What is your opinion on preferring 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz over Mu'awiyah, excluding the status of being a Companion?
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The questioner : O Shaykh, what is your opinion on preferring 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz over Mu'awiyah, excluding the status of being a Companion?
The Shaykh : And what is the benefit of this research other than conjecture? If we exclude the status of being a Companion, did we exclude a known virtue whose weight is known, or is it unknown?
The questioner : It is known.
The Shaykh : Yes, I tell you, what is the proportion of this virtue? I mean, the proportion of the virtue of being a Companion is, for example, equal to a qintar of good deeds, and the virtue of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz is equal to two qintars. Do you see the deeds of Mu'awiyah in his governance of the Ummah, his administration of the state, and his increase in Islamic conquests? Are we able to know what their proportion is in terms of virtue?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : Yes, even if we assume the virtue of being a Companion, the truth is that we do not know it either. Therefore, I believe that delving into such a matter is a form of artificiality and excessive strictness in religion, because no ruling or creed follows from it.
The questioner : The reason, O Shaykh, is that there is a disagreement among students of knowledge regarding the preference of the two Shaykhs, and each presents his argument. So I asked in the context of
The Shaykh : I advise them, my brother, not to research things that have no fruit, whether you are the one asking or they are the ones asking. Yes, O Abu Yasir.
The Shaykh : And what is the benefit of this research other than conjecture? If we exclude the status of being a Companion, did we exclude a known virtue whose weight is known, or is it unknown?
The questioner : It is known.
The Shaykh : Yes, I tell you, what is the proportion of this virtue? I mean, the proportion of the virtue of being a Companion is, for example, equal to a qintar of good deeds, and the virtue of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz is equal to two qintars. Do you see the deeds of Mu'awiyah in his governance of the Ummah, his administration of the state, and his increase in Islamic conquests? Are we able to know what their proportion is in terms of virtue?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : Yes, even if we assume the virtue of being a Companion, the truth is that we do not know it either. Therefore, I believe that delving into such a matter is a form of artificiality and excessive strictness in religion, because no ruling or creed follows from it.
The questioner : The reason, O Shaykh, is that there is a disagreement among students of knowledge regarding the preference of the two Shaykhs, and each presents his argument. So I asked in the context of
So ask the people of knowledge if you do not know.
فاسألوا أهل الذكرThe Shaykh : I advise them, my brother, not to research things that have no fruit, whether you are the one asking or they are the ones asking. Yes, O Abu Yasir.