Praise be to Allah ﷻ, Possessor of majesty and honor.
He calls to Paradise, the Home of Peace.
I testify that there is no god but Allah ﷻ alone, with no partner.
Whoever fulfills this testimony enters Paradise, the Home of Peace.
And I testify that Muhammad ﷺ is His servant and Messenger.
He called to his Lord by His leave, and was sent as mercy to mankind.
May Allah ﷻ grant him the finest blessings and perfect peace.
May Allah ﷻ be pleased with his family and noble Companions.
Now then, beloved ones.
Calling to Allah ﷻ is among the noblest of tasks and the greatest honors.
Those who do it with sincerity and Sunnah are in the loftiest ranks.
Allah ﷻ described Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with these words.
"O Prophet, We sent you as a witness, a bringer of good news and a warner."
"We sent you as a caller to Allah ﷻ by His leave, and an illuminating lamp."
Allah ﷻ made clear that the caller to Him holds fast to tawhid and righteous deeds.
He is the best of people in speech and the best of them in condition.
He, Glorified is He, said this.
"Who speaks better than one who calls to Allah ﷻ and does good deeds?"
"He says, 'Indeed, I am one of the Muslims.'"
So reflect, may Allah ﷻ preserve you.
This is how Allah ﷻ described him: his words are the best of words.
He calls to Allah ﷻ; his call is to Allah ﷻ.
He does righteous deeds and holds fast to tawhid.
Our Lord explained in two great verses the lawful call that wins praise and rank.
He says, exalted is He: "This is My straight path, so follow it."
"Do not follow other paths, or they will turn you from His path."
A call is lawful only if it follows the path of Allah ﷻ.
That is Allah's path. He commanded us to follow it.
If it follows invented paths here and there, it is unsound.
It is neither useful nor effective.
Allah's path is explained in Surah Al-Fatihah. We recite it in our prayers.
It is the path marked by two qualities.
The first is knowledge, and the second is acting on knowledge.
Straying from the path of Allah ﷻ may stem from ignorance.
Or it may be by turning away knowingly.
As for the second verse, Allah ﷻ says:
Say, "This is my way: I call to Allah ﷻ with insight, as do my followers."
"Glory be to Allah ﷻ, and I am not one of the polytheists."
Da'wah is only sound and successful, and a path to good on the Prophet's way.
Say, "This is my way." Say, "This is my path."
What is this path? It is to call to Allah ﷻ.
This is the first of these qualities: it is a call to Allah ﷻ.
It is not a call to nationalism, tribalism or party groups, but to Allah ﷻ.
The very basis of calling to Allah ﷻ is the oneness of the Lord of all worlds.
And it must be with knowledge.
That is why Allah ﷻ said, "I call to Allah with insight"—knowingly.
There is no calling with ignorance. Rather, it must be with true insight.
This means insight into what one calls to, how to call, and people's condition.
The third quality is this. I and those who follow me.
Those who followed the Messenger ﷺ are his Companions.
A beneficial call follows the righteous predecessors' path.
May Allah ﷻ be pleased with them. This is the path of the Companions.
A successful call glorifies Allah ﷻ above all that does not befit Him.
I am not one of the polytheists. I call to tawhid as a monotheist.
This is the lawful, successful call that brings good to people.
It follows the Prophet's way and is sincere for Allah ﷻ alone.
It is based on knowledge and the righteous predecessors' path.
May Allah ﷻ be pleased with them. It exalts Allah ﷻ above false claims.
And it calls to tawhid.
Success and guidance in all matters rest on tawhid of the Lord of the worlds.
The basis of a lawful call is tawhid of the Lord of all worlds.
It must call people to tawhid.
Otherwise, it is not the lawful call for which its caller is praised.
Beloved ones, Muslims have differed over da'wah, as in other matters.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ showed us the way when differences arise in Sharia matters.
How do we know the truth if some come saying, "This is the truth"?
Others say, "This is the truth," and yet others say the same.
How do we know the truth?
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ explained this clearly, fully, and completely. He said:
"Whoever lives after me will see much disagreement."
So keep to my Sunnah and the way of the guided caliphs.
Cling to it tightly.
Beware of newly invented matters. Every such matter is an innovation.
This is the sound method to know the truth and its people in Sharia disputes.
So look to what Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his Companions (RA) followed.
Look as well to those who agree with them.
Whoever follows the path of those righteous men is upon the truth.
Adhere to it and hold fast to it. Bite it with your molars, even if opposed.
Beware of innovations in religion. They are not in the way of the Prophet ﷺ.
Nor was it known to the pious Salaf. May Allah be pleased with them.
In light of the above, we will address this in this session.
It is a preaching group.
It is called Tablighi Jamaat and also Jamaat al-Ahbab.
We will judge it by Shariah.
This is because many of our brothers from our land and elsewhere joined it.
They leave their families, leave their lands and spend money on this.
We believe they seek what is with Allah ﷻ and think this path pleases Allah ﷻ.
Exalted is He. So does this path please Allah ﷻ?
This is what we wish to explain and make clear.
We will weigh it by the Shariah, not by emotion or personal whims.
This group is Tablighi Jamaat, founded in the mid-14th century AH.
Its founder was Muhammad Ilyas ibn Muhammad Ismail.
He started learning under his brother Muhammad Yahya and memorized the Quran.
He went to Darul Uloom Deoband and studied Hanafi jurisprudence there.
He took the Sufi pledge of allegiance, and pledged to his shaykh Rashid Ahmad.
Then, when his shaykh Rashid Ahmad died, he renewed the pledge with Khalil Ahmad.
This shaykh authorized him to administer the Sufi pledge to others.
So he began administering the Sufi pledge after having taken it himself.
His thinking was Sufi, and his practice was Sufi.
He was known for keeping vigil at graves and staying beside them.
So in his creed, upbringing, and worship, he followed the Deobandi method.
In Maturidi doctrine, he was not upon the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah.
In conduct and method, he was a Sufi.
He was the leader of Tablighi Jamaat.
Then he appointed his son Muhammad to lead Tablighi Jamaat.
Muhammad too followed his father's path.
We say this to show the group's idea rests on Sufi thought.
It revolves around Sufi thought.
It is one group in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and Jordan.
In Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Britain, it is one group.
Don't say, "This is the Saudi one."
This group is one: one outlook, one basis, one starting point, though people differ.
The son stayed long at his father's grave, head covered in what Sufis call muraqabah.
May Allah SWT save us.
One goes to the grave, bows, covers head, and 'reflects.' They call it muraqabah.
He was a Maturidi Sufi and Tabligh's second amir.
Brothers, he wrote Hayat al-Sahabah for Arab readers in Tabligh.
Tabligh has two books written especially for its followers.
"Tablighi Nisab" is for non-Arabs.
"Hayat al-Sahabah" is for Arabs.
So the matter would gain traction among Arabs who have some tawhid.
Shaykh Mahmoud al-Tuwaijri said this. He knew Tablighi Jamaat very well.
He was a just scholar, known for piety, honesty, and restraint in speech.
May Allah ﷻ grant him abundant mercy.
"Muhammad Yusuf's Hayat al-Sahabah is full of myths and false tales."
"It also contains forged and weak hadiths."
"It is an evil book of misguidance and strife."
This is the book polished for Arabs, so what about the original book?
The book for non-Arabs is Tablighi Nisab.
After Muhammad Yusuf's death, Inam al-Hasan became their third amir.
He followed the same path as his predecessors.
They lived by Sufi bay'ah, Sufi dervish ways, and Sufi orders.
They give bay'ah only to those trusted not to object to Sufism in Tabligh Jamaat.
But anyone known not to accept Sufi orders isn't asked about bay'ah.
The group also has a well-known book: Fada'il al-A'mal.
It was written by Muhammad Zakariyya, son-in-law of founder Muhammad Ilyas.
They saw him as their scholar, though the group ignores and shuns knowledge.
As we'll see, if Allah ﷻ wills.
Tablighi Jamaat promotes its way.
It answers objections with stories and examples.
They do not say this outright.
Instead, they say, "The scholar is like a well, the preacher a river."
"The scholar is like a well."
"A well benefits only the one who comes and draws from it."
"But the preacher is like a river: people benefit as he passes."
So a false idea settles in his mind.
He thinks even an ignorant preacher is better than a scholar.
That is the idea they plant in him.
They never say it that way.
They know sound minds would reject it.
But through this repeated parable, the idea settles in his mind.
Then the young man who comes to them no longer likes to sit with scholars.
How can he sit by a well when he himself is a river?
Wherever he goes, he reaches people and benefits them.
This method is their way. Through it, they instill what they want.
For example, they think aid from heaven comes to preachers doing dhikr in mosque.
Then those preachers distribute it to the preachers who knock on doors.
This is how they instill it in those who come to them.
They say that a group went out.
They left some of their brothers in the mosque to do dhikr.
Each preacher, whenever he knocked, was driven off, door shut in his face.
So they all came back and found their brothers asleep.
What does this instill?
Aid, success, and the like come only through those doing dhikr in the mosque.
They then pass it on to the preachers who go out and knock on doors.
And they are known for telling stories about the virtues of their preachers.
It's the Sufi way.
A group set out for Allah and ran out of gas.
They had only water left.
They said, "In Allah's name."
They poured it into the car, and it kept going until they returned.
And other such methods.
One of the oddest things I heard from them was an elder saying a brother bought meat.
He passed by the brothers at the mosque and sat with them, meat in hand.
He took the meat home, but when his wife cooked it, it wouldn't cook.
It didn't cook. She cooked it longer, but it still wouldn't cook.
He went to the sheikh and told him.
"What did you do?"
"I sat with the brothers, and I had the meat with me."
"This blessing descended on this meat. Because of the blessing, it didn't cook."
And so on with such stories. This is common; it's central to their way.
Why? Because they have no knowledge.
And if they judged their way by knowledge, it'd show it isn't valid, so they shun it.
They are averse to knowledge.
At its core, this group believes Sufism best links people to Allah ﷻ
So its method is based on dervishism, even if they present it differently.
People are drawn in little by little, as is well known.
Scholars have pointed out grave errors in Tablighi Jamaat's books.
They have also warned against the stories in those books.
Those stories are found throughout their books.
I do not wish to take too long mentioning some things related to this.
Their books depart from Sunni creed and way, and abound in Sufi superstitions.
In their books, they adopt what extremist Sufis hold on many issues.
Their books largely rest on myths and stories the learned know are lies.
Unfortunately, many of our brothers do not see this matter clearly.
That is why they deny it and say it is not found in this group.
This group does not call to tawhid.
Nor does it take the proper stance on tawhid, in Lordship or divinity.
The same applies to the Names and Attributes, and that is in two ways.
First, it is not concerned with tawhid or with calling people to tawhid.
It claims that calling people to tawhid divides people.
Calling to tawhid surely divides people: it separates truth from falsehood.
Secondly, if they touch on tawhid, they reduce it to Lordship.
When they call to "La ilaha illa Allah," they interpret it as Lordship.
They say it means there is no creator, provider, or disposer but Allah ﷻ.
There is no doubt: no creator, provider, or disposer but Allah ﷻ.
But that is not the meaning.
"La ilaha illa Allah" means: Allah ﷻ alone deserves worship.
And tawhid of Lordship is one type of tawhid.
They are deeply misguided in how they portray tawhid.
They warn against calling to tawhid in detail.
As we said, they only explain tawhid in general terms as Lordship.
Why? For one thing, they have a rule.
A rule of da'wah that everyone follows: Avoid whatever leads to dispute—avoid it.
That is why they avoid a great deal of da'wah.
They do not call people to tawhid.
They say detailed tawhid causes disputes.
It divides those who uphold it from those who oppose it.
Consider this, brother.
"La ilaha illa Allah" means Allah alone controls affairs.
"Who provides for us? Allah does."
No one would object to that.
But if you say, "Tawhid means worshipping Allah alone."
Direct no worship or prayer to anyone else.
Call on and seek help from none but Allah.
Then many people will object, so they reduce tawhid to Lordship.
As for the Names and Attributes, they do not address tawhid there.
It is disputed, and they themselves oppose Sunni orthodoxy in it.
This is how the Salaf understood tawhid, and how the Ummah's pious ulama still do.
Explain tawhid this way, and expose the group's false foundations.
The group believes that its sheikhs and saints know much of the unseen.
They even claim that some of their sheikhs know when a disciple will die.
We seek refuge in Allah ﷻ from deviation, and they even have stories about that.
We have found many such stories in their books and statements.
But I do not want to take up your time mentioning them. They are known to exist.
Some brothers deny them out of ignorance, not because they don't exist.
And their stories that contradict Tawhid are very numerous.
This is very important. Be sure: Tablighi Jamaat is one group.
It has the same roots and method. It is not made up of separate groups.
"Perhaps this exists in such-and-such a place, but not here among us."
This is really ignorance of the true situation—ignorance of the group itself.
This is one group, with one root. At times, they mislead tawhid brothers.
Let me mention something here, brothers. I entered the group's center in India.
I toured its floors until I reached the one with the mosque.
In the middle of the mosque was a grave.
I mean, the grave was in the ground, right in the middle of the mosque.
They put a line and a sign before the grave, toward the qiblah.
"This is the end of the mosque."
They did this in case a brother objected to the grave.
"No, the mosque ends before the grave."
In fact, the mosque extends past the grave, and it is carpeted.
And I saw some of them deliberately pray behind the grave.
He puts the grave between himself and the qibla.
And this is one of their ploys.
They deceive our sincere brothers who object to some things.
They make them believe these things don't exist.
I told you, brothers, that they build and establish their method this way.
Through stories and dreams, they neglect knowledge entirely.
And they use expressions no Muslim would accept.
Let me mention this to you.
Once, I was at a camp during Hajj.
They had a large tent there. I prayed in the camp prayer area and spoke.
I passed their tent and found the sheikh urging them to go to Russia.
"Brothers, who will go to Russia after Hajj?"
"Raise your hand. The divine cameras will capture you."
Glory be to Allah ﷻ! The divine cameras.
And this was during Hajj in Makkah, while we were in Mina among scholars.
And this is common and well known.
Those against the Sunni creed support, not oppose, and praise Tablighi Jamaat.
Sufis today praise Tablighi Jamaat, saying it is a divinely inspired call.
How is it divine?
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the last prophet. There is no prophet after him ﷺ.
They said it was a divine call, known through kashf, through unveiling.
This takes us back to Sufism.
Yes, that is well known.
Through mystical unveiling. That is the Sufis' path to knowledge.
Muhammad Ilyas, the group's founder, said:
"I did not formulate its principles and guidelines
by my own will or understanding.
Rather, Allah ﷻ disclosed these principles and foundations to me
and I was commanded to follow them."
These are the six principles.
The wording is fine, but the meanings are unsound.
The first is the good word, "There is no god but Allah ﷻ."
The second is establishing the prayers.
The third is knowledge and remembrance.
The fourth is honoring every Muslim.
The fifth is sincerity, by which, they say, they mean correcting one's intention.
The sixth is going forth in the cause of Allah ﷻ.
These are pleasant terms and fine expressions.
But their meanings are unsound.
Sects use fine names for their doctrines, but give them meanings outside Shariah.
At first, the group had two principles: the good word and prayer, then added more.
Tablighis require the call stay within these six principles, banning any breach.
That is why some brothers say, "We'll go out with them and reform them."
"We'll go out with them and read Kitab al-Tawhid."
We'll go with them and read The Three Fundamental Principles.
They forbid this.
They do not allow this.
Because their call rests on six principles they claim came from Allah ﷻ by unveiling.
The six principles are not preached through knowledge, but by inspiration.
They take a young man who knows nothing, then tell him, "Get up and give the talk."
He says, "I don't know."
They say, "Open your mouth, Allah ﷻ will open for you."
They take young men from bars and the like without telling them to stop.
Once, as a university student, I sat with a professor from this group.
I addressed the students. They were elite Gulf university students.
I spoke about calling to Allah ﷻ and the Shariah criterion.
Anything that goes against the Shariah criterion is not legitimate.
After dinner, the professor in charge said this.
"I think you mean Jamaat al-Tabligh."
"No. I said the Shariah criterion."
"Whatever contradicts the Shariah criterion is not legitimate."
Then he started saying, "We do this and we do this."
Among his exact words was this.
We win over young men. We take one from a bar and buy him wine.
I carried a bottle of wine in a bag for one young man.
So I told him, "Expect the curse. The Prophet ﷺ cursed wine carriers."
How can a path to pleasing Allah ﷻ lead to the curse of Allah ﷻ?
When they explain these six principles, as we said, they do it through stories.
"I used to do this. Once this happened, and once that happened," and the like.
As we said, they explain them not in their proper Islamic sense.
They state this explicitly.
Dawah is confined to the six principles mentioned. They have their own terms.
They use Sufi expressions to explain these six principles.
"Remove false belief from the heart and instill true faith in Allah ﷻ." Listen.
"Remove false belief from the heart and instill true faith in Allah ﷻ."
"None creates, provides, or governs except Allah ﷻ."
They mention its virtues, but neglect its meaning.
They explain it only as Allah's Lordship, without its conditions or details.
As for prayer, they say it is prayer with humility.
They do not think what matters in prayer is praying according to the Sunnah.
No. Mentioning the Sunnah brings dispute.
What matters to them is that you pray with humility.
They mention the virtues of prayer and keep speaking of humility.
Such humility in prayer is contrived.
The same goes for the other principles: they interpret them in a non-Islamic way.
They mention only a principle's virtues.
They omit its Islamic meaning, its conditions, and legal basis.
Then they tell stories about their members.
Here is the point, brothers.
It did not follow the Salaf's way.
May Allah be pleased with them.
Its method was also deficient.
It lacked the conditions for valid dawah.
For this reason, a Muslim must not follow its path or adopt its method.
If you call to Allah, follow the Prophet ﷺ and the Companions (RA), not innovations.
Let me conclude with a question people ask.
Why do we speak about this group? Why do we warn against following its path?
Why not leave people to their own affairs? Why not speak the truth and stay silent?
And is it appropriate to point out this group's errors to ordinary people?
The answer is this.
We explain this group's method and warn against its path. That is the Shar'i way.
In the Qur'an, Allah ﷻ described the hypocrites' traits.
He also warned against their path.
At the start of Surah Al-Baqarah, He explained the division of people.
One group was believers, and He mentioned some of their traits.
One was disbelievers, and He named some of their traits.
Another group was hypocrites, and He mentioned many of their traits.
This is because they deceive people.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ described the hypocrites and the Khawarij.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ warned against them and ordered fighting and opposing them.
This is the way of those grounded in faith.
I mean distinguishing the people of truth from the people of falsehood.
It is the way of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It was followed by the early generations and by scholars grounded in faith.
The second point is this.
This group spread far and wide, and many were taken in by it.
Many of them had good intentions and thought its path was sound.
If I stay silent.
And you and Zayd do too.
We betray the Prophet's ummah by hiding this path's errors and flaws.
It contains flaws.
This is sincere advice to the public.
It is to fulfill our duty to the ummah and set the course right.
It is also to guide our brothers who mean well but do not know the facts.
We speak about this group and others like it.
For laypeople, if fitnah is absent, the truth is made clear to them.
What opposes the truth is not addressed except by clarifying the principles.
For the rule is that fitnah is avoided, not invited.
But things change when fitnah arises.
If those behind it mislead laypeople, it must be made clear to them.
That is the reason, brothers.
Recently, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs did its duty.
It warned against certain groups.
Those groups oppose Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah.
They contain grave religious violations.
They tear down the truth, not build it.
Then some people began circulating clips from some shaykhs and scholars.
No details for laypeople.
Tell them the good and keep them to it.
This was an attack on our scholars' methodology.
It was also a deception of the people.
The fact is, both that statement and this action are appropriate.
This statement means the following.
Laypeople get no details.
Nor are such groups named.
They are shown the truth and told to keep to it.
This applies when evil is absent, and fitnah has not reached them.
But when fitnah becomes confusing, common people may fall into it unawares.
Then it becomes necessary to clarify it, warn them, and teach them.
This is the method of the righteous Salaf and of our scholars.
They do not differ on this.
These are some points I wanted to raise and explain.
I have greatly abridged them.
Otherwise, I have many documented quotes from the group's books and its shaykhs.
They explain many of the violations we need to watch out for.
My brothers, I am astonished.
I am utterly astonished.
We have an example of successful, beneficial, fruitful, Sharia-based da'wah.
A great example in our land.
Namely, the da'wah of Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, rahimahullah.
It was founded on the method of Allah's Messenger ﷺ.
It also followed the path of the Companions.
Yet most people then opposed it.
So the Shaykh, rahimahullah, was patient. He suffered harm in it, yet was patient.
And he began calling to tawhid, and to Allah ﷻ with knowledge and insight.
How did this da'wah bear fruit?
How did it succeed? How did it bring us the great good we enjoy in our land?
Many of our brothers in various lands also enjoy its fruits.
It is a blessed, Sharia-based da'wah.
How can we abandon this model for paths not on the way of the Prophet ﷺ?
They are not the scholars' way, nor do they yield real, lawful good.
Brothers, let me say this: I forgot to mention it, but I'll say it now.
Indeed, uprightness in Tablighi Jamaat comes from the setting, not from hearts.
What is environmental steadfastness?
They stay steadfast while together.
But when one of them is apart, he loses that steadfastness.
This is well known.
Second, Tablighi Jamaat stirs emotion in sinful youths but doesn't shield them.
That is why it is a bridge to deviant takfiri groups.
Many youths who turned to bombing and destruction began in Tablighi Jamaat.
I say this from experience on counseling committees and meeting youths.
Over 70% of youths who strayed in takfir bombed and destroyed, or nearly did.
At first, they were astray in desires: alcohol, women, or drugs.
Then they moved to Tablighi Jamaat.
There, religious fervor was stirred without grounding or insight.
Then what? Nothing.
Then deviant groups on another front appeared.
They snatched those youths away and pushed them into vile acts.
So, brothers, the point is to advise by clarifying the Islamic method.
We should advise our families, our brothers, and all who listen.
That includes anyone seeking guidance.
We must explain that this group is not based on Sharia principles.
It was not founded on what the Messenger ﷺ explained.
It did not follow the path of his Companions.
This is what I was able to present and wanted to explain in this gathering.
I ask Allah to make it a source of good and blessing.
I ask Him to grant us sincerity in word and deed.
I ask Him to make us beneficial to Muhammad's ummah.
Allah Most High knows best. Peace and blessings on our Prophet.
Peace be upon you, and Allah ﷻ's mercy and blessings.