1. Some young men who claim to follow the Salafi Da‘wah (call of the early Muslims), accuse their brothers [in Islam] of being from the Khawaarij (a deviant sect). The reason behind this accusation is that the latter consider the arbitration of man-made laws as major Kufr (disbelief), which results in apostasy. They support their opinion with a Fatwa issued by the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fataawa . What is your opinion in this regard?
2. Is a critical scholar of Hadeeth entitled to judge himself as trustworthy and upright? Is it a rule?
3. There is a caller to the way of Allaah The Almighty who warns that some young men are Khawaarij, because they regard arbitration with man-made law as disbelief that results in apostasy. These people who consider their brothers [in Islam] to be Khawaarij also accuse the members of the Committee, especially Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd and Shaykh Ibn Jibreen , may Allaah have mercy upon them, of being Takfiris (those who excommunicate other Muslims with no foundation).

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alyhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The Khawaarij is a deviant sect that is far from the sound creed of Islam. They adopt a number of general fundamentals which contradict the creed of the followers of the Sunnah. For example, the Khawaarij consider the person who commits a major sin a disbeliever, they defame some Companions and accuse them of disbelief, they deny that the believers will see Allaah The Almighty in the Hereafter, they deny the penalty of stoning, as well as many other deviations and falsehoods. Their deviation began with their rebellion against ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib who then fought them and rid the Muslims of their evil.

Anyone who believes in the creed of the Khawaarij, such as considering the person who commits a major sin to be a disbeliever or rebelling against a just Imaam, is one of them. Those who consider arbitration with man-made laws to be Kufr that results in apostasy are not Khawaarij, and this opinion was adopted by a group of Muslim scholars who witnessed the effect of  these man-made laws and realized their flagrant contradiction to Allaah The Almighty, His Book and His Religion. These laws altered the rulings of the Sharee‘ah, permitted prohibited deeds and prohibited permissible deeds.  The first law of this kind to afflict the Ummah (Muslim nation) was the Yassa compiled by Genghis Khan. It was a compilation of different laws taken from Judaism, Christianity and the Islamic Sharee‘ah. His successors gave precedence to the Yassa over the rulings of the Quran and the Sunnah. The Tartars continued to do so even after they accepted Islam. Scholars held that holding the Yassa as an arbitrator or judge was an act of disbelief. Ibn Katheer was one of the scholars who transmitted the consensus on this ruling.

Contemporary man-made laws are subject to the same ruling; therefore, a group of contemporary scholars issued a Fatwa that subjecting issues related to life or property to contemporary man-made laws is major Kufr. Among those scholars were the scholar of Hadeeth, Ahmad Muhammad Shaakir, Muhammad Ibn Ibraaheem Aal Ash-Shaykh and other scholars all, who were well-known for their knowledge, righteousness, and adherence to the methodology  of the followers of the Sunnah, such as Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih Al-‘Uthaymeen, as well as Shaykh ‘Abd Ar-Raazzaq Al-‘Afeefi and Shaykh Saalih Al-Fawzaan all. Hence, how could such great scholars and those who follow them be described as Khawaarij?

 There is no doubt that these scholars did not hold that mere arbitration with man-made laws is major Kufr unless the ruler believes that doing so is lawful or prefers them to Sharee‘ah rulings. The whole matter is merely a controversial issue among contemporary scholars only and not a reason to label the advocators of the other opinion as following the false methodology of the Khawaarij.

Accusing the members of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fatwa of being Khawaarij, is a grave evildoing and flagrant offense against knowledge and those who possess it. These scholars are the true followers of the righteous predecessors in this age. They and their likes are the ones who clarify and support the creed of the righteous predecessors. They are the worthiest people of being referred to in such major and critical issues. People who degrade these scholars are likely to be doomed for their evildoing. They should be warned not to degrade scholars and should be directed to seek knowledge at the hands of trustworthy scholars.

If someone is notorious for defaming and degrading these scholars, then his company must be avoided and one should not listen to anything he says. He should be shunned until he returns to the right path and dignifies those scholars and declares that they are the followers of the pure Salafi creed which is the moderate way between the two extremes of the Khawaarij and the Murji’ah.

We supplicate to Allaah The Almighty to grant  them a safe return to the true path.

With respect to issuing a favorable judgment for oneself within the framework of Hadeeth, it is not accepted. Scholars hold that Ta‘deel (issuing a favorable judgment for a Hadeeth narrator) of a person is established by his reputation being ‘Adl (upright) or that two ‘Adl persons assert that he is ‘Adl. Some scholars considered that affirming or denying uprightness, even if done by one person, is accepted. But the question here is, how can a rational person recommend himself while Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him.}[Quran 53:32]

Allaah Knows best.