Explanation of the athar of al-Hasan al-Basri, who said: "By Allah, no people have ever consulted one another but that they were guided to the best of what was present with them." Then he recited: "And their affair is [decided by] consultation among them."
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The Shaykh : And to clarify the virtue of consultation, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) cited another athar following the previous one, which he narrated with his authentic chain from al-Hasan, who said: "By Allah, no people have ever consulted one another but that they were guided to the best of what was present with them." Then he recited: .
The al-Hasan referred to here is al-Hasan al-Basri, the Tabi'i. It may occur to the reader of such an athar that it is al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, but that is not the intended meaning; rather, as we said, the intended person is al-Hasan al-Basri. How is this known? There is no way to know this except for one who has knowledge of the biographies of the men and narrators of the athar and hadith, and those who narrated from these narrators, such as students and seekers of knowledge. Here, for example, the narrator of this athar is al-Thawri, who said: "From al-Thawri, from al-Hasan." If we know who this al-Thawri is, we discover through him the identity of the al-Hasan mentioned in this athar. How do we know this al-Thawri? We know him first from the one who narrated from him. This is a branch of hadith science that is neglected today in the Islamic world, except for what is rare and few. The narrator here from al-Thawri is Hammad ibn Zayd. When we return to Hammad ibn Zayd in his biography, they list his sheikhs from whom he received hadith, and we find among his sheikhs al-Thawri ibn Yahya. Thus, it is established that the intended al-Thawri here, who was not specified by lineage, is al-Thawri ibn Yahya, as he is mentioned among the sheikhs of Hammad ibn Zayd. When it is established for us that this al-Thawri is ibn Yahya, we return.
The questioner: Ibn Yahya al-Nabbi?
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner: Al-Nabbi?
The Shaykh : No, no. This al-Hasan is a Tabi'i, and the one who narrated from him is a Tabi' al-Tabi'in. All of these are from after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So, when we discover the identity of al-Thawri and that it is al-Thawri ibn Yahya, we return to his biography, because we find many narrators named al-Thawri, so it is necessary to specify the intended al-Thawri here. When we returned to the biography of Hammad—and now is the time for a lesson, not for joking—when we returned to the biography of Hammad ibn Zayd, we found among his sheikhs al-Thawri ibn Yahya. We returned to the biography of al-Thawri ibn Yahya and found that he narrates from al-Hasan al-Basri. Thus, it became clear to us that the intended person in this athar is al-Hasan al-Basri. This is a brief word regarding the science of hadith chains. And although I feel that you are not in need of such a word, first: due to our need to clarify who is intended by al-Hasan here, and second: knowledge of the matter, not ignorance of it, so we mention this, as some of the listeners may benefit.
So al-Hasan al-Basri says, in order to clarify the virtue of consultation, he swears by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and says: "By Allah, no people have ever consulted one another but that they were guided to the best of what was present with them. Then he recited:" That is, he takes from this noble verse And what is the benefit of consultation? It is reaching the best of the two opinions and the most truthful of the two statements from this and that. This is al-Hasan al-Basri's understanding of the virtue of consultation. So he swore by Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and he is truthful in that, that no people have ever consulted one another, meaning that no one of them has ever consulted the other, but that they were guided to the best opinion of those who were with them, meaning to the best of the opinions and statements present with them.
It may occur to the mind, and someone may say: The author established a chapter here on consultation, meaning the virtue of consultation and seeking advice. Why did he not mention the famous hadith on the tongues of people: "No one who seeks guidance (istikhara) has ever failed, and no one who consults has ever regretted, and no one who is moderate has ever been in difficulty"? This is a famous hadith recorded in many books. The answer is that it is a hadith with a weak chain. It appears that Imam al-Bukhari, because of this weakness in it, did not narrate the hadith despite his explicit statement of the virtue of consultation, where he said:.
But he mentioned later another chapter that branches off from the first chapter.
And their affair is [to be decided by] consultation among themselves.
وأمرهم شورى بينهمThe al-Hasan referred to here is al-Hasan al-Basri, the Tabi'i. It may occur to the reader of such an athar that it is al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, but that is not the intended meaning; rather, as we said, the intended person is al-Hasan al-Basri. How is this known? There is no way to know this except for one who has knowledge of the biographies of the men and narrators of the athar and hadith, and those who narrated from these narrators, such as students and seekers of knowledge. Here, for example, the narrator of this athar is al-Thawri, who said: "From al-Thawri, from al-Hasan." If we know who this al-Thawri is, we discover through him the identity of the al-Hasan mentioned in this athar. How do we know this al-Thawri? We know him first from the one who narrated from him. This is a branch of hadith science that is neglected today in the Islamic world, except for what is rare and few. The narrator here from al-Thawri is Hammad ibn Zayd. When we return to Hammad ibn Zayd in his biography, they list his sheikhs from whom he received hadith, and we find among his sheikhs al-Thawri ibn Yahya. Thus, it is established that the intended al-Thawri here, who was not specified by lineage, is al-Thawri ibn Yahya, as he is mentioned among the sheikhs of Hammad ibn Zayd. When it is established for us that this al-Thawri is ibn Yahya, we return.
The questioner: Ibn Yahya al-Nabbi?
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner: Al-Nabbi?
The Shaykh : No, no. This al-Hasan is a Tabi'i, and the one who narrated from him is a Tabi' al-Tabi'in. All of these are from after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So, when we discover the identity of al-Thawri and that it is al-Thawri ibn Yahya, we return to his biography, because we find many narrators named al-Thawri, so it is necessary to specify the intended al-Thawri here. When we returned to the biography of Hammad—and now is the time for a lesson, not for joking—when we returned to the biography of Hammad ibn Zayd, we found among his sheikhs al-Thawri ibn Yahya. We returned to the biography of al-Thawri ibn Yahya and found that he narrates from al-Hasan al-Basri. Thus, it became clear to us that the intended person in this athar is al-Hasan al-Basri. This is a brief word regarding the science of hadith chains. And although I feel that you are not in need of such a word, first: due to our need to clarify who is intended by al-Hasan here, and second: knowledge of the matter, not ignorance of it, so we mention this, as some of the listeners may benefit.
So al-Hasan al-Basri says, in order to clarify the virtue of consultation, he swears by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and says: "By Allah, no people have ever consulted one another but that they were guided to the best of what was present with them. Then he recited:
And their affair is [to be decided by] consultation among themselves.
وأمرهم شورى بينهمAnd their affair is [to be decided by] consultation among themselves.
وأمرهم شورى بينهمIt may occur to the mind, and someone may say: The author established a chapter here on consultation, meaning the virtue of consultation and seeking advice. Why did he not mention the famous hadith on the tongues of people: "No one who seeks guidance (istikhara) has ever failed, and no one who consults has ever regretted, and no one who is moderate has ever been in difficulty"? This is a famous hadith recorded in many books. The answer is that it is a hadith with a weak chain. It appears that Imam al-Bukhari, because of this weakness in it, did not narrate the hadith despite his explicit statement of the virtue of consultation, where he said:
And no one who consults has ever failed
وما خاب من استشارBut he mentioned later another chapter that branches off from the first chapter.