Turki Al-Dakheel
In Islam, preaching aims to instill noble values in our minds and purify our souls. It helps us to stop and think about the wrongful acts we might have done and ponder over our conduct. Islamic history contains a host of renowned preachers, such as Ibrahim Bin Adham, Ibn Al-Jawzi and Hassan Al-Basri.
Preachers remind us of the importance of doing good deeds and help us get rid of evil inclinations. However, some people who pose as preachers might ruin the real meaning of preaching. Historically speaking, scholars talked and complained about the appearance of false and pretentious preachers who promoted myths, lies and illusions and made the public believe them. Such false preachers who were ignorant proved to be dangerous in terms of promulgating false ideas. Allowing those fake preachers to talk in public places will definitely lead the public to believe in myths and will probably take away the meaning of purifying the soul from preaching.
Sheikh Ali Al-Tantawi, a renowned Muslim scholar who died in 1999, once said: “I have seen members of the public wearing Muslim turbans and growing long beards holding religious sessions inside the Damascus Mosque and pretending that they were educated preachers. They are simply ignorant and do not have any profound Shariah knowledge. I have seen renowned scholars, muftis and judges pass by the religious sessions held by these false preachers and say nothing, not even criticize them. I am sure if any of these false preachers did something wrong to those renowned scholars, then they would be severely criticized for it. Were personal interests more important to the renowned scholars than defending religion?”
