The Groupings and Partisanship of the Children – Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymîn
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Scholar: Imâm Muhammad bin Sâlih bin ´Uthaymîn
Source: Liqâ’ al-Bâb al-Maftûh (66 A)
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymîn: From the fear of Allâh (subhânahu wa ta’âlâ) is that one puts great importance on guiding the creation by spreading true knowledge from the Book of Allâh and the Sunnah of His messenger (sallâ Allâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and to explain for them the way of the companions and their righteous followers and instruct them to what the prophet (sallâ Allâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) instructed to when he said:
“From the good Islam of a person is leaving alone that which does not concern him”
(at-Tirmidhî (2318).)
If you see a person returning [heading] towards Allâh (‘azza wa jall) and busying himself with that which concerns him and only cares about coming closer to Allâh, then you should know that it is from his good islam.
If you see a person caring about insignificant matters of no concern to him and that his time often goes to gossip and a lot of questions, then you should know that it is from his deficient islam. Thus, the prophet (sallâ Allâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) forbade gossip and a lot of questions. It is time wasting. It is wastage of time. If a person becomes inflicted by this disease, he will waste his time. He first asks a person regarding what has happened and what this and that one has said. He thereafter goes to the next person and asks the same thing and so on and so forth. That is how he wastes his time and other’s time.
However, were he only to care about that which concerns him… It is okay to ask about what has happened and what is happening in the society if there is a need to ask and if the purpose is to treat and eradicate the problem. The purpose should not be to slander others and cause splitting. There are people who are like that today. Some people have a good intention. But this impoverished person (Miskîn) got this disease, namely to only care about gossip and what this and that individual has said and what this and that group has said. He does not ask in order to treat the disease and eradicate the splitting. He asks in order to slander or to be as the children who say:
“You are either with these or with those!”
We only know of this grouping and this partisanship from the children. That is why I advise you to entirely avoid this matter. It entails no benefit. It only wastes time. The messenger (sallâ Allâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) forbade that money and time should be wasted with gossip and a lot of questions.
AbdurRahman.Org 