Philadelphia Conference: Steadfastness upon the Manhaj August 31 - September 3rd

[Abu.Iyaad]

I last visited Philadelphia and New Jersey ten years ago in 2002 when Abu Uwais (rahimahullaah) was alive. It was a great pleasure, alhamdulillaah, to visit once again in 2012 and to see all those familiar faces from ten years earlier. Since that time a lot has transpired. In particular the tribulations of al-Ma'ribee and his manhaj which involves corrupt usool (foundations) and misplaced walaa and baraa which has led to the creation of a faction of people ascribing to Salafiyyah but behaving in ways that blatantly clash with what it requires in speech and behaviour. Whilst such people, with their motivations, agendas and objectives, have harmed the da'wah, alhamdulillaah it appears that the tide has turned. It was a great pleasure to see that the Salafis in general have a) greater clarity and greater zeal to hold steadfastly to the correct, sound usool (foundations) which distinguish our da'wah from what opposes it and b) a strong desire to cling steadfastly to the Scholars and c) a greater sense of unity than existed before. May Allaah strengthen the da'wah, cement the ties of brotherhood and unite the hearts upon al-birr wal-taqwaa. I would like to thank the administrations of Masjid al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah, Masjid Imaam Muqbil, Masjid Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhaab in Camden, and Masjid Rahmah in New Jersey for hosting us. Likewise I thank our respected brothers Hassan as-Somali, Anwar Wright, Jalil Meekins, Eesaa, Tawfeeq, Abd al-Azeez, Abd al-Kareem and others for the pleasure of their company, their support and assistance. I also thank all the brothers (too many to mention) who made our visit comfortable and enjoyable and ask Allaah to reward them for their assistance. I take this occasion to remind myself first and foremost before anyone else with the advice of the Scholars that there are two things which aid a person on the path and that is a) ikhlaas (sincerity to Allaah) and b) thabaat (remaining firm and steadfast) and conversely two things cause a person to stray and harm himself as well as the da'wah and that is a) the absence of ikhlaas, being governed by self-interests and personal motivations and b) the absence of thabaat, a great part of which is not making one's love and hate and walaa and baraa around the matters and priorities that it truly should be based upon. Shaytaan has a hard time misguiding a Salafi with respect to the speech of the heart (as in what the heart believes) and so rarely will you find a Salafi becoming a Raafidee, Khaarijee, Jahmee, Ash'ari, Mu'tazilee and so on. But he focuses on the realm of the actions of the heart, a vast ocean and playfield for Shaytan to create dissension and chaos between those who are otherwise united upon the usool of our aqidah and manhaj, and this reminds me somewhat of the hadeeth of Jaabir (radiallaahu anhu) in Sahih Muslim, "Indeed Shaytaan has despaired that the worshippers will worship him in the [Arabian] peninsula but [he aspires to] create dissension amongst you." Hence, when we have people with dubious backgrounds attempting to promote false principles in the name of Salafiyyah and aiming to weaken the Salafis and spread shubuhaat amongst them on the one hand, and then Shaytaan seeking to create dissension between them on the other, then Salafi communities (and individuals) have to be cautious from many different angles so as to protect the da'wah from harm that can come from ways that one may not be wise to. We ask Allaah for protection from the likes of this, ameen.