The Importance of Seeking Excuses for People

The Shaykh : And the strange thing is that people know a person as a young man, then they see him as an old man, not as a middle-aged one, and they want him to still be young. This, unfortunately, is evidence of their narrow-mindedness and lack of thought. For example, is it the same for one who is in the prime of his youth, in his strength, and in his middle age, and so on? They do not complain of illness; it is an illness of...The Shaykh : ...and they wonder whyThe Shaykh : he does not come down to pray? Everyone has to be taught, so we must find an excuse for them. As it was said, "Seek an excuse for your brother." They do not think about this. In any case, your question is obligatory, and my answer is more obligatory, and you have known it.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. This distance, oh professor.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : The distance of the house from the mosque.

The Shaykh : No, no, it has no consideration. The criterion for mosques is first hearing the natural adhan, and then the path must be natural.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : For example, a man might be above the mosque by a few meters, but the path is... very long. This has a second ruling: he hears the adhan with his ear, and so on. Also, a strong man might be... and these people added to the Sunnah and used a cane. This is contrary to the Sunnah. And this cane includes the excused and the non-excused, and how does he know who is excused and who is not? If he says to him, "I cannot," he might say, "You could," because he is ignorant. Whereas the Messenger could say to the one who said to him: . He said: "I cannot." He said to him: , because he knew that he was lying in his saying, "I cannot." But after the Messenger, no one knows what is in the hearts of people. Therefore, here, one is content with admonition, and it is not correct for us to judge people with a general ruling. Is so-and-so able to attend the mosque for every prayer but does not do so? If all people were in the image of youth, what about when they are in... another image? This is a ruling that indicates ignorance in reality. When they generalize rulings for all people, this is not permissible in the religion of Allah. In any case, this is what we have clarified: it is an excuse. Even if the matter were related to the rights of people, not the right of the Lord of people, we would say: and the excuse is acceptable among the noble people. But if it is acceptable to them or rejected, it is the same for me.

The questioner : I want to ask you a question, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes.