QUESTION: What is the condition of Sheikh Sulaymān Ar-Ruḥaili?

Sheikh Abu Bilal: This question is always repeated, but I ignore it. I don't know much about him, but his speech is strong. You see from him Salafiyyah. He is also well-grounded in terms of knowledge, and he has a lot of goodness. As for the other Ruḥaili, i.e. Ibrāhīm Ar-Ruḥaili, he is close to Abul-Ḥasan, Al-Ḥalabi, and co. in his manhaj. As for this one (Sheikh Sulaymān Ar-Ruḥaili), you hear Salafiyyah from him. Truth be told, I don't know much about him, but he has a wealth of knowledge. Likewise, his hatred for the people of desires is apparent from his speech. So if he makes a mistake in something, speaks out against his brothers in Yemen, then we ask Allāh to pardon him. We ask Allāh to pardon him and forgive him, because the deceivers are many, and those who spread culumnies are many, and the instigators [of Fitnah] are many. Some of them have a sound foundation, their affair is good, and they have a good relationship with their brothers, but a instigator [of Fitnah] comes along and causes friction between them, and leads them to boycot and be hostile to one another. May Allāh condemn the instigators. [The Prophet ﷺ said] ((إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ قَدْ أَيِسَ أَنْ يَعْبُدَهُ الْمُصَلُّونَ فِي جَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِ وَلَكِنْ فِي التَّحْرِيشِ بَيْنَهُمْ)). “Verily, Satan has lost all hopes that the worshippers would ever worship (him) in the peninsula of Arabia, but he (is hopeful) that he would sow the seed of dissension amongst them.” [Muslim] How much dissension have the instigators caused between people! We ask Allāh for well-being. How much dissension did they cause between Sheikh Rabee and Sheikh Muqbil in those times! They said to Sheikh Muqbil, he (Sheikh Rabee) says such-and-such about you, and they relayed some speech that Sheikh Rabee spoke ill of him. And perhaps due that, the heart feels a certain way, but alhamdulillah, Sheikh Muqbil is known for Sunnah and goodness. He is not effected by their speech - even if they speak against him, although we do not know Sheikh rabee to have spoken against him in those times. Similarly, they relayed to Sheikh Muqbil that Sheikh Uthaymeen speaks against you...and he was very hurt by that and felt a certain way towards Sheikh Uthaymeen, although the speech had no known source - neither written nor audible. So during the class he was mentioning the names of the scholars in Saudi; scholars that are people should return to, and he mentioned a number of scholars but he didn't mention Sheikh Uthaymeen rahimahullah. So one of the students present said, and I was present too, “O Sheikh, what about Uthaymeen?” He said: “Keep quiet. This man speaks against the Da'wah.” All this was because of the instigators. Then, Sheikh Uthaymeen reached out to him and sent a messenger saying: “Tell Abu Abdirrahmaan (Sheikh Muqbil) that Wallahi I did not speak against the dawah.” So Sheikh Muqbil accepted that and informed his students that Sheikh Uthaymeen contacted him and said he did not speak against the dawah. The point is, the instigators cause dissension between scholars. The speech of Sheikh Muqbil is not something easy. Wallahi it can cause mountains to treble (metaphorically). His speech is well known. He is not effected by speech, I swear by Allah. He couldn't care less if people speak against him, but his speech has an effect. Otherwise, those who had an aversion towards him were many, but he wasn't bothered by them. The man was truthful to his Lord ﷻ, but he is not infallible. So these scholars contacted one another and the issue was put to bed. A similar incident occurred between Sheikh Uthaymeen and Sheikh Albani: https://youtu.be/7Hf8QULB3RU?si=LnPmmwr9F8Ux_viq ... So this man (Sulaymān Ar-Ruḥaili), I don't know much about him, but his speech indicates his Salafiyyah and his love for Salafiyyah, and it's possible that something has reached him from these crafty hizbees, as it has reached others from the Saudi scholars, which led them to speak out.