News « Sunni Log

From the former minister of State Sayyid Yusuf Hashim al-Rifa`i’s
interview with the Kuwaiti daily _al-Siyasah_ 13486 (Year 39) of
Saturday 29 Rabi` al-Akhar 1427 / 27 May 2006 translated by Shaykh Gibril Haddad

<<Al-Siyasah: What do you say the current prohibition of the books of
the Imams Bin Baz and others?

<<Al-Rifa`i: I say that those books contain extremism. Bin Baz considers
that whoever celebrates the Mawlid is a mushrik, so this is extremism.
He says that whoever celebrates the Isra’ and Mi`raj is a mushrik, so
this is also extremism. He says that whoever goes to visit the Mosque
specifically to visit the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, his
travel is a sin, so this is extremism. And here is Ibn `Uthaymin
treading the same path. Consequently, such books promote extremism and
it is the right of the state [of Kuwait] to prohibit them as long as we
are fighting etremism. Do they not say that standing in front of the
Prophet’s grave, upon him blessings and peace, making du`a, is shirk?
They say it is impermissible to recite a khatma of Qur’an for the dead.
Some of them say it is categorically prohibited to sit down for
condoleances on the pretext that the Prophet, upon him blessings and
peace, never sat down when he gave condoleances. Did not all the
Companions pray with him in the Mosque, among them the Mujahidun, so he
would give them condoleances when they were with him? For all those
reasons I am for the banning of the books of Bin Baz and Bin `Uthaymin
from all book forums and exhibits, as every book accusing Muslims of
shirk and kufr leads to division and divisiveness among people. And if
we declare people apostate, it means we can no longer marry our
daughters to whomever they attribute shirk to, nor give them salaam.
These books evidently lead to fitna, and those books by those they call
“imams” are books of takfir and tashrik. Hence, their circulation became
prohibited. An example: the State here celebrates Mawlid, while they
distribute a fatwa by Bin Baz that that says such a thing is shirk. Is
this matter not against the orientation of the State and against the
position of the ministry of Awqaf? So this leads to a great fitna in the
society and to matters with dire results. I have no idea why they want
Kuwait to be all Wahhabi and Bin Bazi.>>