It is shocking to see how many narrow minded, self conceited, bigoted ignoramuses are on this forum. There has not been a single satisfactory response to Abu Hamza’s point, instead just a tirade of ad-hominem attacks and to be quite frank some absolutely pathetic posts. Abu Hamza has quoted clearly and concisely what major ulema have said regarding this topic, if people feel that his citations are either ambiguous or out of context or worse still misquotations then please feel free to point these out. These opinions might go against the grain of what you have been taught and might be difficult for you to swallow but up until this point you have not adequately rebutted his positions nor have you presented any evidence of quotes to the contrary. Many posting on this topic are probably not even aware of the scholarly literature regarding the issue at hand yet nonetheless are ignorantly presenting views without any supporting evidence. I advise people to read Al-Iqdul Fareed by Imam Samhudi a comprehensive work on the topic and also Khlasatu Thaqeeq a short epistle by Shaykh Abdul Ghani. It seems many commenting on this thread are not looking at thus topic objectively but rather through the prisms of bias narrow mindedness which questions whether one is in actual fact sincere in seeking the truth or just championing the position they feel is right albeit with no evidence or explanation whatsoever.