Encouraging the pursuit of knowledge by explaining its virtue.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: It is pleasing to us, and praise be to Allah, that people are turning to knowledge, acquiring it, establishing its foundations, and deriving its branches. This is not just here in Unayzah, but in other places as well. We have seen the great enthusiasm of people for receiving knowledge in the Sacred Mosque and in every place. This is a sign of good, so we ask Allah the Exalted to increase us and you in beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds.
On this night, some people suggested that this meeting be about matters related to buying and selling, leasing and hiring, endowments, and others, according to what the time allows of transactions. This is a good suggestion, because Islamic jurisprudence includes what is an individual obligation and what is a collective obligation. Knowledge does not fall outside of these two obligations: it is either an individual obligation or a collective obligation. The individual obligation is upon everyone who needs to know what they intend to do of the acts of worship. For example, if you want to pray, you must know what to say in your prayer, what to do in your prayer, and how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, so that you worship Allah with understanding. If you want to give zakah and you have wealth, you must know what are the zakah-eligible assets, what is the amount of their zakah, and where it is to be distributed. This is necessary so that you do not leave off zakah while you do not know, or leave off the zakah of what has reached the minimum threshold, or distribute the zakah in other than its proper place. Likewise, Hajj: if you want to perform Hajj and 'Umrah, you must understand how 'Umrah is performed and how Hajj is performed, so that you worship Allah with understanding.
As for what a person does not need, such as a poor man: does the poor man need to learn the rulings of zakah? Yes? He does not need to, why? Because he has no wealth. For this reason, we may say to Zayd among people: you must learn the rulings of zakah, and to 'Amr: you do not have to, because Zayd—answer me—has wealth, and 'Amr does not have wealth. But learning the Shari'ah in general is a collective obligation. Therefore, we congratulate the students of knowledge who are studying the science of the Shari'ah, for they are fulfilling one of the obligations of Allah. There is no doubt that the obligation has its great reward. Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: in the Qudsi hadith. Allah the Exalted said in the Qudsi hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 6502 And so, if a questioner asked you: The two rak'ahs of Fajr, meaning: the two rak'ahs of the Fajr prayer, or two rak'ahs you perform as tahajjud at night, which is better? Which is better? The first, because it is obligatory and the second is voluntary, but Allah said: Sahih al-Bukhari 6502.
Do the rulings of buying and selling oblige everyone? Yes? We may say: No, and we may say: Yes. Does not each one of us buy bread, buy a staple food, buy a garment, and buy a car from one whom Allah has enriched? So we must know. Now, every one of us may go to the grocer and buy items for the house. He must know. If the grocer wrote on the board: every loaf for one riyal, for example, is this sale valid if you took a loaf and placed a riyal? Or is it not valid? The grocer wrote every loaf for one riyal, so you came and placed the riyal and took the loaf. Is it permissible or not permissible? Answer, everyone? In your reality now, do you do this or not? Good, did you not know that some scholars say: this is forbidden? They say: this is forbidden, because there is no formula, there is no "I sold" or "I bought." But the correct opinion is that it is lawful. So we must know.
As for what follows: It is pleasing to us, and praise be to Allah, that people are turning to knowledge, acquiring it, establishing its foundations, and deriving its branches. This is not just here in Unayzah, but in other places as well. We have seen the great enthusiasm of people for receiving knowledge in the Sacred Mosque and in every place. This is a sign of good, so we ask Allah the Exalted to increase us and you in beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds.
On this night, some people suggested that this meeting be about matters related to buying and selling, leasing and hiring, endowments, and others, according to what the time allows of transactions. This is a good suggestion, because Islamic jurisprudence includes what is an individual obligation and what is a collective obligation. Knowledge does not fall outside of these two obligations: it is either an individual obligation or a collective obligation. The individual obligation is upon everyone who needs to know what they intend to do of the acts of worship. For example, if you want to pray, you must know what to say in your prayer, what to do in your prayer, and how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, so that you worship Allah with understanding. If you want to give zakah and you have wealth, you must know what are the zakah-eligible assets, what is the amount of their zakah, and where it is to be distributed. This is necessary so that you do not leave off zakah while you do not know, or leave off the zakah of what has reached the minimum threshold, or distribute the zakah in other than its proper place. Likewise, Hajj: if you want to perform Hajj and 'Umrah, you must understand how 'Umrah is performed and how Hajj is performed, so that you worship Allah with understanding.
As for what a person does not need, such as a poor man: does the poor man need to learn the rulings of zakah? Yes? He does not need to, why? Because he has no wealth. For this reason, we may say to Zayd among people: you must learn the rulings of zakah, and to 'Amr: you do not have to, because Zayd—answer me—has wealth, and 'Amr does not have wealth. But learning the Shari'ah in general is a collective obligation. Therefore, we congratulate the students of knowledge who are studying the science of the Shari'ah, for they are fulfilling one of the obligations of Allah. There is no doubt that the obligation has its great reward. Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said:
No servant draws near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him
ما تقرب إليAnd the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him
ما تقرب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضته عليهand My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (praying or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him
ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبهDo the rulings of buying and selling oblige everyone? Yes? We may say: No, and we may say: Yes. Does not each one of us buy bread, buy a staple food, buy a garment, and buy a car from one whom Allah has enriched? So we must know. Now, every one of us may go to the grocer and buy items for the house. He must know. If the grocer wrote on the board: every loaf for one riyal, for example, is this sale valid if you took a loaf and placed a riyal? Or is it not valid? The grocer wrote every loaf for one riyal, so you came and placed the riyal and took the loaf. Is it permissible or not permissible? Answer, everyone? In your reality now, do you do this or not? Good, did you not know that some scholars say: this is forbidden? They say: this is forbidden, because there is no formula, there is no "I sold" or "I bought." But the correct opinion is that it is lawful. So we must know.