Aslam

Praise be to Allah.Whatever the case, this is a mistake that has come from

the east and the west, from the Christians, communists and Jews, and

others who try to put people off the call to Allaah and its supporters,

and who want to be unfair to the da’wah by calling it extremism or fundamentalism

or whatever other names they give it.

Undoubtedly calling people to Allaah is the religion

of the Messengers, it is their path and their way. The people of knowledge

are obliged to call others to Allaah and to be active in doing so. The

youth are obliged to fear Allaah and to adhere to the truth, not to

go to extremes or be harsh. It may so happen that some of the youth

are ignorant, so they go to extremes in some matters, or they are lacking

in knowledge, so they are negligent in some other matters. But all the

youth and others, such as the scholars, must fear Allaah and seek the

truth with evidence (daleel), i.e., what Allaah and His Messenger

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said; they must beware of

bid’ah (reprehensible innovations) and exaggeration. They must also

beware of ignorance and shortcomings. No one among them is infallible,

and some of the people may err by doing too much or by falling short.

But that does not mean that everyone is at fault; the fault rests with

those who make the mistake.

But the enemies of Allaah among the Christians and

others who are following in their wake have made this a means of attacking

the da’wah and putting an end to it, by accusing its people of being

extremists and fundamentalists.

What does “fundamentalism” mean?

If they are fundamentalists in the sense that they

adhere to the fundamentals or basic principles (usool), to what Allaah

and His Messenger said, then this is praise,  not condemnation.

Adhering to the fundamentals, the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His

Prophet (peace and blessings of

Allaah be upon him), is commendable and cannot be condemned. What is

to be condemned is when people overdo things or fall short, when they

go to extremes or are harsh or do not do what they have to do – this

is what is to be condemned. But the person who adheres to the right

principles, derived from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger

(peace and blessings of Allaah

be upon him), is not at fault; this is perfect and is to be praised.

This is what is obligatory upon seekers of knowledge and those who call

others to Allaah: they should adhere to the fundamentals from the Book

of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and whatever they know

of the basic principles of fiqh, ‘aqeedah and hadeeth, whatever can

be used as evidence (daleel). They have to have basic principles which

they follow. Describing the daayi’ahs as fundamentalists is a general

word which does not mean anything apart from condemning them and putting

people off. Fundamentalism is not a bad thing, in fact it is something

good.

If the seeker of knowledge adheres to the fundamentals,

paying attention to them and staying up at night to study them from

the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and what the scholars have

stated, there is nothing wrong with that. But going to extremes in following

bid’ah is what is wrong, and going to extremes of ignorance and falling

short is also wrong.

The daa’iyahs are obliged to adhere to the fundamentals

of sharee’ah and adhere to the middle course to which Allaah has guided

them, for Allaah has made them an ummah justly balanced (cf. Al-Baqarah

2:143). So the daa’iyahs have to be justly balanced, treading a middle

course between exaggeration and negligence. They have to be steadfast

in adhering to the truth, and to adhere to it on the basis of shar’i

evidence (daleel). There should be neither exaggeration nor negligence,

but the moderation that Allaah has enjoined.