Combining the concealment of knowledge for the sake of public benefit and Mu'adh's disclosure of it upon his death
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Question:
Say, Professor, I bear witness to the combination of the permissibility of withholding knowledge for the sake of public benefit and the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) urging of Mu'adh to do so, and Mu'adh's (may Allah be pleased with him) reporting of what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded him to do at the end of his life.
Answer:
Yes, knowledge is concealed for the sake of public benefit. If one fears that its dissemination will lead to misunderstanding—that the listeners will misunderstand it, or that they will find it strange—then it is concealed from them. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), or Ibn Mas'ud, said: "You will not inform a people of something they do not understand without it becoming a trial for some of them." If they do not understand it, or if they understand it in a way other than what was intended, then you do not inform them of it. Or they may find it strange and deny it; they find it strange and deny it, even though it is the truth. You do not inform them of this because the harm is greater. And what Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) did when death approached him: when death came to him, he disclosed the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)Sahih al-Bukhari 2856 regarding this phrase: "No one who associates nothing with Him will be punished," meaning that even if he has sins other than shirk, Allah will not punish him. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) feared that people would become lax in their sins, saying, "As long as He forgives what is contrary to [shirk], we will take ease for ourselves in them." Therefore, concealing knowledge is permissible for the sake of public benefit because they would understand it in a way other than what is required. So Mu'adh concealed it for this reason. He said: "They will become negligent; they will become negligent based on this hadith and become lax in their sins." Yes, but when death approached him, he feared that he would die while having some knowledge that he had not clarified. Yes.
Say, Professor, I bear witness to the combination of the permissibility of withholding knowledge for the sake of public benefit and the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) urging of Mu'adh to do so, and Mu'adh's (may Allah be pleased with him) reporting of what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded him to do at the end of his life.
Answer:
Yes, knowledge is concealed for the sake of public benefit. If one fears that its dissemination will lead to misunderstanding—that the listeners will misunderstand it, or that they will find it strange—then it is concealed from them. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), or Ibn Mas'ud, said: "You will not inform a people of something they do not understand without it becoming a trial for some of them." If they do not understand it, or if they understand it in a way other than what was intended, then you do not inform them of it. Or they may find it strange and deny it; they find it strange and deny it, even though it is the truth. You do not inform them of this because the harm is greater. And what Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) did when death approached him: when death came to him, he disclosed the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)
Allah's right on His slaves is that they should worship Him (Alone) and should not worship any besides Him. And slave's right on Allah is that He should not punish him who worships none besides Him.
حق الله على العباد أن يعبدوه ولا يشركوا به شيئا وحق العباد على الله ألا يعذب من لا يشرك به شيئا"Do not inform them." He said: "Shall I not inform the people, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Do not inform them."
لا تخبرهم قال أفلا أخبر الناس يا رسول الله؟ قال لا تخبرهم
Source
لقاء مفتوح 07-09-1435هـ — alfawzan.live (24:43)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.