The honorable Shaykh, peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings. May Allah reward you. What is your honorable opinion regarding the hadith of Ibn 'Umar: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)..."

The questioner : The honorable Shaykh, peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings. May Allah reward you. What is your honorable opinion regarding the hadith of Ibn 'Umar , given its apparent contradiction with the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadiths? He recited and said: ?

The Shaykh : In my opinion, this type of situation should not be called a contradiction, because a general text is not always to be understood in its full generality and comprehensiveness. We mentioned a clear example earlier, which is his saying (peace be upon him): . We clarified, what is this adhan for 'Isha'?

The questioner : 'Isha.

The Shaykh : We clarified that this generality is not to be acted upon because the practice was not carried out in accordance with it. So, do you think the generality of his saying (peace be upon him): was acted upon by the Salaf? The truth is that the principle I mentioned earlier is a very important principle, from which we can deduce matters that many people think are acts of worship, but they are not acts of worship in any way. So, was the generality in: acted upon by the Salaf or not? If the Salaf acted upon it, the answer is a cautious, precautionary one. If the Salaf acted upon it, then the generality stands fully, even if a person to whom Allah has blessed with a beard drags it on the ground, just as the Salaf did and as we do. But if the Salaf did not act upon this generality, is it permissible to act upon it? We knew the answer earlier: No. Any generality that was not acted upon means that our understanding of the text in a way that obligates us to do something the Salaf did not do is evidence that our understanding is wrong. The matter in this hadith is exactly of this nature. Either the Salaf did not act upon this absolute and comprehensive statement , but rather their practice was contrary to it, and among them was Ibn 'Umar, who is one of the narrators of this hadith. Here lies a very important benefit, which scholars mention in this context: "The opinion of the narrator, or the understanding of the narrator, is more knowledgeable about his narration than anyone else." So, when we hear this hadith after fourteen centuries , it comes to our mind that the intention is absolute trimming without limits. But if we remember the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): , and his saying in the other wording: , then we say: We, after fourteen centuries, can understand this hadith better than the one who spoke it. The one who spoke it is the Messenger of Allah, and the narrator is 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar.
What was under the handful, Ibn 'Umar would take. So, in this situation, if he were alone in this matter, we could not say he contradicted the hadith of the Messenger, because the contradiction would be manifest if he said, for example, "Do not take anything from the beard" and then took some. That would be a contradiction. But is a general text that can be understood with this absoluteness or with that specific limitation that Ibn 'Umar practiced. I said this if Ibn 'Umar were alone in this taking. But how is it when it is reported from others of the Salaf, including Abu Hurayrah, Mujahid, and Ibrahim ibn Yazid al-Nakha'i, who said: "They used to take from their beards". Ibrahim ibn Yazid is a Tabi'i, the famous al-Nakha'i. "They used to take" means the Companions, and nothing is reported from anyone else that contradicts what they held in this matter. Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi says in his book *Al-Mughni*: "It is established that there is no disagreement, so it is a consensus for which no contradictor is known". He says this sometimes, may Allah have mercy on him, regarding a single Companion if he says something or does something and no contradictor is known for him; then it is in the position of consensus, meaning it is a proof. If we consider what follows: First, Ibn 'Umar is the narrator of the hadith, so he is more knowledgeable about his narration than anyone else. Second, Ibn 'Umar was the most eager of the Companions, absolutely, in following the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in his actions, even in actions that some scholars call non-worship acts, but rather ordinary actions. It was the custom of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sometimes to unbutton his shirt, so Ibn 'Umar did that. He was asked why? He said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah doing that." Perhaps the Messenger was in a hot atmosphere like this room now, so he unbuttoned one or two buttons. This is not a matter of worship; it is a matter of custom. Or perhaps the general weather outside the building, as is the case in Arab countries, especially in summer, was hot, so he (peace be upon him) wanted to cool off and refresh himself, so he unbuttoned some buttons. This has no relation to worship. Nevertheless, Ibn 'Umar followed the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) even in these things. He has other examples mentioned by al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri at the beginning of his book *Al-Targhib*, in the chapter on the Sunnah, the Book of the Sunnah. If this is the case of Ibn 'Umar in his eagerness to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) even in ordinary matters, how could he contradict the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)? How can one imagine that he would contradict him in a matter of worship, an order issued from his heart ? That is the farthest thing from the truth if Ibn 'Umar were alone in this matter. But how is it when we have mentioned that there were other people with him from the Companions and the Tabi'un? Then the matter mentioned in the hadith is not absolute, so it is not correct to say that Ibn 'Umar contradicted the hadith of the Messenger.

The questioner : The honorable Shaykh, you have taught us precision in all matters. I draw your attention here: in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, it says "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to take from his beard." It attributes this to Ibn 'Umar.

The Shaykh : No, it is you.

The questioner : We want you to point out in this matter: it says "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)."

The Shaykh : No, it is not correct. If it were correct, the matter would be settled. This is a hadith in which there is a man of severe weakness, and therefore we included it in *Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah*. The wording of the hadith is: . If this hadith were authentic, the debate in this matter would have ended. But the hadith is not authentic, and therefore we returned to observing the practice of the Salaf and said that their practice indicates that this generality or this absolute matter is not absolute.

The questioner : Was the action of Ibn 'Umar only in Hajj, or in other matters as well?

The Shaykh : No, in Hajj and 'Umrah, and in other matters as well. The other narrations that came from some of the Companions are not related to Hajj. Yes.