In the previous lesson, we had: "The chapter on the elder beginning the speech and the question"

The Shaykh : In the previous lesson, we had: "The chapter on the elder beginning the speech and the question," and we cited beneath it the hadith of the Companion who was killed by the Jews, where his companions and some of his brothers came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) seeking justice for his blood. One of them began to speak, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) ordered the eldest among them to begin the speech. Now, the author—may Allah have mercy on him—introduces a new chapter, saying: "The chapter on whether the younger may speak if the elder does not speak." We mentioned in the previous lesson that the preceding chapter and the hadith beneath it indicate one of the etiquettes of gatherings, which is that it is not befitting for the younger in knowledge and age to take precedence over the elder in age and knowledge. Now, due to the precision of Imam al-Bukhari—may Allah have mercy on him—he brings a new jurisprudential point under this chapter, saying: "If the elder does not speak, may the younger speak?" The answer is understood from the following hadith, and it is affirmative, as has become clear to us. The hadith he cited under this chapter has a sound chain of narration.
From Ibn 'Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: , so the date palm came to mind, and I disliked to speak while Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) were present. When they did not speak, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . When I went out with my father, I said: "O my father, the date palm came to mind." He said: "What prevented you from saying it? If you had said it, it would have been more pleasing to me than so-and-so." He said: "What prevented me was that I did not see you or Abu Bakr speaking, so I disliked [to speak]." The hadith ends here.
We return to some of the commentary on the hadith: In a gathering, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) wished to test his Companions and examine their understanding, so he directed to them the following question: : What does "like a Muslim" mean? It means that it always benefits people; that is the nature of the Muslim man, that he is always and forever beneficial to people. The Messenger (peace be upon him) specified the tree he likened to the Muslim by saying (peace be upon him): , and this is a portion of the Noble Qur'an: . Now, in the language of the Arabs, this word [al-hin] is used to refer to varying times, ranging from a moment to long years. So here, in this phrase the Messenger (peace be upon him) quoted from the aforementioned verse: , the "time" here means the year, in contrast to, for example: , where the intended meaning is a long period, said to be forty years.
The point is that among the characteristics of this tree, which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) likened to the Muslim, is that it yields its fruit every time by the permission of its Lord, meaning: every year. And among its characteristics is: , meaning: it does not shed [its leaves]; it remains firm on its branches and limbs, not falling like most trees, but remaining as it is, green. This was the question; the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was asking the Companions to inform him of a tree that is like the Muslim, for it always and forever benefits people. Because the date palm tree, although it bears fruit once a year, this fruit remains stored food for its owners until the next year, when the tree has borne fruit anew, and so on. Thus, it benefits people and yields its fruit every time by the permission of its Lord. This is a prominent characteristic of the date palm tree, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) added to this characteristic another one equally prominent, which is its greenness and the tree's remaining on its mother and root. He said (peace be upon him): . When the Messenger (peace be upon him) asked this question of his noble Companions, it was cast into the mind of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab that it was the date palm. 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab; 'Umar ibn al-Khattab was among the senior Companions who embraced Islam early, and his son was young in age, naturally. He was present in the gathering when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) directed this question. He possessed wisdom; 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar had wisdom, he had shrewdness, he had knowledge, and he had, finally, the etiquette of knowledge, and the etiquette of scholars and the gatherings of scholars. It was cast into his mind that it was the tree whose characteristic is that it yields its fruit every time by the permission of its Lord, and whose characteristic is that its leaves do not fall. Who could this be but the date palm? But he controlled his nerves.