The Meaning of the Ummah of the Call and the Ummah of Response in the Hadith: “Four Things in My Ummah”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Four things in my ummah.” Does this refer to the ummah of the call or the ummah of response?
Answer:
It refers to the ummah of response. The ummah of the call is greater than this; it includes major shirk (associating partners with Allah). Although Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), as found in *Masail Khalal*, does not agree with the view of the ummah of the call, he states that it is only the ummah of response. We do not attribute the disbelievers to being the ummah of Muhammad, because that would be an honor for them. They are not of the ummah of Muhammad unless they enter his religion and respond to it. This is a correct statement if you reflect on it. Yes.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Four things in my ummah.” Does this refer to the ummah of the call or the ummah of response?
Answer:
It refers to the ummah of response. The ummah of the call is greater than this; it includes major shirk (associating partners with Allah). Although Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), as found in *Masail Khalal*, does not agree with the view of the ummah of the call, he states that it is only the ummah of response. We do not attribute the disbelievers to being the ummah of Muhammad, because that would be an honor for them. They are not of the ummah of Muhammad unless they enter his religion and respond to it. This is a correct statement if you reflect on it. Yes.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب ما جاء في الاستسقاء بالأنواء — islamhouse.com (1:05:50)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.