Question:

What is the ruling on the person that calls a respected scholars bad names?

Answer:

It varies from fisq (sin) to kufr (unbelief), and our refuge is Allah Most High from the slips of the tongue and obduracy. Examples of bid`a (abhorrent innovation) are the excesses committed by Ibn Hazm in his disparagement of the `ulama in his banned book al-Fisal wa al-Nihal; al-Mawdudi against the `ulama; Sayyid Qutb against the `ulama; etc. This bid`a can become kufr when the `ulama as a whole are insulted, or compared to non-Muslims, such as in the statements: “What is this caste system of our `ulama?” or “The approach, methodology, and objectives of the `ulama have all now become invalid” – this is blatant kufr.

Close to this also is the specific revilement of the Ash`ari and Maturidi `ulama – who form the massive majority of Ahl al-Sunna – in the books of al-Khajnadi, al-Albani, al-Tuwayjiri, al-Madkhali, and other Wahhabi / “Salafi” writers. The only exception is when the permitted discreditation of certain `ulama by the authorities has solid grounds in the Shari`a, such as the `ulama‘s disparagement of Ibn Taymiyya and his followers in certain aspects of `aqida and fiqh, or the jarh of weak narrators, liars, and forgers in hadith. Detailed rulings that pertains to badmouthing the `ulama of Islam can be found in Damad Effendi’s Majma` al-Anhur (p. 695), Tahir al-Bukhari’s Khulasat al-Fatawa printed with al-Lacknawi’s Majmu`at al-Fatawa (Lahore ed. vol. 3-4 p. 388) and other Hanafi manuals.

Hajj Gibril