The Ruling on Interpreting Hadiths of Warning
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. The Honorable Shaykh says: Regarding the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "Whoever cheats us is not one of us," is the meaning that he is not among the believers with complete faith? Or is it one of the hadiths of warning that are to be passed on as they came?
The Shaykh:
This is the correct view. One should not engage in interpreting them; they are to be passed on as they came. This is better for the soul, because when you tell people that the meaning of the hadith is that it does not entail disbelief, but rather that his faith is deficient, they understand this matter. But if you do not interpret it and they hear it as it is, it deters them and keeps them away from this thing. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you. Correct.
The Shaykh:
One of the Khawarij came to me and said, "Interpret this hadith with evidence." He told him, "No, it is not an interpretation. The meaning of the hadith is that he is not a believer, meaning he is not a believer with complete faith. So when there is a need, you give the answer. But if you have no need, do not tell people, 'Look, the meaning of the hadith is such and such,' because this diminishes its importance in your eyes."
May Allah reward you. The Honorable Shaykh says: Regarding the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "Whoever cheats us is not one of us," is the meaning that he is not among the believers with complete faith? Or is it one of the hadiths of warning that are to be passed on as they came?
The Shaykh:
This is the correct view. One should not engage in interpreting them; they are to be passed on as they came. This is better for the soul, because when you tell people that the meaning of the hadith is that it does not entail disbelief, but rather that his faith is deficient, they understand this matter. But if you do not interpret it and they hear it as it is, it deters them and keeps them away from this thing. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you. Correct.
The Shaykh:
One of the Khawarij came to me and said, "Interpret this hadith with evidence." He told him, "No, it is not an interpretation. The meaning of the hadith is that he is not a believer, meaning he is not a believer with complete faith. So when there is a need, you give the answer. But if you have no need, do not tell people, 'Look, the meaning of the hadith is such and such,' because this diminishes its importance in your eyes."
Source
شرح حديث: « من غشنا فليس منا » — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.