ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī and the Ḥaddādī Innovator Hishām al-Beily
Hishām al-Beily is a Ḥaddādī innovator who is known to attack senior scholars and play on the issues of Imān, Irjāʾ and tārik al-ʿamal in order to sow the seeds of distrust against Shaykh al-Albānī and others. He is known to have made recordings (without permission) of Shaykh al-Fawzān wherein he asks loaded questions about the issues of īmān, which are then spread online and used to attack Shaykh al-Albānī and others. Recently, attempts were made to bring back this Ḥaddādī innovator into the Salafī Daʿwah and into the ranks of people of Sunnah in Egypt by ʿArafat al-Yemenī and those in support of him despite multiple attempts of the mashāyikh in Egypt to clarify the state of this man for the past 2 years.
A Summary of the Fitnah of Hisham al-Beily in Egypt
The fitnah of Hisham al-Beily, which preceded the fitnah of Muhammad ibn Hadi here in Egypt, was a major trial that led to a split among the ranks of Ahl al-Sunnah here more than twelve years ago. This occurred after the Salafi scholars repeatedly advised and admonished him, yet unfortunately he refused to return to the truth and declined to retract and repent from his mistakes.
Among his violations were:
- accusing Shaykh al-Albani رحمه الله of irjāʾ claiming that he agreed with the Murjiʾah;
- secretly recording Shaykh al-Fawzan (حفظه الله) without his knowledge or permission and then publishing that recording;
- attacking the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah in Egypt and accusing them as well of irjāʾ;
- insulting Shaykh Hasan ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab (رحمه الله), refusing to supplicate for mercy upon him, and accusing him of innovations;
- in addition to his self-admiration and refusal to refer students to senior scholars, indeed not considering anyone more knowledgeable than himself, even Shaykh Rabeeʿ (رحمه الله)
- and his failure to disavow the partisanship he had previously been upon and his association with partisan groups in Egypt,
- along with what became apparent from him of arrogance, pride, and self-conceit. May Allah guide him
AAdded to this is that he spoke against the ruler, ʿAbd al-Fattah al-Sisi (حفظه الله), after authority had become firmly established in the country, and he stated that what had occurred was rebellion against the ruler.
It is also worth mentioning that Shaykh Rabeeʿ (رحمه الله) advised him as well, yet he rejected his advice and did not accept it. As a result, the scholars of Sunnah and Salafiyyah at that time, foremost among them Shaykh Hasan (رحمه الله), openly warned against him. Shaykh Hasan (رحمه الله) said concerning him: “If he and those who are with him are not Haddādiyyah, then who are the Haddādiyyah?”
This matter was closed and concluded at the time, and since then this man has not been with Ahl al-Sunnah nor cooperative with them. Rather, he continued to attack the scholars, including Shaykh Hasan رحمه الله, even after his death. For this reason, the scholars of Egypt were strongly opposed to promoting or elevating him without clarification, retraction and repentance as this is from the Usool of Ahlul Sunnah.
Written by Abu Sarah Ahmed Yousef Elarabi on the 27th of Rajab 1447AH coinciding with the 16th of January 2026—Egypt.
Hishām al-Beily's Revilements
In the video below is a sample of his revilements against Shaykh Ḥasan bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb) al-Bannā (رحمه الله):
From what he said:
- You (Shaykh Ḥasan) are a deviant
- For about 6 to 7 years we have been warning against Ḥassan (bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb) al-Bannā
- “Shaykh of the Salafīs”, “Kabīr of the Salafīs”, but he is an ignorant man.
- We spoke concerning him for a period of time before he died.
In the first of the two clips above, al-Beily is explaining and arguing why mercy cannot be invoked upon Shaykh Ḥasan, because he is a deviant in his view.
Warnings of the Scholars
The matter of Hishām al-Beily was presented to Shaykh Rabīʿ, he was advised and he refused the advice. Accordingly the mashāyikh of Egypt unanimously warned against him at the end of 2013 due to what was mentioned regarding his case.
Al-Beily was asked to repent for accusing Shaykh al-Albānī of agreeing with the Muriʾāh, for his recordings of Shaykh al-Fawzan, stirring the issues regarding Īmān and Irjāʾ, to apologise to his brothers, the mashāyikh of Ahl al-Sunnah in Egypt, and then to go to Shaykh Ḥasan bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bannāʾ and rectify his errors in manhaj. However, he refused all of that, and was subsequently warned against.
ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī’s Praise of Hishām al-Beily
It is established from ʿArafāt’s student(s) and the STC shaykhs of Aden such as Ṣalāḥ Kantoush and Abbās al-Jawnah, that he praises and recommends him, and considers him a Salafī.
Regarding this matter, Shaykh ʿAlī al-Hudhaifī al-Yemenī said:[1]
It is allowed for ʿArafat to warn against Alī Al-Hudhaify, and to declare Abu ʿIyaaḍ Al-Briṭānī an innovator, and at the very same time he can praise the Haddādī Hisham al-Beily despite being informed of what he has of deviations. And if the mashāyikh of Egypt unanimously agree that al-Beily is to be abandoned due to evidences and proofs, then (it is as if) the mashāyikh of Egypt should abandon the proofs and evidences and cover their eyes.
Shaykh Shiḥāb bin Ḥasan al-Bannā on Hishām al-Beily
Shaykh Shihāb is the son of Shaykh Ḥasan and he sat with ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī to discuss the matter. In that sitting in Madīnah, ʿArafāt claimed (lying of course) that he does not praise Hishām al-Beily, however, his own student and other reports contradict him, indicating that he lies. Further, to shield himself, ʿArafāt took a path that resembles that of al-Maʾribī, wherein he said to Shaykh Shihāb that only take what is in my own voice, intending by that to negate the reports of narrators, so that they cannot be used against him, another of his cunning schemes.
This Hishām al-Beily, may Allāh give him what he deserves, he says that is not permissible to invoke mercy upon Shaykh Ḥasan bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bannā. Meaning, when he dies, it is not permissible to invoke mercy upon him, or after he dies, it is not permissible to invoke mercy upon him. This is the speech of Hishām al-Beily, and Shaykh ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī defends him, that he is good, and he, this Hishām al-Beily, reviles Shaykh al-Albānī, Imām of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʾah, the Ḥāfiḍh of the Sunnah, the transmitter of the Sunnah and the authenticator of the books of the Sunnah, he says that is Murjiʾ, or he says that he agreed with the Murjiʾah.
Does this man have knowledge, is it right for Shaykh ʿArafāt to defend this man. I debated this issue with him and said that he should turn away from that so that he is not in agreement with him in his revilement of Shaykh al-Albānī and nor in agreement with him in his saying of the absence of invoking mercy for Shaykh Ḥasan al-Bannāʾ. And with this absence of invoking Shaykh Ḥasan al-Bannāʾ, this al-Beily is accusing him of disbelief (kufr), or accusing him with apostacy (riddah).
Shaykh al-Fawzān on Hishām al-Beily
Shaykh Badr al-ʿAnazī refuting the slander of Hishām al-Beily said:[2]
The decisive saying regarding Hishām al-Beily is the saying of our Shaykh, Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān, and what he said about him, that he is a liar (kadhdhāb), fabricator (muftari) and as for Shaykh Nāṣir he is an Imām in Salafiyyah, and none reviles him except one in whose heart is a disease, yes.
Causing Doubts Regarding Clear Salafī Stances In Aid and Defence of Ḥaddādī Innovators
As has preceded, al-Beily is a Ḥaddādī innovator, he has been disparaged by senior scholars, including Shaykh al-Fawzān. However, ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī has designs for the Salafī daʿwah in each place it appears, he instigates fitan as a means of dividing and undermining the established Salafī daʿwah by erecting alternative platforms by propping up deviants or unknowns or those with grievances.
It is related by Muhannad Badawī ʿAtīq al-Sūdānī that he attended a gathering on 5 August 2025 (source) in which ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī made a staunch defence of al-Beily in which he said:
From what he said: “It is permitted for Hishām al-Beily to criticise al-Albānī, he is excused, because there are those who have provoked al-Beily, and al-Beily retaliates like a cat does (i.e. naturally).”
And: “Search for any mistake, and you will never find anything against Hishām al-Beily, he is with us on the path.” ʿArafāt lays down principles for falsehood through ways more vile than the ways of al-Ḥalabī.
And: “Any person who provokes al-Beily, then its al-Beily’s right to retaliate, until even if it was Shaykh Ḥasan al-Bannā.”
Notes
As the reader can see, this is the reality of this Ḥaddādī innovator praised by ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī. He has major calamities. The issue of Īmān and Irjāʾ and the discussions of tārik al-ʿamal or tārik jins al-ʿamal, all of these are entry points for one of the most dangerous innovations and movements of the era, and leads to the Takfīrīs and revolutionaries, and those who desire to take down the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah.
Then, what there is in his speech of the absence of invoking mercy, one can only say that if he believes that Shaykh Ḥasan is a disbeliever or apostate, otherwise, why would you make impermissible what Allāh enjoined, of invoking His mercy upon the deceased Muslims and believers.
This is alongside ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī dismissing the role of reports regarding his statements and positions, basically laying down a false principle upon the way of al-Maʾribī and al-Ḥalabī, in order to shield himself from criticism, his deliberate lie about not commending al-Beily, and how he defends al-Beily’s “right to retaliation.”
So these are the types that ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī defends and praises and sends his students to them, and he wishes to introduce them into the daʿwah and prop them up, which can only be to counter the already established Salafī daʿwah, and indeed, this appears to be a pattern.
Meanwhile, he wages war against Salafī shaykhs and students, as he has done with Shaykh ʿAlī al-Ḥudhayfī, and he has made tabdīʿ of myself, and has also made rulings of tabdīʿ and taḍlīl upon Dānā ʿAbd Allāh. He considers a Ḥaddādī innovator who prohibits invoking mercy upon an elder, senior scholar after his death and accuses an Imām of the Sunnah with a saying of Irjāʾ to be a Salafī, upon the right way, and sends his students to him, while he makes tabdīʿ and taḍlīl of Salafī shaykhs and students based upon lies, fabrications and distortions.
It is very difficult for a person to see this conduct, and not conclude that this man is a plant, an infiltrator who is destroying the daʿwah and Salafī unity from within. Indeed, his harm is related by tawātur (abundant transmission) which makes it undeniable.
On a closing note, only with Allāh’s bounty and favour, I have been among those who have defended an Imām of Ahl al-Sunnah in this era, Shaykh al-Albānī (رحمه الله) from these vile accusations since the late 1990s, and upon the direct advice of Shaykh Rabīʿ, and likewise, this false accusation of Irjāʾ against the Salafī scholars in general, right until this day. Hence, it is not surprising at all to find the likes of these plants and infiltrators like ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī defending these lords of innovation who revile the senior scholars, defending their “right to retaliate” against Salafī shaykhs, even if it is the level of Shaykh Ḥasan bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bannā’ (رحمه الله).
Footnotes
1. As quoted by Abu Sarah Ahmed Yousef Elarabi.2. Difāʿāt al-Aʿlām Fī al-Radd ʿalā al-Beily Hishām (pp. 245-246).