The Salaf were men; they were lions of the sunnah. What we face now is nothing compared to what the salaf faced in sticking to their ʿaqīdah and their dīn. This daʿwah is for real men. We don’t compromise our dīn; we stay firm regardless of any fitan. Don’t throw away your akhirah; don’t throw it away so easily. Listen to the inspiring story of the great Imām and shahid, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sahl al-Ramli, known as Ibn al-Nabulsi by Abū Idrīs.

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 Abū Idrīs reminds us of the statement of Imām al-Shafiʿī: If you were to try to please all of the people it would be impossible. Therefore, make your actions and statements for Allāh alone. If you adjust your dīn to please individuals (just so you can network etc.), then you compromise your whole dīn. Our religion is based only upon pleasing Allāh and nothing else! 

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 In the farewell admonition form the seminar: Be in this World as a Stranger, Abū Idrīs addresses the following question:

[Q]: What is your advice regarding young students who are studying overseas or will go to study, considering that ṭalib al-ʿilm (seeking knowledge) is something that seems to either make or break a person. So, either these students go over to study and are with the people of Sunnah and are united or sometimes, they are with the people who oppose the Sunnah. Due to the fact that you were in al-Madīnah for a number of years, what can you advise?

Abū Idrīs reflects on his time studying overseas, how so many students went over, sometimes with good intentions but then something happened, such that these students connected with the wrong people (at the onset), those who appeared to them to be upon the truth but instead (slowly and subtly) turned them against the Salafis, then later on they go to war against their teachers and communities. He discusses the patterns of this calamity and how a young student can be safe from this. Abū IdrIs hammers home to importance of being with the scholars, their students and the upright students from the West (those well known and recommended by the scholars). He continues by discussing the fitnah that some students endure when they finish the Arabic programme at the university, that once they comprehend some Arabic, they become cocky, over-confident, independent, focusing less and less on the scholars. Then they turn their attention back home, they observe the people and see them beneath their feet, that no one is more knowledgeable than them! That the students of knowledge (in the West) are no better than them! In fact they may be better than them! Self-amazement and deception. Then the method becomes to acquire as much certification as possible (valuing this over actual tazkiyāt by sitting with the scholars and working under their directive). An important advice for both young students studying or intending to study, and likewise for communities to understand what can happen to their young students overseas.

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 Abū Idrīs, during this past Spring's seminar in Toronto, Canada, discusses the issue of speaking without knowledge. The Salaf would shy away from speaking, fearing that they may speak without knowledge. Today, every young upstart wishes to grab the microphone and speak/lead. Some points of benefit.

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