S͟hayk͟h ʿAbdul-Bāsiṭ Al-Mas͟hhadānī - ḥafiẓahu-llāh - writes:

❝Al-ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Amān Al-Jāmī -raḥimahu-llāh - said: ❛Even if you were to claim that you love such-and-such a scholar and honour him, holding in your heart great esteem and respect for him, yet at the same time you do not value his words, nor pay attention to them, nor give any importance to what he says, then it is only natural for someone to confront you and say: ❝Why is it, O so-and-so, that you claim to love this scholar—even to the point of devotion—yet you show the slightest attention neither to his words, nor his teachings, nor his knowledge?!❞

This is a question that must be asked, rationally and logically, and I do not know what your answer would be!

Will you say in response: ❝In truth, I do not actually love him; it was only a claim due to certain circumstances, and I meant nothing more by it?❞ Or will you say: ❝Indeed, I love and honour him, but desires overcame me, and Shayṭān, and bad companions, and the hardness that struck my heart?❞ ❜ (From: The Status of the Sunnah in Islamic Legislation p. 3)

I (ʿAbdul-Bāsiṭ) say: We have seen and heard those who claim to love S͟hayk͟h Rabīʿ and devote themselves to him, and claim to be upon his methodology and following his footsteps, yet in reality they give no respect or honour to his words, nor do they give them any consideration.

They have heard and read S͟hayk͟h Rabīʿ’s praises and commendations for his distinguished student, S͟hayk͟h ʿAbdullāh Al-Buk͟hārī, yet despite that, you see them casting insinuations and stirring doubts about S͟hayk͟h Al-Buk͟hārī, accusing him of matters from which he is free! In reality, they are empty of knowledge and wallow in their positions.

Among their ignorances is that they say: ❛S͟hayk͟h Rabīʿ does not read; he is only devoted to refutations.❜ They do not know the reality of the S͟hayk͟h’s condition, nor do they understand the true nature of knowledge.

Whereas S͟hayk͟h Rabīʿ - raḥimah-ullāh - was well-known for constant engagement in reading; students would enter upon him and always find him reading, even during his illness, may Allāh have mercy on him.

S͟hayk͟h K͟hālid Aẓ-Ẓafīrī mentioned from one of his sons that he would not abandon reading, not even while taking a walk outdoors.

And he would criticise the S͟hayk͟h of the muṣaʿfiqah for being lazy, having no authored works, and possessing nothing but pointless chatter. And the lesson lies in the endings. So look at the end of that chatterer, how he turned back and was afflicted with the diseases of ignorance and laziness.

If we were to compare him with some of the empty-minded people of today, who claim to be upon the methodology of S͟hayk͟h Rabīʿ, we would find a great resemblance between them.

They are distracted from knowledge, preoccupied instead with foolishness and ignorance, yet despite this, they put themselves forward to teach and to preach.

So their errors became many, their slips became clear, and their understanding of knowledge and its foundational principles became weak.❞

Source: https://t.me/Aboomaralmashhdani/1902

Translation: Zubayr ʿAbbāsī