'Not Everyone That Falls into Bid'ah Becomes a Deviant By Default' Explained by Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah

Saturday 16-Sep-2023, 3:49AM / 1177

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Said Shaykhul Islam - rahimahullah:

كثير من علماء السلف والخلف وقعوا في بدع من حيث لا يشعرون، إما استندوا إلى حديث ضعيف أو أنهم فهموا من النصوص غير مراد الله -تبارك وتعالى- أو أنهم اجتهدوا، فإذا عُرف من عالم فاضل يحارب البدع ويدعو إلى السنة وعرفوا صدقه وإخلاصه وتحذيره من البدع فوقع بسبب من الأسباب في شيء من البدع الخفية فلا نسارع إلى تبديعه، هذا هو القول الصحيح، وإلا لو حكمنا على كل من وقع في بدعة أنه مبتدع لما سلم أحد من أئمة الإسلام فضلا عن غيرهم

'Many scholars among the Salaf and Khalaf fell into some deviations while they never knew perhaps because they depended on certain weak narrations or they understood the texts in a way not intended by Allaah - the Mightiest and Sublimest -, or that they made juristic efforts (on that thereby falling into the error). So whenever it is known from an upright scholar who used to wage war against deviations, and call to the Sunnah, and his truthfulness and sincerity is known, as well as his warning from deviations. So if such a scholar (inadvertently) fell into one of the deviations due to one of the reasons, we would not be hasty to declare him a deviant. This is the true position otherwise if we were to rule that every scholar that fell into a deviation is a deviant then none would be left among the erudite scholars of Islam let alone those lower than them.'

Source: rabee.net 

Translated by Aboo Aamir