BENEFIT 151: Mistakes vary in severity, they are not all on the same level!

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Jazaa'iri ḥafidhahullāh said (slightly paraphrased): "Those who opposes the truth are not all equal. 1st CATEGORY: There are those who oppose the truth yet we have respect for them, and their dignity remains intact. This is someone who does not oppose the fundamental principles of Ahlus-Sunnah, but rather he opposes in issues of ijtihād. What is the criterion for issues of ijtihād? It is matters where there is no explicit text or clear evidence, or consensus. If a scholar falls short in such matters, we say he is mistaken, and though he is mistaken, his dignity is preserved. 2nd CATEGORY: However, if this scholar, regardless of his status, opposes a fundamental principle of the Sunnah/Sharia, or excessively opposes many secondary principles, as Imam Ash-Shatibi mentioned, then this individual becomes from those who have deviated from their religion and become sects, even if it's just one error. For you often hear those who follow the approach of muwaazanaat, whether knowingly or unknowingly, say, "So-and-so has made only one mistake; his dignity must be preserved." This (unrestricted claim) is wrong! It is said, "What is the severity of his error?" because errors are not all equal. The issue is not one plus one equals two in all cases, as is often said, but there are individual errors that are equivalent to a thousand. The evidence for this is that the Prophet ﷺ said, as narrated by Abu Huraira, "Indeed, a man may speak A WORD, and not give it much importance, but it causes him to plunge into the Hellfire seventy years deep." How severe is this one word? It is more severe than hundreds of words! Similarly, Allāh ﷻ said: {ولقد قالوا كلمة الكفر وكفروا بعد إسلامهم} "And indeed, they have said A WORD of disbelief and disbelieved after their Islam." One word led them astray and ruined their worldly life and hereafter, even if that person was a scholar. Look at the methodology of the Salaf; Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, considered Isma'il ibn 'Ulayyah and Ya'qub ibn Shaybah innovators, despite them being imaams. Ya'qub ibn Shaybah has a unique collection called "Musnad Al-Mu'allal," which, if it still existed, would surpass this room in width. A huge collection. If you look at his biography in "Siyar A'lam An-Nubala," he is described as an imam, thiqah (trustworthy), the compiler of "Musnad Al-Mu'allal," and other qualities. When Imam Ahmad was asked about him, he said he was an innovator. Why would he say this, when he was one of the imams of Islam? Why didn't Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, say, "Preserve his dignity because he made only one mistake (I.e. The issue of Al-lafdh)? The Salaf never had this criterion. They looked at the error and the severity of the error. This is also evidenced by the approach of the scholars of hadith, who would consider one mistake sufficient to invalidate all of a narrator's reports, even if he was an imam. An example of this is lying about the Prophet ﷺ. If a narrator lies about the Prophet ﷺ once, they cancel him out. There is disagreement among scholars about accepting his repentance; many scholars do not accept his repentance because lying about the Prophet ﷺ is not like lying about others. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his place in Hellfire." Therefore, the one who lies about the Prophet ﷺ once is called a كذّاب (serial liar). As for one who lies once about other people, he is called a كاذب. Why? Because كذاب is the one whose lying is frequent, because it the exaggerated form (صيغة المبالغة)...And so one such error would invalidate all his narrations. Similarly, among the Hadith scholars, if one makes a mistake and insists on this mistake after it has been clarified to him and the proof against him has been established, all his narrations are abandoned.