Rejecting Exaggeration (Ghuluww) in Figureheads and Personalities

Speaking of the danger of exaggeration and where it leads to, Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī (رحمه الله) said:^[1]

The great, senior scholars of this era began to pass away from the late 1990s, and in each decade since, we kept losing a handful of great scholars, bringing us to our current situation where those who are in their 80s or 90s, with white or grey beards, since a few years now, can be counted on just one hand. As these great scholars pass away, and their calibre is forgotten, it becomes very easy to inflate the status of others, because they are no longer seen in comparison to those greater than them, due to their absence.

Recently, even before the passing of Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī (رحمه الله), there appeared a group of people who began to use commendations to grossly exaggerate the status of certain shaykhs. They tried to confer upon them the titles and statuses given only by the great scholars of this era to those who actually deserved them, but who actually shied away from them and denied them

The situation has reached a level whereby one of them reached the heights of exaggeration (ghuluww). It is sign of the times and shows the decline in knowledge and comprehension. It is also an indication that perhaps that there are victims of past tribulations, whose effects still linger with them, and who have emerged in the ranks of the Salafīs to speak with such exaggeration.

This indicates that this apparent love of the people of knowledge is not one conditioned and restrained by the Book, the Sunnah and the Way of the Salaf, but emanates from unbridled zeal and emotions, and in some cases, there may be motivations and goals of harming the daʿwah through infiltration.

On 7 November 2025, an individual tweeted the following:

Comments

There are three points to be made here, which were made in a separate article on this subject, and they are:

First, that the ones who described Shaykh Rabīʿ with this title and others were the contemporary Imāms of the Sunnah, such as Shaykh al-Albānī, Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn, Shaykh Bin Bāz, who are all greater than Shaykh Rabīʿ, so it is a weighty testimony. Second, Shaykh Rabīʿ was described as such for his tremendous efforts in clarifying the arena of criticism and appraisal of men and purifying it from the lies, fabrications and distortions of the people of misguidance. These efforts included much struggle and patience and this was recognised by these scholars. Third, this was not a title invented by Shaykh al-Albānī in order to create a permanent position that is inherited, one which requires successors.

So this claim by this individual is false and has no basis, rather, it is nothing but exaggeration and false witness, and is made by people of dubious backgrounds, likely those who were entangled in past tribulations and never really left the traits and behaviours they exhibited previously.

Its either one of two situations: a) Either you have not seen any of the senior scholars of this era with your eyes, in which case, the most knowledgeable person you have seen, personally is Shaykh al-Bukhārī, and that’s a stretch, or b) you have certainly seen the likes of Shaykh Rabīʿ, Shaykh ʿUbayd, Shaykh al-Luḥaydān and others, who were alive until recently, let alone the senior scholars who passed before them, and you are simply making false witness. Either of the two situations are not good.

What was mentioned above applies here as well.

Same as above.

The phrase “keep to his stirrup” has the broad meaning of clinging dearly to someone and following whatever he says and does, and not disobeying him, or leaving him. However, that which we know to be Salafiyyah is to cling to the Book, the Sunnah, the way of the Salaf and to the speech of any scholar (not one particular scholar as a person) who has the truth with him in a matter.

Meaning, that even this is not enough.

One of the responses to this post (as seen in the picture) states, “Exaggeration, after which there is no exaggeration” which is an accurate evaluation. This type of exaggeration has no place in Salafiyyah, and it has been rejected.

Out of fairness, this person has posted a retraction and repentance from this exaggeration, days after the original post. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing campaign by others to portray this rejection of exaggeration (ghuluww) as attacking and belittling Shaykh al-Bukhārī.

However, refuting the exaggeration of the Christians in ʿEisā (عليه السلام) is not belittling and attacking ʿEisā, and refuting the exaggeration of the Shīʿah in ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) is not belittlement of ʿAlī, and refuting the exaggeration of the Ṣūfīs and Muqallidah in some of the Imāms is not belittlement of those Imāms. Likewise, pointing out the error of those who exaggerate the status and rank of certain shaykhs, by giving them certain titles and descriptions that other scholars, who are far greater than them, shy away from and disavow, is not belittlement of anyone in the scales of those who have actually grasped Tawḥīd and Salafiyyah.

ʿAllāmah Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hadī said:^[2]

It remains unclear as to whether Shaykh al-Bukhārī is aware of these exaggerations and has repudiated them (in the same way that Shaykh Rabīʿ did), such as being made the “khalīfah” of Shaykh Rabīʿ, and the sole “kabīr” of the Salafīs, and the “Shaykh al-Islām of the era”, and the new “carrier of the flag of al-jarḥ wal-taʿdīl” after Shaykh Rabīʿ, and the reference point (marjiʿiyyah) for all Salafīs worldwide in all their affairs and so on.

These exaggerations imply that the only fruit and legacy produced and left by sum of all the great scholars of this era, from them Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī, Shaykh Aḥmad al-Najmī, Shaykh Zayd al-Madkhalī, Shaykh ʿUbayd al-Jābirī, Shaykh al-Luḥaydān, and before them, Shaykh Bin Bāz, Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn, Shaykh al-Ghudayān and others, is just one shaykh whom the whole ummah must refer back to for its affairs, and the Salafī methodology necessitates that we reject these types of falsehoods and exaggerations, as is clear.

The truth is independent of men, men are known by way of the truth, not the other way around, and nor is truth known by mere statuses and titles, whether inflated or deserved, and this is what the great scholars of this era have taught consistently from the Book and the Sunnah.

In closing, there is no room for anyone to claim that there is any belittlement or revilement here. This type of response comes from the people of taḥazzub (partisanship) to whom attachment to statuses and personalities overrides clear principles of Salafiyyah and knowledge-based clarifications. All that has been done here is the application of the principles of Salafiyyah and the beaten track of senior scholars to verified factual realities.

Related:

• Shaykh Rabīʿ Bin Hādī: Disparagement and Appraisal Are Made In Accordance With A Methodology and Principles, Not Statuses of Scholars
• Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī and Shaykh Ḥamūd al-Tuwayjurī: Accepting Truth from Scholars Due to Evidence Not Status, and There is no Place for Emotions, Schemes and Tricks in Clarifying Truth

Footnotes