Jabir ( ‫ رضي هللا عنه‬radyAllahu 'anhu) reported that Allah's Messenger ‫ ﷺ‬said: "lblis has given

up on being worshipped by those who perform prayer. [All lblis can achieve is] to entice conflict
among them." (Muslim, 4/2166 & 2812). Imaam Muslim puts this hadith under the chapter “The
Mischief Of The Shaitan And How He Sends His Troops To Tempt People”. And iblis is the one
whome we have been commanded by Allah not to follow. Allah said

‫ِت‬
‫َواَل َتَّتِبُعوا ُخ ُطَوا الَّش ْيَطاِن ۚ ِإَّنُه َلُك ْم َعُد ٌّو ُّم ِبٌني‬
… and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy. [al-
Baqarah 2:168]
Rather what Allah commanded us is to hold firmly to His (rope).

‫ِإ‬ ‫ِه‬ ‫ِن‬ ‫ِه ِمَج‬ ‫ِص‬

‫َواْعَت ُم وا َحِبْبِل الَّل يًعا َواَل َتَفَّرُقواۚ َواْذُك ُروا ْع َم َت الَّل َعَلْيُك ْم ْذ ُك نُتْم َأْعَد اًء َفَأَّلَف َبَنْي ُقُلوِبُك ْم‬
‫ِتِه‬ ‫َٰذ ِل‬ ‫ٍة‬ ‫ِبِن ِتِه ِإ‬
‫َفَأْص َبْح ُتم ْع َم ْخ َواًنا َوُك نُتْم َعَلٰى َشَف ا ُح ْف َر ِّم َن الَّناِر َفَأنَق َذُك م ِّم ْنَه اۗ َك َك ُيَبُنِّي الَّلُه َلُك ْم آَيا َلَعَّلُك ْم‬
‫َتْه َتُد وَن‬
In this verse is a clear stipulation to hold firm unto the guidance of the prophet in all matters and
a prohibition from causing divisions which are not based upon the guidance of the prophet. CThe
conflicts will most certainly come from the ignorance about the teaching of the prophet in
handing issues (both specifc and general) which leads to infection of innovation among the
worshippers. Conflicts can also be due to refusal to follow known guidance due to desires
leading to hypocrisy. CertainlyCertainly, we have seen only conflict from the first of the
innovators, the Khawarij. Although they had sincerity, they had no knowledge and fell into
vulnerability.
Allah Exalted said ( the(the meaning of) "...but they have abandoned a good part of the Message
that was sent to them. SoSo, We planted amongst them enmity and hatred..." (5:14). When some
in a community fall to an innovation, such as rebelling against the leadership, the result is
devastating for the community in disputation, division and indulging in anger and spite, yet our
response is not desperation or fatalism, but rather to return to the Sunnah, as we remember the
words of Imam Al Barbahari: "People never introduce an innovation except that they lose the
like of it from the Sunnah."
Therefore, to return to the Sunnah we eliminate the innovation, and we eliminate the innovation
by being steadfast in seeking knowledge and remembering Allah with our brothers.
Anas lbn Malik (radyAllahu 'anhu) reported that Allah's Messenger (‫ )ﷺ‬said: "The devil puts
his nose and mouth on the heart of the child of Adam. When he mentions Allah, the devil
retreats. If he forgets Allah the devil swallows his heart." (Abi Nu'aym in al Hilyah, 6/268, in
Talbis Iblis).
Then, since the we expect iblisIblis has abandoned attemptsabandoned attempts to be
worshipped by those who pray, we expect him to try to distract the sittings of remembrance to
remove this shield from the servants of Allah Exalted.
Ibn Jazwi adviced;
When the devil suggests to a human to do something then he must be extremely
cautious and should respond saying: “you are pretending to give me advice by ordering me
to fulfill my lusts. How could your advice be genuine when you have failed to abide by
this advice yourself?! And how can I trust the advice of an enemy. Leave! Your suggestion
has no place here.”
Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud ( ‫ رضي هللا عنه‬radyAllahu 'anhu) said: 'Once the devil approached a group of
men gathered for remembrance (of Allah). He attempted to scatter them but failed. SoSo, he
approached a different gathering where worldly matters were being discussed. He enticed
animosity among them until they began fighting each other. The men from the first group jumped
to stop the fighting among the second group, and hence, they were scattered (from their
gathering of remembrance), ' (lbn Al-Jawzi in Dhamm ai-Hawti, 145).
As for those who indulge in disruptive arguing and fighting at a place of remembrance, this is the
result of innovation. It is not permissible to expel a Muslim from the places of remembrance
even if he is an innovator, because they are established for the remembrance and worship of
Allah and in themthem, we call to Ttawhid and call them away from innovation. Not every
Muslim who falls into an innovation is an innovator, and they are to be appreciated for their
worship and will be rewarded for all the good they do and recompensed for the sin for his
innovation. SoSo, it is not permissible for anyone to prevent him from worshipping or expelling
them from the place of remembrance. Rather we should encourage him to attend with the
brothers, to remind them of the Sunnah and encourage them to give up innovated matters. We
need to prevent them from establishing their bid’a, speak against the innovation in a general
sense without alienating individuals by name. Ibn Taymiyah said, “if shunning will not deter
anyone, or make anyone give up innovation – rather it may lead to cancelling out a lot of good
deeds that are enjoined – then in this case shunning is not enjoined,” and he said, “trying to
soften the hearts of some people (by mixing with them and showing kindness to them) is more
beneficial than shunning, whereas in the case of other people, shunning may be more beneficial
than trying to soften their hearts. Therefore the Prophet (‫ﷺ‬blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) would show kindness to some people in order to soften their hearts, and he would
shun others,” (Majmu‘ al-Fatawa (28/206)).
Even in the most extreme of conflict, the principle of seeking reconciliation ( ‫ ( إصالح‬isleh)
remains. Ibn Taymiyah said, “Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:
 The Khawarij who deviated, whom the Prophet (‫()ﷺ‬blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) enjoined us to fight, and whom Amir al-Muminin ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased
with him), one of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs fought, and whom the leading scholars of
Islam among the Sahabah, Taabi‘in and those who came after them were unanimously
agreed upon fighting, were not described as disbelievers by ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib ( ‫رضي هللا عنه‬
). (Majmu‘ al-Fatawa, 3/282)
In fact Ali ibn Abi Talib ( ‫ ) رضي هللا عنه‬guaranteed the Khawarij three rights one of which was to
not prevent them from entering the mosques of Allah to mention His name in them (Ibn Abi
Shaybah, al-Musannaf (7/562)). LikewiseLikewise, we should not prevent any brother who falls
into error, even if we distance ourselves from their actions and advise clearly towards correct
behaviour.
Wisdom needs to be used, with the goal of reconciliation over other goals. These are our brothers
who have fallen into error. We have seen the great damage done among the ranks of the Salafis
by distraction and division after the error of one of the senior scholarscholars (Muhammad bin
Hadi) who (allegedly) used disparaging language without justification against a scholar. Until
today, eight years later, accusations and sectarianism continue and labels such as mu’amiyah and
Sa’afiqah came as means of division after individuals responded to the original dispute. In this
was major distraction, especially among the youth who invest time in Jarh wal tad’il, spreading
suspicions and condemnations, rather than using time to pursue knowledge.
So for now we will not remove individuals or their statements when they dispute, as that may
drive them away from our dawah, but hope to keep ourselves from distraction while reminding
them to correct themselves in a way that is gentle. We hope for reconciliation: "the believers are
but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may
receive mercy (49:10)."

Thus the recommendations in

1. We all return to Allah and his Messenger (‫ )ﷺ‬with sincerity in seeking for guidance.
From the Quran and sunnah as explained by the Salaf.
2. Increase in seeking guidance from Allah
3. Increase in seeking forgiveness for ourselves and our brothers
4. No one it unduly prevented from accessing the masjid.