You say in your speech that this action was not done by the Companions; is this a condition for the permissibility of actions?
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The questioner : He says:The Shaykh : Nasser (may Allah preserve him), I said in my speech that this action was not done by the Companions; is this a condition for the permissibility of actions? And you often cite the actions of the Companions, the Salaf, as evidence. What is the reason? Then a related question: Is a Companion a proof by his action?
The Shaykh : This, too, has a long discussion, and it is recorded. When we say that we call to the Book and the Sunnah and the practice of the righteous Salaf, we have spoken about it more than once. We understand the Qur'an and the Sunnah in light of the understanding of the Salaf of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. And because the Companions are not only more knowledgeable than us, but also much more pious than us, and further removed from following the desires of the souls, which the later generations are often and very often afflicted with. So, if we see that they unanimously left something that some of the later generations think is an act of worship, we say it is impossible for this to be an act of worship if the righteous Salaf left it. For this reason, we cite the Companions as evidence in what they agreed upon, whether in leaving it or doing it. As for when they differed, as we have also explained, there is room for the Muslim to take any statement made by some of the Companions. As for when it is reported from one Companion, and no one is known to have contradicted him, then the view hesitates between citing it as evidence or using it as support. And the truth that I know from my personal experience is that the researcher, sometimes, feels reassured by the action or statement of a Companion, even if we do not find support for it. And sometimes the soul does not feel reassured about citing the statement or action of that Companion as evidence, due to the clarity of some signs in the air that this opinion is his and not from the Sunnah. We mention examples of this on many occasions in response to specific questions.
The Shaykh : This, too, has a long discussion, and it is recorded. When we say that we call to the Book and the Sunnah and the practice of the righteous Salaf, we have spoken about it more than once. We understand the Qur'an and the Sunnah in light of the understanding of the Salaf of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. And because the Companions are not only more knowledgeable than us, but also much more pious than us, and further removed from following the desires of the souls, which the later generations are often and very often afflicted with. So, if we see that they unanimously left something that some of the later generations think is an act of worship, we say it is impossible for this to be an act of worship if the righteous Salaf left it. For this reason, we cite the Companions as evidence in what they agreed upon, whether in leaving it or doing it. As for when they differed, as we have also explained, there is room for the Muslim to take any statement made by some of the Companions. As for when it is reported from one Companion, and no one is known to have contradicted him, then the view hesitates between citing it as evidence or using it as support. And the truth that I know from my personal experience is that the researcher, sometimes, feels reassured by the action or statement of a Companion, even if we do not find support for it. And sometimes the soul does not feel reassured about citing the statement or action of that Companion as evidence, due to the clarity of some signs in the air that this opinion is his and not from the Sunnah. We mention examples of this on many occasions in response to specific questions.
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