Is it from the manhaj of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah whilst warning against the people of innovations and misguidance to mention the good deeds of the Innovators, to praise them and to glorify them, with the claim of justice and equity?

And did the Quraysh of Jāhiliyyah and the leaders of shirk (polytheism) not have any good deed in their favour?! Has any mention of their good deeds come in the Qur’ʾān?! Has any mention of their noble characteristics come in the Sunnah?!

Yet they used to honour the guest, the Arabs in Jāhiliyyah used to honour the guest, and would protect (the interests of) the neighbour, but alongside that, the virtues of whoever disobeyed Allaah, the Mighty and Exalted, were not mentioned.

The issue is not one of counting and equating between the good and the bad deeds. The issue is actually one of warning from pending danger.

If a person wants to see (statements) then let him look at the statements of the Scholars such as Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, Yahyā Ibn Maʿīn, ʿAlī bin al-Madīnī and Shuʿbah. Did any of them, when asked about a person who had been criticised, after saying, “Liar”, then go on to say, “But he has noble manners, is extremely generous in giving out his wealth and performs Tahajjud abundantly during the night?”.

And when they used to say, “Confused, unmindfulness overtook him” did they used to add to this, “However, he has this quality… and this quality… and this quality?!” No. Why are the people being asked these days that when a person warns from another that he says, “However, he has this quality… and this quality… and this quality?!!”

These are the claims of the one who is ignorant of the principles of al-Jarh wat-Taʿdīl, who is ignorant of the ways and means to bring about corrective reform and ensuring that this corrective reform is not lost.