I set up a library and read from it and try to act on what is in it, so is this sufficient?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. This is a female listener who sent three questions without mentioning her name. In the first one, she says: I want to have a library at home, and I have heard that these books testify against me if I do not act on what is in them. I know that I love reading in books, especially those that are beneficial in this world and the Hereafter, and I read some of them to my mother or discuss them with her, and I try to act on what is in them as much as I can. So, is this sufficient?
The Shaykh:
Yes, this is a good deed and it is sufficient, with the permission of Allah. So you should acquire beneficial books, read from them, and read to your mother and to whoever is present, so that everyone benefits from it. You will have the reward, if Allah wills. Yes.
The questioner:
As for the statement that they testify against the one who did not read them.
The Shaykh:
In any case, she mentioned that she benefits from them and that they benefit others, so this is acting upon them, and praise be to Allah. Yes.
The questioner:
But this saying has a basis.
The Shaykh:
If one abandons the obligatory, if one abandons what is in them of the obligatory, then he is accountable. But if one abandons what is in them of the recommended, then there is no sin in that. Yes.
May Allah reward you. This is a female listener who sent three questions without mentioning her name. In the first one, she says: I want to have a library at home, and I have heard that these books testify against me if I do not act on what is in them. I know that I love reading in books, especially those that are beneficial in this world and the Hereafter, and I read some of them to my mother or discuss them with her, and I try to act on what is in them as much as I can. So, is this sufficient?
The Shaykh:
Yes, this is a good deed and it is sufficient, with the permission of Allah. So you should acquire beneficial books, read from them, and read to your mother and to whoever is present, so that everyone benefits from it. You will have the reward, if Allah wills. Yes.
The questioner:
As for the statement that they testify against the one who did not read them.
The Shaykh:
In any case, she mentioned that she benefits from them and that they benefit others, so this is acting upon them, and praise be to Allah. Yes.
The questioner:
But this saying has a basis.
The Shaykh:
If one abandons the obligatory, if one abandons what is in them of the obligatory, then he is accountable. But if one abandons what is in them of the recommended, then there is no sin in that. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5737- كونت مكتبة وأقرأها وأحاول العمل بما فيها فهل هذا يكفي - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.