The majlis was formed about three decades ago and has been very active in passing very many misleading information about Islam in terms of unfounded fatawa, mainly on foods and drinks, issued by unqualified persons, exhibition of anti-Salafi postures such as disparaging Salafiyyah and Salafees. The majlis is headed by one Maulana Ahmed Sadek Desai Sahib who is a product of the Indian Deobandi Sufi Institution ostensibly called daarulooms. Deobandiyyah is the nexus between the majlis and the Tableeghis, on one hand, and the Taliban, on the other hand.
Their number-one deception is calling themselves an ‘assembly of scholars’ whereas they are a bunch of hanafi zealots with a very prominent inclination to the ash’ari-matroodi views on aqeedah. In their own definition of a mushrik, they say is ‘one who subscribes to or believes in more than one Divine Being.’ That their definition of a mushrik excludes a person who directs his supplication to other than Allaah, among other forms of Shirk. They say a muatil is he ‘who denies the existence of a Creator!’ Rather a muattil denies all or some Names and Attributes of Allâh.
They do not hide their hatred for the pristine message of Islam as embodied in Salafiyyah which is applying the Qur’aan and Sunnah variously in a Muslim life as understood by the Companions of the Messenger of Allâh – salaLlahu alahy wa sallam. In their article that appeared on their website, themajlis(dot)net, entitled, ‘The Deception of the Salafi Sect,’ they accuse the Salafees of misleading the Muslims, and blind-following; they say the Salafees only blind-follow three figures – Ibn Baaz, Ibn al-Uthaymeen and al-Albaanee. They, out of their explicit ignorance, also say Shaykhul-Islâm Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Al-Qayyim were ‘the Imams of the Salfi (sic) sect.’ In another article, they say the Salafees are ‘worshippers of nafs.’ Yet in another article, they call Al-Imaam Al-Albaanee, the muhaddith of our century, ‘a deviate (sic).’ They meant to say the Imaam was a deviant!
They also do not hide their hatred for the Muslim rulers in the respective Muslims lands such as Saudi Arabia – which they show their greatest enmity, calling its scholars a bunch of fools. They declare there is no Islamic country in the whole world, that , ‘Saudi Arabia is being governed by a clique of modernist Fusaaq!’ In an answer to a question regarding migrating to Muslims lands, they declare, ‘The rulers are kuffaar and munaafiqeen masquerading as Muslims.’ The majlis ulama has a very vibrant tendency towards the way of the Khawaarij. Also in their article, ‘The ‘Islamic’ Studies Conspiracy of the Orientalists and the Treacherous Role of Saudi Arabia,’ they malign the Land of Tauheed as being under the influence of the Orientalists in the fashioning of its educational curriculum.
Their jurisprudential matters are basically Hanafee school-of-thought which they fanatically defend even in the face of lack of evidence. It is based on that they have declared many foods and drinks as haram in South Africa. They are the first people to say a popular drink contains alcohol therefore Muslims should cease to take it. They are very hasty in passing verdicts and this has led to many tactical retractions. They once declared a popular Muslim preacher a kaafir but came back later o say they made a mistake. On their hasty ‘fatawa’ on foods and drinks, they have almost landed the Muslims of South Africa in a state of confusion. Funnily, their ‘fatawa’ have cost them some litigations.
As for their Sufi stand, that is not hidden. See for instance what they wrote, in Vol.21 No.03 of their February 2012 newsletter, about Husayn Ibn Mansoor al-Hallaaj before his execution, under the topic, ‘The Sabr, Faqr and Futuwwat of Mansur Hallaaj,’ ‘Hadhrat Husain bin Mansur Hallaaj (rahmatullah alahy) was imprisoned and was awaiting his execution for allegedly having uttered blasphemy (kufr). Ibn Khafeef went to visit him in prison…’
So very apparently, Majlis Ulama South Africa, did not see kufr in what al-Hallaaj did when he was saying [He was] the Truth. They called his crime ‘an alleged blasphemy.’ Thus while the whole of Ahlus-Sunnah scholars of the time saw what Al-Hallaaj did as a great kufr – that can take a Muslim out of Islam, the majlis, being a sufi majlis, sees otherwise. Also if you read their book, Shariat and Tasawwuf, published by Young Men’s Muslim Association of South Africa, freely being circulated in our country Nigeria, you will be told (on page 17) that a Muslim cannot be perfect except he is a sufi!
Their literatures, just like other sufi literatures such as the Tableeghis, are filled with unfounded and fabricated reports about the saints, and they are spreading fast in Africa namely Nigeria and the neighboring countries. This is the reason we have felt the necessity of issuing a notice like this to warn the Muslims, especially in Africa, as to the serious errors of these people.
