Question:
Someone says: A preacher claims that the Wahhabi and Salafi da’wah movements—including the da’wah of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab—have all failed to keep pace with the modern era in which we live. How do we respond to this misconception?
Answer:
The response is easy, and praise be to Allah. We say to him: What is keeping pace? What does the word “keeping pace” even mean? Does it mean that you live in one valley while the people of the era live in another? That is the one who has failed to keep pace. The questioner, or the one who utters this statement, is the one who has failed to keep pace with what humanity is upon. It is as if he lives in another world and is completely oblivious. Furthermore, has he actually lived through the da’wah movements of the scholars? Has he witnessed them? And did he realize they were contrary to their societies, or is he merely driven by his own desires? Does he want to wipe out the da’wah of the Imams with a single word and a stroke of a pen? Glory be to Allah, a person does not think about the words he speaks; a single word might cause him to slip into the Fire a distance further than between the East and the West. This person has committed an injustice against all the Imams and all the preachers, claiming that their da’wah amounts to nothing and does not align with the needs of the era. May he receive from Allah what he deserves. Yes.