“Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is rightly guided.” (Qur’an 16:125)
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The background of the debate that never happened.
Shaykh Bin Baz invited Shaykh Ahmed Khalili to his office and Shaykh Khalili accepted the invitation. Shaykh Ahmed Khalili and a small delegation went into what was described as a small room. There was no courtesy and no decorum shown on behalf of Shaykh Bin Baz. As soon Shaykh Bin Baz got everyone in the room, he started shouting, “You Ibadi are Kafirs! You don’t believe in seeing Allah in the afterlife”. “You believe in the creation of the Qur’an and you must make tawba!” “You must testify that you are mistaken!”
Shaykh Ahmed Khalili remained very calm. He replied, “These issues are very old issues and many of the ulemah have been talking about it.” “Our expectation was to come and discuss how to unite the Ummah, and keep the differences aside, and we should agree on certain terms.”
However, Shaykh Bin Baz insisted, “No, you must confess, and you must repent.”
To which Shaykh Ahmed Khalili said, “You have your justification and we have our justification. So let us call for a general symposium in Mecca and allow all the media, rather it is newspapers, or radio or television, to broadcast this debate.”
“If you think you are right, and you want to tell the whole ummah of your righteous opinion, this will show who is wrong and who is right.” “Even if we are wrong we agree to debate publicly so that everyone will know that we are wrong, and you are right.”
“Allow the Ummah to judge according to the debate and the justifications everybody brings forward.” However, Shaykh Bin Baz did not want to discuss nor debate.
So this prompted Shaykh Ahmed Khalili in the video you are about to see. In the beginning, Shaykh Ahmed Khalili mentioned:
“That these are old disputes that split the Ummah. He asked whose interest it was in bringing up these issues that split the Ummah? However, since Bin Baz started I have to clarify these points. The people of Bin Baz are doing their best to spread their beliefs and, in the process, to make us look like kafirs.”
Thus, Shaykh Ahmed Khalili (May Allah continue to benefit this Ummah by him) found it necessary to clarify the issues. Ultimately, Shaykh Bin Baz backed down.
You can see this student of Bin Baz asking Bin Baz that he had the chance to refute Al Khalili(h) and show that he was upon batil (falsehood) so why did he not take it? Bin Baz replied but what if Khalili (h) has strong evidence then what?
The way the following video is framed it paints a picture as if Bin Baz was the wise one in the situation. As if he was saying: “If I debate him he might have a stronger argument and this will cause the misguidance of many people.”
From our perspective this whole debacle looks like this.
Bin Baz: “Come to the Haqq.”
Shaykh Ahmed: “Ok. Let’ shav ea debate and see who is upon the haqq.”
Bin Baz: ghost…
May Allah (swt) forgive the Ummah. May Allah (swt) guide the Ummah!
If you want to read more articles on the issue of whether or not the Qur’an is created or uncreated, you may wish to see:
https://primaquran.com/2022/10/04/lets-attack-hamza-yusuf-in-ramadan-the-quran-is-created/
https://primaquran.com/2022/10/04/speech-of-allah-is-the-quran-created/
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