Is the statement of Allah the Exalted, “And let not those of you who possess excellence and abundance swear [not to give]…” and His statement, “And the most God-conscious will avoid it,” specific to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Yes. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, [An-Nur 24:22] and abundance.
The Shaykh : What is it? The statement of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He,[An-Nur 24:22]. It came in it, O mother, with the first [part].
The questioner : To the end of the verse, is this a distinction specific to Abu Bakr? As far as I know, it was reported regarding Abu Bakr when he swore not to spend on a copy of the Qur'an. Is the phrase “those who possess excellence” praise for Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and a distinction specific to him, or is it…?
The Shaykh : No, no, this is general. “Those who possess excellence” means those who possess generosity, abundance, wealth, and the like. The issue now is that it was mentioned in the context of Abu Bakr because the incident happened to him. Yes.
The questioner : Some scholars say that our master, the master of the people, is the most God-conscious. They say that when “the most God-conscious” comes in this form, it is specific to one person from the Ummah, and that no one deserves it except Abu Bakr.
The Shaykh : In any case, the verse was revealed regarding Abu Bakr, who gives his wealth and remembers [Allah], but the correct view is that it is a description of him and others. The superlative name is used in an attributive sense, meaning “the most God-conscious in his time” or “the most God-conscious among his people” or the like. Or it is said that the superlative name here is stripped of its comparative meaning. But there is no doubt that if someone came and did this action, this description would apply to him. The linguistic rule that… we do not concern ourselves with. The one who gives his wealth and does not seek to be praised is not specific to him. Blessing.
If we said “no one avoids the Fire except the most God-conscious,” it would mean that most people are not in the Fire, and that only one person from this Ummah is in the Fire. If we said “the most God-conscious” is a superlative description specific to Abu Bakr, it would mean that no one from this Ummah avoids the Fire except Abu Bakr, and this is a defective meaning. So the intended meaning of “the most God-conscious” is… be silent, O Muhammad.
So the intended meaning of “the most God-conscious” is either that the superlative name is stripped of its comparative meaning, or that “the most God-conscious” is considered relative to his people or his time or the like. So according to the first possibility, it would be[Al-Layl 92:17-18]
And let not those of virtue among you
وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُولُو الْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْThe Shaykh : What is it? The statement of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He,
And let not those of virtue
وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُولُو الْفَضْلِThe questioner : To the end of the verse, is this a distinction specific to Abu Bakr? As far as I know, it was reported regarding Abu Bakr when he swore not to spend on a copy of the Qur'an. Is the phrase “those who possess excellence” praise for Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and a distinction specific to him, or is it…?
The Shaykh : No, no, this is general. “Those who possess excellence” means those who possess generosity, abundance, wealth, and the like. The issue now is that it was mentioned in the context of Abu Bakr because the incident happened to him. Yes.
The questioner : Some scholars say that our master, the master of the people, is the most God-conscious. They say that when “the most God-conscious” comes in this form, it is specific to one person from the Ummah, and that no one deserves it except Abu Bakr.
The Shaykh : In any case, the verse was revealed regarding Abu Bakr, who gives his wealth and remembers [Allah], but the correct view is that it is a description of him and others. The superlative name is used in an attributive sense, meaning “the most God-conscious in his time” or “the most God-conscious among his people” or the like. Or it is said that the superlative name here is stripped of its comparative meaning. But there is no doubt that if someone came and did this action, this description would apply to him. The linguistic rule that… we do not concern ourselves with. The one who gives his wealth and does not seek to be praised is not specific to him. Blessing.
If we said “no one avoids the Fire except the most God-conscious,” it would mean that most people are not in the Fire, and that only one person from this Ummah is in the Fire. If we said “the most God-conscious” is a superlative description specific to Abu Bakr, it would mean that no one from this Ummah avoids the Fire except Abu Bakr, and this is a defective meaning. So the intended meaning of “the most God-conscious” is… be silent, O Muhammad.
So the intended meaning of “the most God-conscious” is either that the superlative name is stripped of its comparative meaning, or that “the most God-conscious” is considered relative to his people or his time or the like. So according to the first possibility, it would be
(17) But the righteous one will avoid it - (18) [He] who gives [from] his wealth to purify himself
وَسَيُجَنَّبُهَا الْأَتْقَى الَّذِي يُؤْتِي مَالَهُ يَتَزَكَّىٰ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، [871] هل قوله تعالى ﴿ولا يأتل أولو الفضل منكم والسعة﴾ وقوله ﴿وسيجنبها الأتقى﴾خاصتان بأبي بكر الصديق؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.