What is the difference between the commentary (sharh) and the annotation (ta'liq) in the Shaykh's books?

The questioner : We will adhere to what the Shaykh ordered regarding having two questions for males and one for females. Your Eminence the Shaykh! Several books have been published for your excellence that have received wide acceptance, and Allah has made them beneficial. However, it is observed that some of them, such as *Sharh al-Mumti'* (The Delightful Commentary), do not link to contemporary fiqh issues and detail them. It is also observed that they were published in a period, then began to be delayed in publication, such as *Sharh al-Mumti'* and *Sharh Riyad al-Saliheen* (Commentary on the Gardens of the Righteous), which fills a large gap in a very important aspect that few of our scholars have spoken about, as well as the collection of fatwas.

The Shaykh : The books published for us are divided into two categories: one that is edited and written with the known method of classification and authorship, such as *Tashil al-Fara'id* (Facilitating Inheritance), *Sharh Jumu'at al-'Aqidah* (Commentary on the Compilation of Creed), and *Mawadif Ramadan* (Ramadan Sessions) or *Majalis Ramadan* (Ramadan Gatherings); these are clear and have no issues. Other books were recorded during the explanation to the students, then transcribed in writing. Then what? These contain some things. Sometimes the construction of the speech is not appropriate, and sometimes there is a deficiency in important issues. And sometimes there is a correction. We print. It needs review, and we have started, praise be to Allah, in reviewing it.
But the one who says that the annotation on *Riyad al-Saliheen* is a commentary (sharh) is mistaken, because it is not a commentary. *Riyad al-Saliheen* is read to us after the 'Asr prayer for the general public, not for the students of knowledge as mentioned in the introduction; rather, it is for the general public. The style directed to the general public is not the style directed to the student of knowledge. Then, it contains hadiths that we left out in *Riyad al-Saliheen* itself. In truth, it should be called the annotation on *Riyad al-Saliheen* and not the commentary, because if it is called a commentary and then a person looks at it and does not find a commentary in the sense of the word, he will attribute the author to foolishness. Because this is not a commentary in reality; it is an annotation. Sometimes a hadith passes by us that refers to a specific thing, so we elaborate on it and dress it in the garment of admonition and reminder, because we deliver it to the general public, not to seekers of knowledge. But it has, praise be to Allah, received acceptance, and people have turned to it, and perhaps they read it in the mosques, and this is a blessing from Allah upon everyone. I thank Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, for it. As for *Sharh al-Mumti'*, according to what I have heard of the people's enthusiasm for it and their benefit from it, praise be to Allah, it needs great care because it is extensive. In some places, you find rare research that you hardly see in other books. As for the contemporary, newly occurring issues, yes, we have not addressed them. We are explaining a specific book. We are not authoring something independent so that we can act as we wish. Rather, it is a specific book that we explain and clarify what branches from it. Therefore, you will not find in it anything of the contemporary discussions. But the fiqh rules and the words of the previous jurists are sufficient to clarify the ruling of these newly occurring issues.