Ibn Taymiyya's opinions and those objections have been studied in this article.

Jihadi Salafism is a group which believes in armed struggle to spread the religion. To promote and realize their goals, they seek to remove every hurdle on their way. The biggest hurdle according to them, are the Islamic countries' rulers who, according to them, are unbelievers and heretics. To legitimize their actions, the Takfiris have taken recourse to Ibn Taymiyya's verdicts as the main and only basis to excommunicate Muslim rulers and consider them out of the pale of Islam. Referring to Ibn Taymiyya's fatwa about Tatars, they have made two claims. First, today's rulers are like the Tatar rulers and, therefore, they should be killed. Second, the orders issued by these rulers are like those of the Tatars and they are kafir (infidels) on account of these orders, and they, therefore, deserve to be killed. However, if we look at Ibn Taymiyya's opinion, it seems that the Salafists have wrong understanding of their statements and it is impossible to put today's rulers on equal footing with the Tatar's. In addition, the rulers of Muslim countries seem to lack certain conditions mentioned in the Book, prophetic tradition and sayings of the noble leaders about 'kufr'. They can be described as corrupt rulers at the most. As well, based on what has been mentioned in Sunni sources, it is not permissible to revolt against a ruler, if it entails an evil (mafsada).

The virtues and merits of Ahlulbayt, peace be upon them, is an issue which Muslims especially Sunnis concede not to mention several books written by scholars in this regard. The term Ahlulbayt refers to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, Imam Ali, Sayyidah Fatimah, Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain, peace be upon them. There are many verses and traditions which make reference to the virtues and excellences of the household of the Prophet (S), and most of the Sunni scholars have accepted them. However, among them someone called Ibn Taymiyya has a different opinion. Although in some cases he has praised the household of the Prophet (S), he has denied their virtues and great attributes using other methods. At times, he has even criticized and insulted them. This study first seeks to examine Ibn Taymiyya's view about Ahlulbaty (AS). Thereupon, it criticizes his opinions and elaborates on Sunni scholars' reaction.

According to Salafists, salaf is divided into two types, temporal and methodical. They consider the first three generations of Muslims i.e. the generations of Prophet Muhammad and his companions (the Sahabah), their successors (the Tabi‘un), and the successors of the successors as both temporal and methodical salaf while those who adhere to their methods and lifestyle are considered to be salafis, though they may not be living in their times. One of the fundamental principles of the salafis is the authority of the predecessors' (Salaf) understanding considering it necessary to follow them both in belief and practice. The verse 100 of Surah al-Tawbah of the Quran is one of the Quranic proofs concerning the authority of the predecessors' understanding. This verse faces problems from within itself as well as from other verses and narrations; therefore, it is not able to substantiate the claims made by Salafists. In this article which has been written with an analytical and descriptive method, the opinion of Salafis concerning the verse 100 of Chapter al-Tawbah has been critically assessed.