This is an excellent post ustadh. You could have given these excuses to shaykh nazim earlier, about being a senile old man, not a scholar, and should rather retire. i don't recall you mentioned habit or senility before. There is also the matter of strange things found in the writings of shaykh nazim from past. Also about shaykh nazim allowing hisham kabbani to continue with unacceptable behaviour, and not reprimanding him, but calling him a wali.
ibn rajab in the sharh of hadith: 'transform evil by your hands...': "this proves that all these hadith above emphasise the obligation to refute evil [inkar al-munkar] as much a person has power to do; as for considering it evil in the heart, there is nothing less than this. one whose heart does not reject evil, makes it evident that faith has left that heart." reported from abu juhayfah that [sayyiduna] ali said: 'in the beginning the jihad that will be prevalent is jihad of your hands; and then jihad of your tongues; and then jihad of your hearts. one whose heart does not recognise the righteous and reject the evil, shall be unsuccessful and his achievements will be brought down." [nukkisa fa ju`yila a'alahu asfalah] ---- in the same commentary, he says:also narrated by imam ahmed and ibn majah via the hadith of Abu Sayid from the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, that he said: "do not debase your own selves." people asked: "ya rasulAllah! how can any of us debase our own selves?" he replied: [when one of you] sees a thing that is objectionable [contravening a command of Allah] and does not say anything, Allah ta'ala will ask him on the day of judgement: "what stopped you from saying such and such a thing?" the man will say: "i was afraid of people" and Allah ta'ala will tell him: "I was more deserving to be feared." ---- considering shaykh nazim, i have already stated that he could have some excuses for his inexcusable behavior with the pope. like he has this habit of asking for du'a from everyone and likewise, he could have done that by force of habit. etc. or perhaps mistakenly believed that doing so he would impress the pope and bring him to faith etc. or that he doesn't realise what he is doing in his old age and senility can be a valid excuse. these are some reasons why i can abstain from takfir - after all, the shaykh is a sayyid - but cannot accept those actions or opinions as 'irfan' or that they have any basis in shariah. yet, i cannot find justifications for strange sayings and ideas all brushed under the carpet by shaykh gibril in his "our mawlana". the thing that outraged me the most is that the charlatan tahir is approved here because he met 'their mawlana.' concerning shaykh nazim, we can say that he may not be aware of tahir's shenanigans - but what excuse does gibril have? all these minutiae are fine, but in the end, it does not serve a common muslim. common muslims without much knowledge will succumb to the 'influence' of celebrities and the tahiri fitna will make use of this. Allah ta'ala knows best.
as long as such errors are personal and do not have an influence on others or the jama'ah collectively. as long as such errors do not breach the outermost limits of the shari`ah. ---- hadith that emphasise this are: 'this is religion is good advice...' [muttafaq alayh] 'when any of you sees an evil, change it with your hand; if you cannot, then [try to] change it with your tongue; if you cannot, then [consider it evil in] your heart and this is the [state of] weakest faith.' [muslim] ---- if the hadith of shu'ab stated below is considered absolutely generic, then we must do away with all hadith criticism and refutations of ulama. and delete a sizeable portion of fiqh of punishments. unfortunately, in our times, misplaced adab and unwarranted husn Dhann are responsible for many a fitnah. a muslim should not hesitate to call a spade a spade, as long as the niyyah in doing so is pure. "verily, actions depend on intentions.." [famous hadith] wa billahi't tawfiq.
“If a friend among your friends errs, make seventy excuses for them. If your hearts are unable to do this, then know that the shortcoming is in your own selves…” - Hamdun al-Qassar Narrated by Imam Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-Iman [7.522]
