NOTICE: This article is a reproduction from Submitters Perspective No 31, August 1987.
As the readers of this Bulletin are aware, we have been the target of severe criticism by the traditional Muslims and their idols, the Ulema or Mullas, i.e., the “great scholars.” They criticize us for not following in the footsteps of “The Righteous Predecessors,” or as they prefer to call them: “Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh اسلف الصلح.” Now there is even a publication of the Association of American Muslims named Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh. The Association duly mailed the first issue to us. I couldn’t help but notice that the majority of this publication is written in Arabic, but using English letters. For example, the name of the publication is Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh, the main article was Tawheed Ass Sifat, and the rest of the publication, mostly in Arabic (but English alphabets) emphasized the strange and unbelievable blasphemy that “Sunnah is Equal to Qur’an ! ! !,” and that anyone who believes that Sunnah occupies a lower position than the Qur’an is a disbeliever !!!
On the same page with the article “Sunnah is Equal to Qur’an,” a Hadith was published that directly contradicted the Qur’an. The Hadith stated that the angels never enter any house where there is a dog!!! [This Hadith actually gave some people the idea that they can keep the angel of death away simply by keeping a dog with them all the time.] Obviously, the writers are not aware that in Sura 18, we note that the dwellers of the cave, who are described by God as righteous people, has a dog with them, and the dog was treated by God as one of the group.
The publication Ass Salaf Ass Saleh insists that anything attributed to the Prophet Muhammad must be upheld as sacred and divine, a matter that gives Satan a Carte Blanche. All Satan needs to rule those folks is to prefix his orders with the famous expression: “قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم”“The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said:”
As indicated by the publication’s name, it advocates strict adherence to traditional Islam by following in the footsteps of Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh. According to the publishers of Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh anything written in those ancient and yellow books is Gospel truth!!!
It was God’s grace and guidance that showed us clearly that Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh have injected too many innovations into the Prophet Muhammad’s Islam. Through our books, tapes and bulletins, we have presented irrefutable evidence that today’s Islam, as practiced throughout the “Muslim” world, has nothing to do with the Prophet Muhammad or the Islam he preached. We set out to purge away all innovations and to restore Islam to its original pristine purity. Our guide in this process has been the only book in existence that is infallible, the Qur’an.
The traditional Muslims, understandably, launched vicious attacks on us for destroying their distorted religion (see 22:72). They steadfastly, arrogantly and stubbornly persevered in upholding what they inherited from their parents, and called us “Kaafirs” (disbelievers) for abandoning the great heritage of Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh. Two verses in Qur’an are especially pertinent here:
“He almost diverted us away from our idols but we steadfastly upheld them.” They will surely find out, when the retribution afflicts them, as to who has really gone astray (25:42). When they are told, “Follow what God has sent down,” they say, “No, we follow only what we found our parents doing” (2:170, 5:104, 31:21).
What you see at the top of this article is but one small example of the prevailing nonsense throughout the Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh literature. I chose this particular example from the writings of the most revered member of Ass Salaf Ass Saaleh, Ibn Katheer. This is Ibn Katheer’s Tafseer (exegesis) of the first verse in Sura 68. Specifically, it is Ibn Katheer’s emphatic and final decision with regard to the first word in 68:1, the letter N (Noon). We need not make any comments on Ibn Katheer’s profound statements. What more can we say? However, we challenge all enlightened Muslims, and today’s Islamic leadership (the Ulema or the great Muslim scholars) to denounce Ibn Katheer’s nonsense and to return to the one infallible source, the Qur’an.