Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah presents a nice statement in the course of his refutation of factions of the people of kalaam, and through it he lays down an important principle. He says in Fatawa al-Hamawiyyah (Dar Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1409H/1988CE, p. 18)::

NOTES:

Salafiyyah

Salafiyyah

TWO: The statement of Ibn Taymiyyah is a refutation of Yasir Qadhi who claims (with arrogance) that " Salafiyyah " is not "intellectually stimulating" enough for him (see this and related articles for a refutation of his statements). Yasir Qadhi stated in a recent interview with Inter-Faith Radio:

Well I guess 20 years ago when I was a teenager, I definitely would have self-identified as a Salafi Muslim but over the course of the last decade or so I have kind of sort of grown out of the movement now... I found the movement is not as intellectually stimulating as I would like it to be. I think that its not really capable of addressing modern issues, its very intransigent in the way that it views certain ideas, its also very hostile to anyone who disagree with its interpretation so I find myself disagreeing with quite a lot of the methodological issues associated with the salafi movement.

THREE: The angle of refutation is that Yasir Qadhi knows full well that by by definition , " Salafiyyah " is the pure authentic Islam. A ten year stretch in the Islamic University of Madinah does not allow a person to claim ignorance of this, that by definition, " Salafiyyah " is the pure authentic Islam. Because sound reason never necessitates opposition to the way of Salafiyyah , Yasir Qadhi does not have sound reason - a judgement he essentially passes upon himself by his speech above. Thus, in his attempt to revile and arrogantly belittle the way of Salafiyyah (as being not intellectually stimulating enough and not able to solve modern problems) he has in fact reviled his own intellect.

FOUR: Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah is a towering giant with intellect that far surpasses a thousand of the likes of Yasir Qadhi and in fact, it may be an insult to even make such a comparison in the first place. So when Ibn Taymiyyah , an intellectual giant, states, "Know that there is nothing from sound reason and nor from authentic text what necessitates opposition to the Salafi way, fundamentally" the true realities of people like Yasir Qadhi (pretending to be intellectually advanced and superior) are made readily apparent. Qadhi is calling to his own fikr (thought) and ra'i (opinion) which clashes with wahy (revealed text) - and this will be illustrated in other articles where he attempts to challenge Prophetic texts through false ta'weelaat (interpretations and explanations).

FIVE: The implication of Yasir Qadhi's saying is that the texts of revelation are not intellectually stimulating enough for him and his likes, and this is because Salafiyyah is nothing but the Sahaabah's fahm (understanding) and tatbeeq (application) of the texts of the Qur'an and the Sunnah - this is what is Salafiyyah , it is the authentic, sound understanding of the revealed texts and their application. Yasir Qadhi essentially believes (by his admission above) that there is nothing in such fahm and tatbeeq that is able to address modern problems and that he is intellectually superior to Imaam Malik from whom it is related that he said, "The latter part of this Ummah will not be rectified except what rectified its ealier part." Yasir Qadhi and his likes think modern problems cannot be addressed by pure Islam ( Salafiyyah ), that modern problems are too complex and intricate and require sophisticated, smart, intelligent thinkers like himself and that 'scholars living in desert lands" don't really know or understand the realities of these modern problems and are not intellectually advanced enough to address them. These insinuations will be addressed in other articles inshaa'Allaah.