BENEFIT 417: Beware of those who warn you against Ahlus-Sunnah and their centres

Sheikh Yahya said in response to a question about people who discourage others from studying with Sheikh Abu Bilal: One should not discourage others. Beware of those who warn against Ahlus-Sunnah and their centres. Such warnings only come from someone who is either foolish or driven by partisanship and fanaticism. As for Ahlus-Sunnah, they do not warn against the centres of Ahlus-Sunnah—neither those in Mahrah, nor Hadhramaut, nor Aden, nor northern Yemen. One should not warn against the centres of the Sunnah; rather, warnings should be directed against fitnah, Hizbiyyah, extremism, discord, manipulation, excessive indulgence in worldly matters, and destructive ideologies. But to issue warnings against Ahlus-Sunnah, their centers, scholars, callers, and the virtuous preachers of this era—labelling them with such and such—what does that mean? By Allāh, this is demolition—demolition with a pickaxe. If a person were to believe some of the warnings directed against the Da'wah of Ahlus-Sunnah, the Da'wah would never have been established in Dar Al-Hadith in Dammaj during the time of Shaykh Muqbil, nor indeed at any point in history. But it is as Allāh says: "As for the scum, it vanishes like foam cast off; but that which benefits the people remains on earth.' Indeed, the followers of Ahlus-Sunnah have long been subjected to name-calling and vilification, both in the past and in the present.