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Ulama in South Africa in general respect Moulana A S Desai. They may not agree with some of his academic stances or with his harsh tone but they still respect him nonetheless.

Today I was listening to a discourse of Mufti Ebrahim Salejee saheb. He was mentioning that a person should respect an 'aalim, even if that 'aalim may err in some way or the other. Even if you do not agree with an 'aalim's views etc, the respect should remain there as he is doing the work of Deen. Leave the 'aalim to his deeds and you keep to yourself and follow those you believe are right. Disrespecting an 'aalim, especially if he is a Wali of Allah can have dire consequences.

Mufti Saheb mentioned about a person who accused Moulana Maseehullah of being against Tableeghi Jamaat. Moulana did not pay attention to this accusation. However this man's life began deteriorating, starting from leaving the beard, to sunnah clothing, to even salaah. His family life was shattering. Finally someone told him to apologize to Moulana Maseehullah and he realized that all his problems began when he had disrespected the Shaykh. Moulana Maseehullah received the letter and was too humble to acknowledge that this drastic change came to the man because of the insult. However the man's life once again changed, for the better.