The principles of criticizing

First principle: Criticizing the mistakes of scholars and exposing the misguidance of the misguided is a legitimate approach and realization of the following Shari’ah concepts:

The first concept: The concept of advising for the sake of Allah and His book, as in the hadith of Tamim Al-Dari that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The religion is sincerity." They said, "To whom, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims, and their common folk." (Sahih Muslim)

The second concept: The concept of enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, as stated in the Quran: "You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong." (Al-Imran: 110)

The third concept: The concept of proclaiming the truth and not concealing or distorting it, as mentioned in the Quran: "And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it]." (Al-Baqarah: 42)

Second principle: Errors have different levels.

Know that the mistakes made by those attributed to knowledge are of three levels:

The first level: Errors in interpretation based on sound principles of knowledge, and its ruling is mentioned in the hadith, "When a judge gives a judgment, having tried his best to decide correctly and is correct, there are two rewards for him. And if he gives a judgment after having tried his best (to arrive at a correct decision) but is mistaken, there is one reward for him." (Sahih Bukhari)

The second level: Misguided innovations, and its ruling is mentioned in the hadith, "Every innovation is misguidance." (Sahih Muslim)

The third level: Statements of disbelief, and its ruling is mentioned in the Quran: "And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally." (Quran)

The third principle: For every degree of error, there is a corresponding treatment. Know that the treatment of the wrongdoer varies according to the degree of the error, and the treatment consists of three levels as follows:

The first level: Forgiveness, which is only deserved by those who make mistakes unintentionally, so that differences in viewpoints do not lead to division and hostility.

The second level: What is deserved by the people of misguided innovation, and the texts indicate the necessity of two main things in dealing with them as follows:

The first thing: To be cautious of them and take preventive measures, as narrated by Aisha, the Prophet said: "If you see those who follow what is similar to it, then they are those whom Allah has named, so beware of them."

The second thing: To confront and nullify their efforts in spreading corruption and misguidance, as narrated by Ibn Mas'ud: "No prophet was sent by Allah to a nation before me but that he had disciples and companions who followed his Sunnah and obeyed his commands. Then there will come after them people who say what they do not do, and do what they are not commanded to do. So, whoever confronts them with his hand is a believer, and whoever confronts them with his tongue is a believer, and there is no faith beyond that even to the extent of a mustard seed."

The third level: What is deserved by one of the articles of disbelief is, firstly, from the perspective of those of misguided innovation, caution and confrontation, and to that is added their repentance from disbelief, for if they repent, then that is accepted, otherwise they deserve to be killed as apostates, as narrated by Uthman: "Whoever changes his religion, then kill him."

The fourth principle: Mentioning the names of individuals and groups in a warning context is permissible, if it is related to a legitimate benefit and this is the consensus of scholars, as mentioned by some scholars... including Imam Nawawi in Riyadh al-Saliheen p. 426. The basis for this consensus is many Prophetic texts, including the hadith of Fatimah bint Qais, in which she said: "I came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, 'Both Abu Jahl and Muawiya proposed to me.' He (peace be upon him) said: 'As for Muawiya, he is destitute. As for Abu Jahl, do not remove the stick from his shoulder.'" This is a confirmed hadith.

The fifth principle: The division among Muslims occurs due to the improper reception or use of criticism. If it is known that criticism is a legitimate method, then this method cannot be the cause of division among Muslims. Rather, the cause of division is two factions:

The first faction: those who improperly receive criticism and are biased towards individuals and groups, refusing to accept the truth. These people separate themselves from the truth out of bias and reject criticism due to its improper handling. They bear the burden of division and commit the sin of ignorant prejudice. Allah has said: "Then if they do not respond to you, then know that they follow their desires. And who is more astray than one who follows his desire without guidance from Allah? Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people." [Surah Al-Qasas: 50]

The second faction: those who improperly use criticism without distinguishing between the degrees of errors and levels of treatment, causing more harm than they fear. They come as a result of the lack of understanding in religion, which is the foundation of all misguidance. In Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, it is reported that Abdullah bin Amr heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: "Indeed, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people, but He takes away knowledge through the death of scholars, until there will be no scholar left and people will take ignorant leaders, who when asked will give verdicts without knowledge, thereby going astray and causing others to go astray."

The sixth principle: The style of criticism varies according to the circumstances. Know that the style of criticism can take two forms:

Firstly, gentleness and kindness, which is the primary approach to criticism, based on the hadith: "Allah is gentle and loves gentleness in all matters," agreed upon from the hadith of Aisha.

Secondly, anger and rebuke, which is permissible if the circumstances require it, based on the hadith of Abu Mas'ud Al-Badri, who said: "A man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, 'I delay my Fajr prayer because of so and so, which prolongs the prayer for us.' I never saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) give a sermon more severe than that one, and he said: 'O people, there are some among you who make people flee. Whoever is responsible for leading the people in prayer, let him shorten it, for there are those among them who are sick and in need.'" This hadith is agreed upon.

The seventh principle: is that a person's possession of goodness does not prevent criticism of their wrongdoing. On the contrary, it is not necessary to mention their virtues, because the occasion is a warning. Know that the opponent of criticism is not free from two situations:

The first situation: rejecting the principle of criticism from its origin, which is a result of the establishment of criticism as a legitimate method, as we presented in the first rule.

The second situation: rejecting the criticism of the specific person, which does not go beyond the following aspects:

The first aspect: claiming the infallibility of the specific person, which is refuted by the consensus of scholars.

The second aspect: denying the validity of the claim of criticism against him, which is subject to discussion in the specific claim.

The third aspect: interpreting his article - the subject of criticism - in a manner that corresponds to the truth, which is subject to discussion in the specific claim.

The fourth aspect: justifying the article legally or defending it, which is subject to discussion in the specific claim.

The fifth aspect: adhering to the good deeds of a man that intercede for him in his mistakes and elevate him above the level of criticism, and this aspect is what is meant by the rule, and there are two answers to it:

The first answer: that a person combines good and evil, so he is praised for his goodness and criticized for his evil, and this is a principle agreed upon among the people of the Sunnah. Its evidence is the hadith of Umar: "A man named Abdullah, nicknamed 'the donkey', used to make the Prophet laugh. The Prophet had him flogged for drinking. One day, he was brought to the Prophet and given the punishment. A man from the people said, 'May Allah curse him. How often he is brought.' The Prophet said, 'Do not curse him. By Allah, I only know that he loves Allah and His Messenger.'" This hadith has three main benefits: 1) a person combines good and evil. 2) The presence of good in a person does not prevent him from being held accountable for his wrongdoing. 3) Accountability should not exceed what is determined by the religious law.

The second answer: that support for the religion may come from a corrupt person, and his victory for the religion does not prevent his corruption from being recorded against him. This is based on the hadith of Sahl al-Sa'idi: "Allah supports the religion with a corrupt man." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari.)

The Eighth principle: A man's good intention in contradicting the truth does not prevent him from being criticized. Anas reported: "Three people came to the Prophet's wives to inquire about the worship of the Prophet. When they were informed, they considered their acts insignificant. They said, 'Where are we in comparison to the Prophet as Allah has forgiven his past and future sins.' One of them said, 'As for me, I will never sleep at night.' Another said, 'I will fast continuously and will not break my fast.' Another said, 'I will keep away from women and will never marry.' The Prophet came to them and said, 'Are you the same people who said such and such? By Allah, I am the one who fears Allah the most among you, but I observe fast and break it, I pray and sleep, and I marry women. And whoever turns away from my Sunnah, he is not from me." [Bukhari and Muslim].

The Ninth principle: A complete criticism without any deficiencies cannot be objected. Know that criticism is based on four pillars:

The first pillar: realization of the contradiction of the criticized statement with the truth.

The second pillar: confirmation of the validity of the statement being criticized concerning the person or the group.

The third pillar: realization of the degree of the statement in terms of exertion, innovation, or disbelief.

The fourth pillar: treating the author of the statement in a manner in accordance with what is prescribed by the Shari’ah.

And if the critic realizes these pillars, then there is no legitimate reason to oppose or criticize him, and whoever opposes and seeks to harm or retaliate against him has indeed committed a sin and deserves the anger of Allah, because all of this is an aggression without right. Allah says: "Those who harm believing men and believing women for (something) they have not earned have certainly borne upon themselves a slander and manifest sin." [Al-Ahzab: 58].

The Tenth principle: Abandoning criticism leads to the anger of the Lord and leads to the loss of religion and the distortion of the truth. Abu Bakr reported: "O people, you recite this verse: 'O you who have believed, upon you is (responsibility for) yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided.' [Al-Ma'idah: 105]. I heard the Messenger of Allah saying, 'If the people see an oppressor and do not hold him accountable or stop him, then it is likely that Allah will punish them all.'" [Abu Dawood, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasai, and An-Nawawi confirmed its authenticity].