Accept The Truth From Anyone

Don’t reject a word of truth, even if it’s said by a kaafir – الحق يقبل من أي جهة جاء

It is said:

‎ لا تنظر إلى من قال
وانظر إلى ما قال
‘Don’t look at WHO is saying it,
look at WHAT is being said.’

1- Ibn Taymiyyah said:
‎واللهُ قد أمرنا ألا نقول عليه إلا الحق، وألا نقول عليه إلا بعلم،وأمرنا بالعدل والقسط، فلا يجوز لنا إذا قال يهودي أو نصراني -فضلاً عن رافضي- قولاً فيه حق؛ أن نتركه، أو نرده كله، بل لا نرد إلا ما فيه من الباطل، دون ما فيه من الحق..
“We are not allowed to abandon or reject the truth spoken by a Jew, Christian – let alone a Raafidi. No, we only reject what is false from what they say, but we accept the truth from it.”
[‘Minhaj as-Sunnah’, 2/342].

And he said:

وليس كل من ذكرنا شيئا من قوله من المتكلمين وغيرهم نقول بجميع ما يقول في هذا وغيره ولكن الحق يقبل من كل من تكلم به وكان معاذ يقول في كلامه المشهور عنه الذي رواه أبو داود في سننه [اقبلوا الحق من كل من جاء به وإن كان كافرا-أو قال فاجرا-واحذروا زيغة الحكيم قالوا كيف نعرف أن الكافر يقول الحق؟ قال إن على الحق نورا
“When we quote a statement of a philosopher or others, it does not mean that we endorse everything that person has ever said in this context or elsewhere. The truth is to be accepted, irrespective of who the speaker is.
And it is like the famous statement of Mu’adh Ibn Jabbal, which has been narrated by Abu Dawud, in which he said: “Accept the truth even if it’s brought to you by ‘a disbeliever’, or ‘a wicked person’, and beware of the slip of a wise person.” He was asked: “How do we know if a disbeliever has spoken truth?” He replied: “Truth has a light to it.”
[‘Majmu al-Fatwa’, 5/101].

2- The Qur’an states:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّٰمِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَآءَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ ۖ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَـَٔانُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰٓ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُواْ ۚ ٱعْدِلُواْ هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
“Believers, always be steadfast in your devotion to God, equitably bearing witness to truth. Never let hatred for any people lead you to deviate from being just to them. Be just, for that is closer to being mindful of God.” [5:8].

Imam al-Sa’di says in the Tafsir of this verse:
‎كما تشهدون لوليكم، فاشهدوا عليه، وكما تشهدون على عدوكم فاشهدوا له، ولو كان كافرا أو مبتدعا، فإنه يجب العدل فيه، وقبول ما يأتي به من الحق، لأنه حق لا لأنه قاله، ولا يرد الحق لأجل قوله، فإن هذا ظلم للحق
“As you bear witness for your allies, similarly bear witness against them. And as you bear witness against your foes, similarly, bear witness for them – even if it’s a DISBELIEVER or innovator. It is compulsory to deal justly with them, and to ACCEPT any truth they may come with: not because they say it, but because it is the truth. The truth should not be rejected just because they said it. This doesn’t do justice to the truth.”
[‘Taysir al-Karim’, p. 224].

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We don’t take CREED from the deviants – but outside creed: there are plenty of universal truths which all humans have access to.
We don’t say: ‘everything we say is true’, and everything everybody else says is wrong.
That would be foolish.
There is knowledge of: history, politics, medicine, psychology, science, astrology, technology, maths, archeology, biology, business, human behaviour, zoology, etc.
These sciences are accessible to all – they have nothing to do with religion.
The medicines, the phones, cars, planes, TVs, etc we use are all built upon this type of worldly knowledge.
Do we reject them all – because they weren’t initiated by believers?
That would be foolish….
We don’t accept anything that goes against our religion, but we accept the truth from anyone.

Look at these examples:

1- The Prophet said:
لَقَدْ هَمَمْتُ أَنْ أَنْهَى عَنِ الْغِيلَةِ فَنَظَرْتُ فِي الرُّومِ وَفَارِسَ فَإِذَا هُمْ يُغِيلُونَ أَوْلاَدَهُمْ فَلاَ يَضُرُّ أَوْلاَدَهُمْ ذَلِكَ شَيْئًا
“I intended to prohibit cohabitation with the suckling women, but I considered the Greeks and Persians, and saw that they suckle their children and this thing (cohabitation) does not do any harm to them (to the suckling women).”
[‘Sahih Muslim’, 1442b].
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1442b

Imam al-Munaawi said:
‎لو كان الجماع أو الإرضاع حال الحمل مضرًّا لضر أولاد الروم وفارس لأنهم يفعلونه؛ مع كثرة الأطباء فيهم، فلو كان مضرًّا لمنعوا منه فحينئذ لا أنهى عنه
“If having sexual intercourse with a breastfeeding woman was harmful, it would have harmed the Romans and Persians too, because they also practice this, despite there being SO MANY DOCTORS AMONG THEM. If it was harmful, they would have stopped them from it.”
[‘Faid al-Qadir’, ].

So, see how the Prophet considered the conduct of Romans and Persians in this issue.

2- The Prophet’s came to teach us religion, about for worldly sciences and affairs, he said:
‏ أَنْتُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِأَمْرِ دُنْيَاكُمْ
“You have better knowledge (of a technical skill) in the affairs of the world.”
[‘Sahih Muslim’, 2363].
https://sunnah.com/muslim:2363

3- The Prophet also once said about Shaytaan:
صَدَقَكَ وَهْوَ كَذُوبٌ
“He told you the truth, though he is a liar.”
[‘Sahih Bukhari’, 3275].
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3275