The benefits of the hadith of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father): “Tell me about a tree that is like a Muslim, which yields its fruit at all times by the permission of its Lord and does not shed its leaves?”

The Shaykh : The author used this entire hadith as the heading for this chapter: “Chapter: If the elder does not speak, is it permissible for the younger to speak?” This is the fiqh of al-Bukhari; he titles the chapter with a question about whether he is allowed to speak, without giving the answer directly. He wants the student of knowledge to derive the answer himself from his study and understanding of the hadith he cited under the chapter. So, what do we understand from this question? Is it permissible for the younger to speak if the elder does not, given that the author cited this authentic hadith under this chapter? It may occur to some readers of this hadith that the answer is no, because Ibn 'Umar did not speak. However, the correct answer is that he is allowed to speak. This is because when the Messenger (peace be upon him) addressed the question with his words: , he did not single out Abu Bakr, 'Umar, or any of the senior Companions. Rather, he made a general address. When the senior Companions did not rush to answer this question, it was then the turn of the younger ones, such as 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar. There is no objection to his rushing to answer the question at that point. This is exactly like a teacher or professor who directs a question to all those present: “What do you say about such and such? Is it permissible or not?” The question is directed to everyone. If it had been directed specifically to the elders, then the etiquette followed by 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar would have been appropriate. There is no harm in 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar adhering to that, but only for as long as Abu Bakr and 'Umar remained silent. He was required to convey the understanding that Allah had bestowed upon him regarding the speech of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and to say: “It is the palm tree, O Messenger of Allah.” We take from al-Bukhari’s question in this chapter—whether the younger may speak if the elder is silent—the affirmative answer, not the negative, from two aspects. The first aspect, which we explained earlier, is that the question was directed to everyone, so when the elder does not speak, the younger should speak. The second aspect is that one of the elders, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the father of 'Abdullah, himself said: “If I had spoken, it would have been more pleasing to me than such and such.” If it were not in accordance with the etiquette of the gathering for the younger to speak when the elder is silent, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab would not have wished for his son to act contrary to the etiquette.
Thus, we derive from this lesson and the previous lesson two etiquettes. The first etiquette is that if there is a gathering, especially one of significance, and there are elders in knowledge and age, it is the etiquette of the younger not to speak before the elders. The other etiquette is that if the elder is unable to speak on what is appropriate for the topic, then the younger should establish himself, his personality, and his knowledge, because the issue is not solely about age; often the matter is the opposite. However, the rule is to respect the elder. If the elder does not speak, the younger should speak, as implied by the statement of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) to his son: “If I had said it, it would have been more pleasing to me than such and such.”