known occurence when people gather together on some matter, and that the group which becomes strong and has many followers. You will find among them the pure and the impure, the justly-balanced and the imbalanced, the extreme and the moderate. And a well-established fact is that the extremists are more vocal and have greater acceptance, since the ones who are justly-balanced follow a middle course. And those who seek this balanced approach are few in number, in every age and group. As for extremism, that is what most people thrive upon, and what the overwhelming majority incline towards - and this has been the path of the various sects and religions as well. So the extremists try to monopolize their hold among people and seek to be single out in their Da'wah. Such people did not find any way to gain dominence over people except through extremism, which they achieve by degrading people and belittling them at every possible opportunity, either by their tongues, or in other ways. And the first to open this door - the door of unleashing their tongues against those who oppose them - were the Khawarij. This is the route through which they came to the masses, through the door of takfeer (declaring a Muslim to be an unbeliever), in order that the masses would flee from people other than them, so that they could then secure a following with the people for themselves. Then this disease was transmitted to others, such that the extreme elements of each group started unjustly declaring Muslims to be either unbelievers, sinners, innovators or deviants ...”1 Dealing with those who are in err or deviate Ibn Taymiyah (d.728H) said: “The Imams of the Sunnah and the Jama'ah, and the people of knowledge and Iman (faith) have in them qualities of ‘adl (justice), ‘ilm (knowledge) and rahmah (mercy), and they know the truth which conforms to the Sunnah and which is free from innovations. They do justice to those who deviate from the Sunnah and the Jama'ah, even if they have been wronged, just as Allah said: “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allâh and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is WellAcquainted with what you do.” (Qur'an, 5:8) Likewise, they are merciful to Allah's slaves, wishing for them good, Allah's guidance and knowledge. They never intend for them any harm or evil. Rather, when they criticize them and explain to them their error, ignorance or wrong-doing, their purpose in doing so is only to clarify the truth, and to be merciful to Allah's slaves, to enjoin the good and forbid the evil, and to make the word of Allah uppermost so that the way of life becomes purely for Allah.”2 The balanced approach Ibn Taymiyah said: “When dealing with the people of sin, one must not exceed the limits prescribed by the Shari'ah - neither in hating, censuring, preventing, abandoning or chastizing them. Rather, the one who does so should be told: Worry about your own self. No harm will come to you from those who are misled, if you are truly guided, as Allah said: “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allâh and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is WellAcquainted with what you do.” (Qur'an, 5:8) And Allah said: “And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress the limits.” (Qur'an, 2:190). Indeed, many of those who enjoin, good and forbid evil overstep the limits set by Allah, either through jahl (ignorance) or dhulm (injustice). Thus, this issue (of justice) must be firmly maintained, whether it is in regard to censuring the unbelievers, the hypocrites, the sinners or the disobedient ones.”3 Ibn Taymiyah further said: “The one enjoining the good or forbidding the evil should do so in the manner prescribed by the Shari'ah; with knowledge, gentleness and patience, and with good intentions, and by following a balanced approach. All of this is covered by Allah's saying: “O you who believe! Take care of your ownselves, [do righteous deeds, fear Allâh much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allâh much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)]. If you follow the right guidance and enjoin what is right (Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm orders one to do) and forbid what is wrong (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islâm has forbidden) no hurt can come to you from those who are in error. The return of you all is to Allâh, then He will inform you about (all) that which you used to do...” (Qur'an, 5:105) There is in this Verse another meaning as well, which is that a person must turn towards that which will be of benefit to him, both in knowledge and action, and he must avoid what does not concern him - as the of the Shari'ah (i.e. the Prophet peace be upon him) said: “Among the signs of the perfection of a person's Islam is to leave alone that which does not concern him.”4 This especially applies to a person delving into that which doers not concern him regarding someone's religious or worldly affairs. Thus, such a person may speak out of envy or desire for getting position; or act either with deliberate injustice, or foolish scorn and sarcasm. How often does Shaitan make such an act appear to be an art of enjoining the good or prohibiting the evil, or jihad in the path of Allah, whereas it is actually an act of injustice and transgression!”5 A comprehensive description Ibn Taymiyah also said: “And Ahl Al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah follow the Book and the Sunnah, obey Allah and His Messenger, they follow the truth and are merciful to Allah's salaves.” 6 1 - Al-Jarh wat-Ta'deel (pp.4-5). 2 - Radd ‘alal-Bakree (p.256) of Ibn Taymiyyah. 3 - Majmoo'ul-Fatawa (14/381). 4 - Saheeh: Related by at-Tirmidhi (no.23 18) and others, from Abu Hurayrah. It was authenticated by Al-Albani in Saheeh Sunan Ibn Majah (no.3976). 5 - Majmoo'ul-Fataawa (14/382). 6 - Qa'idah Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah fi Rahmati Ahli Al-Bida' wal
