Explanation of the Chapter

The Shaykh : As for what follows: The best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). The worst of matters are their newly invented ones, and every newly invented matter is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. Our lesson today is the seventy-third chapter after the one hundred. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The chapter on a man saying to a young boy, 'O my son.'" The author (may Allah have mercy on him) continues to present chapters that he titles for hadiths that have a connection to some of the verbal hadiths that preceded in past lessons, such as his saying (peace be upon him): . So it seems he wants to say, and to indicate to us, that out of mercy for the young boy, one should say "O my son" when speaking to him and when calling him, using this phrase that makes the young boy feel the tenderness of the older man calling him by saying "O my son." It is a diminutive of "son of so-and-so." Since it is known by instinct and nature that the most beloved thing to a father is his son, it was appropriate to address young children with this gentle phrase, which is saying "O my son." And to indicate what he titled this chapter for, he brought here a report from some of the Companions. The intended point is that it is a long report containing a story, but the point is that he addressed a boy who was not his son by saying "O my son."