RasoolAllah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “A man is upon the religion of his friend. So each of you should look to whom he befriends.” (Tirmidhee 2378) Prophet Sulaymaan ibn Daawood (as) said, reported by Yahya ibn Katheer in Al-Ibaanah (2/464): “Do not pass judgement over anyone with anything until you see whom he befriends.” Allaah’s Messenger’s (صلى الله عليه وسلم) advice is profound. Not only does it encourage friendship with the people of sunnah and avoiding those upon dalaalah, but it also provides a practical methodology to judge the reality of people. This is of utmost importance, especially in the current world of online da’wah from people who are unknown. It seems that gone are the days of the students of knowledge toiling for years studying with the scholars upon the manhaj of salafiyyah, and only when fully developed, teach others on the same methodology. We are now in an age where anyone with an internet connection can develop a following, without the requisite years of studying from authentic sources and qualified teachers. Indeed, jealousy for their status is an exception, as narrated by Ibn Mas`ood (رضي الله عنه): “I heard the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) saying, “There is no envy except in two: a person who Allaah has given wealth and he spends it in the right way, and a person whom Allaah has given wisdom (ie religious knowledge) and he gives his decisions accordingly and teaches it to the others." (al-Bukhaari 1409) Upon this foundation, let us turn to the case of Daniel Haqiqatjou from America, who has started to gain a large following from amongst the youth. Although some of his refutation of western ideologies is necessary, his lack of proper understanding is obvious to any true student of knowledge. Daniel has not studied Islam from the Islamic University, nor has he learned the positions of the scholars before claiming to support them. How can one stand for something he never learned? How would he know what to defend if he does not know where it starts and where it ends? Daniel has been asked several times to make clear from which of the scholars he takes his knowledge, so we can ascertain if his teachers are from Ahlul-Bid’ah or Ahlus-Sunnah. To my knowledge he has never properly answered this question and avoids the topic. Only two so-called scholars have publicly supported Daniel: Haytham Sayfaddin and Saajid Lipham. In this article, the aim is to expose the reality of Haytham Sayfaddin. (As for Saajid, we urge him to refer to the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah from whom he once studied, regarding their opinion on Daniel and his teachers.) Daniel has lavishly praised Haytham Sayfaddin in many instances, publicly called him “Shaykh” and thanked him for his critical help and insight. This should be enough for us to conclude that Daniel is his student, or at minimum, publicly points to Haytham as a teacher from whom we should learn our deen. Haytham’s reality is the opposite of Daniel’s praise for him, and it is through Daniel that his deviance is spreading amongst the youth. Haytham himself writes for a blog (trulysalafiyyah.wordpress.com) filled with deviance and may even be its owner. On the site, posts have been made critiquing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a “shirki kingdom” describing it as “the mythical land of Tawheed”, “the land of shirk and kufr” and the state of Saudi Arabia as “one led by idol worshippers.” The site is run by innovators who openly and shamelessly incite the Muslims to rebel against the rulers, causing corruption on the earth including killing and discord! Haytham Sayfaddin is a shadowy figure who is far from the way of Ahlus-Sunnah. Like many innovators, he lacks presence in the circles of knowledge and the masajid, and he restricts his da’wah to the internet. Contrary to the way of the scholars of the past, he is not known through his teachers, but by himself declaring who his teachers are – including Ahmad Musa Jibril and Sulayman al-Alwan. These are certainly indications that he is from the Khawaarij, may Allaah destroy them and protect the Muslims from their evil. These are innovators who, even after seeing the destruction that has occurred in the heart of the Muslim lands in our time, continue to misguide the Muslims toward more fitan. Did RasoolAllaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) not say, “Hear and obey the ruler in times of hardship and ease, when you are invigorated and in adversity and when others are given preference over you — even if they consume your wealth and beat your back”? Then accepting such people as Haytham and his teachers as our “shaykhs” will lead only to more misguidance, as shown below. This unknown internet “scholar” even has had the audacity to claim that this narration is weak! This is how ignorance spreads – it is through the ignorant amongst us making bold claims, and countless youth copying him and his claims, even when they have no evidence in the Qur’aan and the Sunnah, neither had they studied the sciences of hadeeth to make such claims. Ahmad Musa Jibril Haytham has ties to a man by the name of Ahmad Musa Jibril. The Muslims in America are aware of him and his fitnah. There is a clear connection between Ahmad Jibril and Haytham Sayfaddin, the “shaykh” of Daniel Haqiqatjou. Ahmad Musa Jibril wrote the introduction of Haytham’s book, as shown below: Ahmad Musa Jibril is the deviant who was involved in illegal activities in America and in 2004 was sent to jail for more than six years. His crimes included conspiracy, bank fraud, money laundering, illegal possession of firearms, and others. He was committing fraud for worldly gain and harming innocent people. Sadly some Muslim youth were influenced by him and were also jailed. In the court documents from his case, it was revealed that Ahmad sent a fax to the CNN news channel a day after the 1995 Riyadh Bombing, stating: “There will be a series of bombings that will follow no matter how many lives of ours are taken or how many bodies are in prison. This is the precise reason why we chose the building we chose.” He was also accused that he “encouraged his students to spread Islam by the sword, to wage a holy war, to hate and kill non-Muslims.” These are not the beliefs or actions of a person who aims to benefit the cause of Islam. In fact, he brought many difficulties to the Salafi da’wah in America because many people were confused and misled into believing that he was one of the path of Salafiyyah, although nothing could be further from the truth.His misguidance has continued to cause chaos. Reports in the news in 2017 said that the London Bridge attacker who drove a van into a crowd of innocent people on the street before stabbing many others was inspired by Ahmad Jibril, and the attacker would watch his videos. This attack was later claimed by Daa’ish, may Allah destroy them. This should be sufficient for the people of insight to realize that Ahmad Jibril is to be rejected, but many other evidences could also be presented.This Ahmad Jibril is the very same person that Haytham Sayfaddin, selected to write the foreword for his book. In fact, Ahmad Jibril states that, “My brother Haytham Sayfaddin, hafidahu Allah has asked me to look at an article he authored…”. He goes on to praise Haytham’s work as “firmly grounded” and the author as following the “style of the greatest of our Ulama.” May Allaah protect the ummah from this corruption! The foreword of the book was dated 2014, two years after Ahmad Musa Jibril’s conviction and his time spent in jail for the corruption he caused. This means that Haytham was well aware of his deeds, but sought his support anyway. Similar to Daniel Haqiqatjou and his “shaykh” Haytham Sayfaddin, Ahmad Musa Jibril was not known or active among the Muslims in the area of America in which he lived . Members of the local community stated that they had never heard of him and that he did not “represent any mosque in the state.” How could one ever imagine to take another as a shaykh while he has no connection to the masjid? Imagine that his fitnah reached to the level that no community would accept him, even those communities in America! This alone should be sufficient as daleel that this is not a man from Ahlus-Sunnah, but from those who spread mischief in the land – one who both the scholars and the lay people have rejected due to the fasaad that he has created.Why then does Daniel Haqiqatjou, who many youth turn to for guidance, associate with supporters of known criminals and of Al-Qaeda and Daa’ish? We ask Allaah to protect our youth from falling into the traps of deviant and extreme preachers and taking part in foolish and criminal actions. Why do all of these people limit their da’wah to the internet, with little to no presence in their local Muslim communities? The Salaf used to live and teach in the communities in which they lived in. The Muslim knew them well and their families, and they respected them and took knowledge from them. They were guided by them and they were properly corrected by them when some in the community fell into error. But as for these, they hide behind computers, pretending that they are the defenders of the truth and knowledge, even though their reality is the exact opposite! Sulayman al-Alwan Haytham Sayfaddin considers Sulayman al-Alwan (also known as the “Al-Qaeda Mufti”), another innovator and inciter to violence, to be his teacher. Among al-Alwan’s students was Abdulaziz al-Omari, one of the 9/11 hijackers. He co-wrote a letter to Taliban leader Mullah Omar praising him and referred to him as Ameer-ul-Mu’mineen (“Commander of the Faithful”). He was a brother-in-law of Yusef al-Ayeri, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who was killed by Saudi security forces in a May 2003 shootout. Additional reports show that al-Alwan was involved in early conversations regarding the creation of ISIS. On his Facebook page, Haytham refers to al-Alwan as “Shaykh” and admits to having personal interactions with himand even promotes his views on takfeer openly on his Facebook. Then, what more needs to be said about Haytham Sayfaddin and his “teachers”? A Warning to Those Who Keep Company with those who Don the Attributes of the Khawaarij Daniel Haqiqatjou’s “shaykh” has public relationships to those who support the ideology of Al-Qaeda and Daa’ish (ISIS). Therefore, the Muslims may rightfully question Daniel’s own motives. Is Daniel using Haytham for legitimacy due to his own lack of Islamic knowledge, and in doing so, becoming misguided by those who were self-taught or went astray? Or does Daniel secretly share Haytham’s sympathies for extreme and deviant views and groups that have only brought great harm to innocent people and to the Muslims and the da’wah? It is typical for those who follow the ways of the Khawaarij to lose their minds in misguidance, to make absurd claims against anyone who exposes their ignorance, and carelessly state that our community “needs more takfeer, not less.” Is it not the actions of the ignorant in relation to takfeer that has caused so much confusion and rebellion in the ummah? While it is true that the boundaries in ‘aqeedah must be upheld, yet this is the job of the scholars of truth, not self-taught internet celebrities who are only known through “YouTube khutbahs”. It is nothing but ignorance that has led the likes of Daniel Haqiqatjou to praise the “bridging” of the “so called salafi – ashari divide” on one side, and study from and praise the likes of Haytham Sayfaddin on the other. What kind of manhaj is this?! To conclude, I sincerely advise the Muslims to be careful of the likes of Daniel Haqiqatjou, Haytham Sayfaddin, Ahmad Musa Jibril and Sulayman al-Alwan. These deviants and their misguidance will only corrupt the ‘aqeedah of the youth and may even cause them to commit immoral and dangerous actions. Furthermore, there are many among the known and qualified scholars who one may turn to for knowledge that prioritize the proper ‘aqeedah and avoid the deviations of the people of takfeer and khurooj. Allaah is the One whose help is sought, and Allaah knows best. Comments are closed.
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