The ruling on reading the book *Sayd al-Khatir*
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The Shaykh:
Glory be to Allah, and may He bless you.
The questioner:
This questioner says: I am consulting the Honorable Shaykh Salih about some books I am still reading. The first book is *Sayd al-Khatir*. What is your opinion of it?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. *Sayd al-Khatir* is a book by the Imam Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy on him). He named it *Sayd al-Khatir* because he writes in it whatever comes to his mind regarding issues, so he called it "The Catch of the Mind." As for its scholarly value, it contains errors, especially in the area of creed, and it contains great benefits. So, the one who is well-versed in knowledge can benefit from it and avoid the errors in it. As for the one who is not well-versed in knowledge, he should not read it unless he finds a scholar who reads it to him and distinguishes for him between the error and the truth. Yes.
Glory be to Allah, and may He bless you.
The questioner:
This questioner says: I am consulting the Honorable Shaykh Salih about some books I am still reading. The first book is *Sayd al-Khatir*. What is your opinion of it?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. *Sayd al-Khatir* is a book by the Imam Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy on him). He named it *Sayd al-Khatir* because he writes in it whatever comes to his mind regarding issues, so he called it "The Catch of the Mind." As for its scholarly value, it contains errors, especially in the area of creed, and it contains great benefits. So, the one who is well-versed in knowledge can benefit from it and avoid the errors in it. As for the one who is not well-versed in knowledge, he should not read it unless he finds a scholar who reads it to him and distinguishes for him between the error and the truth. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب 29-12-1434هـ — af.org.sa (0:54)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.