Do the bare omissions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) indicate prohibition, such as his omission of kissing the Black Stone outside of the tawaf?
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The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : Here is a question consisting of two parts. The first is the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his bare omissions. Is it said that this omission indicates prohibition, such as his omission of the tawaf, or his omission of kissing the stone during the tawaf? When do we know that the action outside of the tawaf, kissing the stone outside of the tawaf, is [permissible]? And when do we know that the action is specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that the statement is legislation for the Ummah? What is the rule in this? We ask for clarification.
The Shaykh : This is two parts of the question, not questions?
The questioner : Two parts.
The Shaykh : How? When and when and when.
The questioner : The first is the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his bare omission, the omission of kissing the stone outside of the tawaf.
The Shaykh : This is one, and the second?
The questioner : The second is the saying and action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); when do we know that it is specific to him, or that the Ummah is included with him?
The Shaykh : So let us take the first part and stop there. And what was it?
The questioner : It is the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his bare omissions.
The Shaykh : Yes, if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) omitted something that is intended for us to do as an act of worship, then in that case, his omission of that obligatory act of worship, in our opinion, is a Sunnah for us to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And for this reason, some [scholars] divided the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) into a new division, different from the customary division of confirmed Sunnah, recommended Sunnah, and encouraged Sunnah. His division was that he said: The Sunnah is of two types: an active Sunnah and an omissive Sunnah. An active Sunnah is understood, and an omissive Sunnah is the opposite, meaning: what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) omitted from acts of worship, then the Sunnah is to omit it, and that is the worship. The clearest example of this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not call the adhan for the prayer of the two festivals, nor for the prayer for rain, nor even for the prayer of the solar and lunar eclipses. If reason had a role in legislation, it would have said that the most deserving of all these prayers, and perhaps more deserving than the five daily prayers, to have an adhan prescribed for the prayers of the solar and lunar eclipses, to inform people of the occurrence of this great event. Because if an eclipse occurs at night, it is very clear that people are in their sleep or in their gatherings, and so on, so they do not notice the lunar eclipse. And during the day, if the sun is eclipsed, they are in their work, so they are in need of a reminder, a caller, and an informer to tell them of the occurrence of this legal cause for establishing the prayer of the solar or lunar eclipse. But the matter is as Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: So religion is not by opinion. And for this reason, the school of all the scholars who belong to the people of the Sunnah, despite their disagreement on some issues, was against the Mu'tazilah who say that good and evil are determined by reason. So the people of the Sunnah said: The good is what Allah has made good, and the evil is what Allah has made evil, meaning: the good is what Allah has legislated, and what He has omitted, it is not possible to add to that. And this is not hidden from everyone. So we return to the adhan. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not establish the adhan for the prayer of the two festivals. So is it established for us to call the adhan for the prayer of the two festivals? We said: No, based on that beautiful, newly invented division, a new division by a later scholar, but it has no relation to worship. So the omission of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of the adhan for all these prayers whose names were listed just now, so it is our right to omit it, and it is not permissible to worship with it.
And based on that, we return to the example mentioned in the question: kissing the Black Stone. Kissing the Black Stone is an act of worship, as we know that, and indeed it is one of the rituals of Hajj. And as long as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not kiss the Black Stone except during his tawaf, then at that time we say: what he omitted is a Sunnah, and what he did is a Sunnah. This is the answer in my belief, and I believe that no one's adherence to the Sunnah is sound except with this detail.
The questioner : Here is a question consisting of two parts. The first is the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his bare omissions. Is it said that this omission indicates prohibition, such as his omission of the tawaf, or his omission of kissing the stone during the tawaf? When do we know that the action outside of the tawaf, kissing the stone outside of the tawaf, is [permissible]? And when do we know that the action is specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that the statement is legislation for the Ummah? What is the rule in this? We ask for clarification.
The Shaykh : This is two parts of the question, not questions?
The questioner : Two parts.
The Shaykh : How? When and when and when.
The questioner : The first is the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his bare omission, the omission of kissing the stone outside of the tawaf.
The Shaykh : This is one, and the second?
The questioner : The second is the saying and action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); when do we know that it is specific to him, or that the Ummah is included with him?
The Shaykh : So let us take the first part and stop there. And what was it?
The questioner : It is the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his bare omissions.
The Shaykh : Yes, if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) omitted something that is intended for us to do as an act of worship, then in that case, his omission of that obligatory act of worship, in our opinion, is a Sunnah for us to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And for this reason, some [scholars] divided the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) into a new division, different from the customary division of confirmed Sunnah, recommended Sunnah, and encouraged Sunnah. His division was that he said: The Sunnah is of two types: an active Sunnah and an omissive Sunnah. An active Sunnah is understood, and an omissive Sunnah is the opposite, meaning: what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) omitted from acts of worship, then the Sunnah is to omit it, and that is the worship. The clearest example of this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not call the adhan for the prayer of the two festivals, nor for the prayer for rain, nor even for the prayer of the solar and lunar eclipses. If reason had a role in legislation, it would have said that the most deserving of all these prayers, and perhaps more deserving than the five daily prayers, to have an adhan prescribed for the prayers of the solar and lunar eclipses, to inform people of the occurrence of this great event. Because if an eclipse occurs at night, it is very clear that people are in their sleep or in their gatherings, and so on, so they do not notice the lunar eclipse. And during the day, if the sun is eclipsed, they are in their work, so they are in need of a reminder, a caller, and an informer to tell them of the occurrence of this legal cause for establishing the prayer of the solar or lunar eclipse. But the matter is as Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
If religion were by opinion, wiping the bottom of the leather socks would be more deserving than wiping the top of them, but I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) wiping over the leather socks.
لو كان الدين بالرأي لكان مسح أسفل الخف أولى من مسح أعلاه، ولكني رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم يسمح على الخفينAnd based on that, we return to the example mentioned in the question: kissing the Black Stone. Kissing the Black Stone is an act of worship, as we know that, and indeed it is one of the rituals of Hajj. And as long as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not kiss the Black Stone except during his tawaf, then at that time we say: what he omitted is a Sunnah, and what he did is a Sunnah. This is the answer in my belief, and I believe that no one's adherence to the Sunnah is sound except with this detail.