A word from the Shaykh on explaining beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds and their conditions

The Shaykh : The praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own selves and from the evil of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever He misleads, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. , , . As for what follows:
... I wish to comment on the opening remarks of the session and the good opinion the speaker held of me. I say, following the example of the Rightly Guided Caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him): "O Allah, do not hold me accountable for what they say, make me better than what they think, and forgive me what they do not know." My address concerns, briefly, so that we may free up time for answering questions, beneficial knowledge and righteous action. As for beneficial knowledge, two conditions are required of it. The first is that it be derived from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Book and the Sunnah are two matters known to all Muslims, despite the great or small differences among them in understanding some of their texts. However, what I wish to dwell on regarding the Book and the Sunnah is two matters: one concerning the Qur'an and the other concerning the Sunnah. As for the first, it is the characteristic of the student of knowledge that his constant practice is to understand the Qur'an in light of the Sunnah. This is because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) addressed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Noble Qur'an with His saying: . - Please excuse me, let us pause for a moment.
Therefore, the student of beneficial knowledge must rely on the Sunnah in his understanding of the Qur'an. This is a point agreed upon, praise be to Allah, by all Muslims, despite their differences in the method of establishing the Sunnah, which is not the subject at hand. If it is agreed upon by all Muslims that the Qur'an must be interpreted by the Sunnah, then the completion of beneficial knowledge is that we seek out the authentic Sunnah. This is a point, or a matter, that the majority of scholars in the present age neglect. They transmit from the Sunnah what they come across without awareness, or without taking caution that what they are transmitting from the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) may not be authentically attributed to him. In that case, they fall into two prohibitions, one affecting the other.
The first prohibition is attributing words to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said in the mass-transmitted hadith: , and in another narration: . Therefore, it is obligatory for everyone who is eager for beneficial knowledge, whether he is one of the scholars referred to with the finger, or a student of knowledge beginning in the pursuit of this knowledge, that it is not permissible for them to transmit a hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) unless they have established its authentic attribution to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). In that case, the student of knowledge is on the correct methodology in his pursuit of knowledge; because first, he relies on the Book and the Sunnah, then he interprets the Qur'an by the Sunnah, and finally, he relies only on the authentic Sunnah, excluding what is not authentic from it. Second, he is responsible for the hadiths he publishes among the people that are not, in reality, authentically attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This is beneficial knowledge.
However, we usually add to the two previous sources, the Book and the Sunnah, a third thing, which is very necessary in our time due to the differences in perspectives, derivation, citation, and understanding from the Book and the Sunnah. So that the scholar or student of knowledge may be safe in his interpretation of the Book and the Sunnah from leaning to the right or the left, and from falling into misguidance without intending or realizing it, he must add to his reliance on the Book and the Sunnah a third thing: namely, relying on what the righteous Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them) were upon. This is because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked in the hadith of the sects, in which it is stated that the Muslims , and when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about this saved sect from the Fire, he said: . This is one narration; the saved sect is the community. In another narration, he said: . We find in both narrations that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not limit himself to saying the Book and the Sunnah, but rather he said first: , then he said: . Why did he mention "and my Companions"? Why did he not suffice with saying: ?
The truth is that this would suffice, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . So, whoever holds fast to the Book and the Sunnah will not go astray. But do you not know with me that all Islamic sects, whether they were old and some of them perished, or were old and continued until our time, or are new in our time under many names and lineages, do you not believe with me that there is no sect among them that disavows the Book and the Sunnah? There is none, praise be to Allah, who openly or explicitly declares that he is not upon the Book and the Sunnah. Otherwise, in that case, he would not be considered among the Islamic sects. Rather, all sects, however deeply rooted in misguidance they may be, whether they are from the old sects or the new ones, as I mentioned in detail earlier, none of them exists except those who claim our claim, which is that they are upon the Book and the Sunnah.
Take, for example, the sect, which is perhaps the last sect to deviate from the Book and the Sunnah among the contemporary and modern sects: namely, the Qadiyyani group, whose origin was from a village in India named Qadian. From it emerged that man who was called "Mirza Ghulam Ahmad al-Qadiyyani." Then he altered his name for a purpose of his own, which is not the subject of our discussion now, and called himself Ahmad, in order to apply to his name the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) on the tongue of Isa: , meaning: Ahmad al-Qadiyyani!! And his name was only "Mirza Ghulam Ahmad al-Qadiyyani." Mirza is a title, while his name was Ghulam Ahmad, meaning: servant of Ahmad. So he removed the word servant (i.e., Ghulam) and kept the name Ahmad to apply that verse to himself. And how vast is the difference between them! He is one of the liars and deceptions about whom our Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us with his saying: . This man was able, by one means or another, to lead many people, not only from the non-Arabs, but also from the Arabs, to deviate from the Book and the Sunnah. They believed in him, accepted him, and followed him, and they brought forth beliefs that contradict the consensus of the Muslims. We are not, again, in the position of discussing that, but the point is that these people also say with us, "the Book and the Sunnah." Did their claim of the Book and the Sunnah benefit them in any way, when they have contradicted the Book and the Sunnah in many of their texts?
The point here now is how do they reconcile their followers of their claimed prophet with the saying of the Lord of the Worlds: ? Here the importance of two things becomes apparent to you: the Sunnah, and interpreting the Sunnah and the Qur'an in accordance with what the righteous Salaf were upon: interpreting the Qur'an by the Sunnah and interpreting the Sunnah by what the righteous Salaf were upon. These Qadiyyanis did not disbelieve in His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): , rather they believed in the verse as we believe. Likewise, they did not deny the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that came in "al-Sahihayn" from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said to Ali: . They also believed in this authentic hadith. But they disbelieved in the meaning of the verse and the hadith together, because they interpreted them with an interpretation other than their true interpretation, and explained them contrary to what our righteous Salaf and those who followed them until this day were upon.
In their interpretation of the verse , they said: “We believe with you that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is as stated in the Qur'an: , but we disagree with your interpretation of the verse. We understand its meaning to be ‘the seal of the prophets,’ meaning the adornment of the prophets. Just as a ring is the adornment of the finger, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) is the adornment of the prophets. Thus, they believed in the Qur'anic wording but disbelieved in its meaning, so their belief in the Qur'an did not benefit them in any way. Therefore, in their interpretation of this verse or that hadith, they are most like the disbelieving Christians who try to extract from the Qur'an evidence to support their misguidance and their belief that 'Isa (peace be upon him) is the son of Allah. Exalted is Allah above what the wrongdoers say, greatly. Now you have come to know their interpretation, or rather their denial (ta'til), of the verse's indication that there is no prophet after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). So how did they interpret the authentic hadith: ?”
They said: “There is no prophet with me,” meaning: after they interpreted the hadith with this invalid interpretation, they said: “The implication of the hadith is that there is a prophet after me.” Thus, they also denied (ta'til) other explicit hadiths, and they found no interpretation for them except to reject them; such as his saying (peace be upon him): . They rejected this hadith because, despite their skill in interpretation, or rather in denial (ta'til), they found no room to interpret this text. So what did they do with it? They discarded it and did not believe in it.
The point of this example is that all Islamic sects, old and new, agree with us in affirming belief in the Book and the Sunnah, but they differ from us in that they do not restrict themselves to the path of the Muslims mentioned by the Lord of the Worlds in His saying: . They also did not raise their heads to the aforementioned hadith describing the saved sect as the one that is upon what the Messenger and his Companions were upon. They did not pay attention to his Companions (peace be upon him), nor did they follow their guidance. At the forefront of them are the Rightly Guided Caliphs, whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) paired with his name, mentioning them alongside it, and mentioned their Sunnah alongside his Sunnah in the hadith of al-'Arba' ibn Sari'ah, which contains: to the end of the hadith.
The point is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) informed his Ummah that whoever lives after him will see much disagreement. What is the guarantee? What is the way out of the much disagreement that has been and still is intensifying in this time? The Messenger (peace be upon him) placed safety (protection from error) before our eyes in this hadith by saying: to the end of the hadith. Thus, complete safety is not merely holding fast to the Sunnah, but also to what the righteous Salaf were upon.
If we look today at all the Islamic sects existing on the Islamic land, as I mentioned earlier, old and new, we would find them all agreeing on the Book and the Sunnah, but they differ from us in returning to the righteous Salaf. Thus, this is the decisive criterion between one who is truly upon the Sunnah and one who has deviated from it, even if he claims it. That is because safety in the case of disagreement—as is explicit in this hadith—lies in returning to what the Companions in general, and the Rightly Guided Caliphs in particular, were upon. This is the beneficial knowledge.
In summary, knowledge is not beneficial unless it is based on the Book, and the interpretation of the Book is according to the Sunnah, and the Sunnah is authentic and not weak, and finally, the understanding of both the Book and the Sunnah is based on what our righteous Salaf were upon. Therefore, we find that all the sects existing today have no connection between them and their original Salaf, no matter who their Salaf was, because they do not have books that narrate to them the authentic hadiths, or in brief, that narrate to them the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in all aspects of his life, as he (peace be upon him) said: . This comprehensive, beneficial knowledge is not found with all Islamic sects, let alone that they have books and reports that connect them to the righteous Salaf and indicate to them what they were upon so that they may follow them, implementing His saying (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned earlier: . Thus, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in this verse commands following the path of the believers and warns against opposing the path of the believers, considering opposition to the path of the believers as opposition to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). No sect has a way to return in their jurisprudence to the Book and the Sunnah to what the righteous Salaf were upon. Thus, beneficial knowledge is the Qur'an interpreted by the Sunnah and the authentic Sunnah, and both are interpreted by what our righteous Salaf practiced. And to know what the righteous Salaf were upon, we must have books that narrate to us the reports of the Salaf, just as they narrate to us the hadiths of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
This is regarding beneficial knowledge. It remains for us, and for me, to speak—perhaps briefly—about righteous deeds and what they are.
Righteous deeds require two conditions. The first condition is that it be according to the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and we have mentioned earlier what is sufficient regarding it. Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) pointed to this condition and the other condition, which is that the righteous deed be pure for the Face of Allah, in His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): . The exegetes said regarding His saying (Mighty and Majestic): , that the righteous deed is what conforms to the Sunnah, and means: let it be pure for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone in this worship that conformed to the Sunnah. If one of these two conditions is lacking, the deed is not righteous. The first condition is that the deed conforms to the Sunnah; if it does not, it is rejected by its doer, even if he was sincere to his Lord in it, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
The hadiths indicating the rejection of all acts of worship that occurred after him, which are related to religion and drawing near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), are numerous and very numerous. So this hadith is sufficient for us now, and it is one that was agreed upon for its inclusionThe Shaykh : in “both Sahihs,” which are among the most authentic books concerned with narrating hadith from the Messenger. They are truly the most authentic books after the Book of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), and there is no authentic book after them in their rank, no matter how much the debaters argue about it. These two Sahihs narrated his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , meaning: it is rejected by its doer, his face is struck with it, and it is not raised to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He); because it is not according to the Sunnah, and consequently it is not a righteous deed. This is the first condition for a deed to be righteous and acceptable to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The other condition is that it be pure for the sake of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), as He (Mighty and Majestic) said: . Many authentic hadiths have come that affirm the obligation of sincerity in worship for Allah; otherwise, the deed is invalid and returned to its doer. Nothing is more important—and I do not wish to lengthen this—than the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, which Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih* from him (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . He (peace be upon him) said: —seeking refuge in Allah!—. And it is said to each of these three: . It is said to the scholar: You spread knowledge so that people would say, "So-and-so is a scholar," and you have obtained your reward, so people now say, "So-and-so is a scholar; there is no one like him among the scholars." , meaning: You have obtained your reward in this world; so take your reward in the Hereafter, which is the Fire. Would that he had escaped with his wealth, neither for him nor against him, but the outcome of his affair was the Fire. This is because he made knowledge a means to the world; he did not fear Allah in it, nor did he intend the Face of Allah with it, so he was cast into the Fire. Likewise, it is said to the rich man and the fighter. It was said to the fighter: You intended to be called, "So-and-so is a hero." . Likewise, the rich man intended to be called, "So-and-so is generous." . They will all be taken to the Fire together.
These three, the Messenger (peace be upon him) said about them: , even though it is expected that these people should be among the foremost to enter Paradise, especially the people of knowledge about whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: . When they failed in this second condition, which is sincerity in worship for Allah in knowledge, in jihad, and in zakah, their worship turned against them into a burden and a punishment. Therefore, one of the conditions of a righteous deed is that it be, first, in accordance with the Sunnah, and second, pure for the Face of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). When the Muslim community returns to this in its knowledge and its practice—in its knowledge, according to the Book and the Sunnah as detailed previously, and in its practice, following his (peace be upon him) Sunnah and being sincere to the Lord of all people—then Islamic life will resume its course, and then the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and with this I conclude this word: . And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The questioner : May Allah rewardThe Shaykh : May Allah reward you with the best reward for what you mentioned in this beneficial sermon, in which you clarified the great principle that all Muslims should follow if they wish to be saved in this world from discord, and in the Hereafter from the punishment of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and to attain Paradise. There is no doubt that what you mentionedThe Shaykh : is far more important than many of the questions that many of those who wrote them are anticipating, for knowing the principles is far more important than knowing the branches. Nevertheless, these questions must be mentioned to the Shaykh and put to him. However, we apologize to the brothers for the fact that the questions are very numerous, some of which are related to the same topic that he mentionedThe Shaykh : , and some are related to the rites of Hajj. These two types of questions will be presented before the others due to the necessity of the situation. As for the remaining questions, if there is time for them, there is no harm. And the one who will determine that isThe Shaykh : you yourself.