Why did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr not gather the people behind a single imam in the tarawih prayer?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Because he named the sunnah that he revived an innovation, but he did not condemn it. He said, "What a good innovation this is."
The questioner : Because, linguistically, one of the scholars attributed a saying to his students, meaning he was biased toward his shaykh. He said, "How can we negotiate linguistically? Every innovation is misguidance, and what a good innovation this is."
The Shaykh : My dear friend... The person you know, I do not know him now. You and I ask you: since you understand that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab revived a sunnah from the sunnahs of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), why did he call it an innovation? Is it clear to you why he called it an innovation?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I do not think so, because if it were clear to you, you would not have asked that question. So, if you are reflecting on your statement, "Yes, why then did he call it an innovation?" bring it up so we can see.
The questioner : .....
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. Understand me well: he called it an innovation considering the years during which this sunnah was left after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left it, following the caliphate of Abu Bakr. The tarawih prayer, standing in congregation behind a single imam, did not exist. Do you understand?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, in the first caliphate of 'Umar, the tarawih prayer in congregation did not exist. What were they doing? The Muslims were praying individually... a group here and a group there. So, he established something new. I can say it was something new and old. It was new considering the years from 'Umar's caliphate, or from the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to 'Umar's revival of this sunnah. During this time, the sunnah did not exist. So, the sunnah, considering the time, was new; there was no sunnah in it. It was something new, something wonderful, something that had not happened before. But in reality, it existed in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Considering that it existed in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded it, it is not called an innovation in Islam or in the religion. But considering that the Muslims were praying not behind a single imam and in a single congregation, but scattered, this became something new. So, by this consideration, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab called it an innovation. But this is not a condemned innovation. He meant "innovation" in the linguistic sense. What does "innovation" mean? It means something new. It was truly new considering the period after the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) until 'Umar's revival of it. So, this is something new. But considering that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) established it by his action and his saying, it is not an innovation at that time. The tarawih prayer is covered by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire."
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : Excuse me, a question. At that time, I will conclude my speech with a question. The tarawih prayer that 'Umar performed and led them in, was it included in the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him)? Is it included in the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire"?
The questioner: HeThe Shaykh : This ...
The Shaykh : May Allah guide him. Answer me.The Shaykh ، The Shaykh : You are right in front of me. May Allah curse him and He has cursed me in you. Give me the answer to the question.
The questioner : .....
The Shaykh : This is a Syrian man who is greedy for the Syrians. We told him, "We are in Syria; whoever does not come with you, come with him, and you will say, 'I will always walk with him.'" For you, my dear friend, come with me in the manner that I am asking you a question, answer it for me. It does not mean you say, "I do not say it." If I wanted to tell you, "Say, 'I do not say it,'" our recording would have ended and we would be done. I am asking you a question in clear Arabic. The tarawih prayer that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed and commanded, and which 'Umar revived, does this prayer fall under his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) condemning innovations in general, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire"? The tarawih prayer that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab performed in his time is a misguiding innovation that falls under this hadith... He does not want to answer.
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : Who is the one who weakened it?
The questioner : One of his students.
The Shaykh : What do you want with it?The Shaykh : It is present. You do not say, "If water is present, tayammum is invalid." Why are you... He has a problem with this, by Allah. Perhaps you are not holding him accountable, or you do not understand him, or he could not understand you. What do I want with his student?The Shaykh : He is right in front of you and asking you a question. Either you know the answer and you say, "My answer is such and such," or you do not know. My brother, by Allah, it is a shame. By Allah, I have been asked dozens of times and I said, "I do not know." And I am like I am in my position, my status, my perfection, and my deficiency. What does it mean? There is no shame if you know the answer, give it to me. If you do not know the answer, well, why did you tire us, my brother? May Allah guide you... We have no answer, my brother. It is something the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did and commanded. How can it possibly be a misguiding innovation? Impossible. Did you understand that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the tarawih prayer? Did you understand?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And he commanded it. Yes, okay. If the tarawih prayer is a sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed and commanded, can it be a misguiding innovation? It is clear and obvious, like the sun. Does faith and disbelief meet at the same time? A sunnah and misguidance at the same time? They do not meet. So, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab revived a sunnah from the sunnahs of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which is the tarawih prayer. He called it a good innovation considering that it is prescribed by the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his action. And why is it an innovation? Because it was left, and then it was innovated after this leaving. By this consideration, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the Arab, and we must suspect ourselves. Yes, we are Arabs, but just as the non-Arab Arabizes, the Arabs also become non-Arabic, correct? And this is the calamity of the time today. We are Arabs, but our Arabness is like the Arabness of the Ba'athists, our group there. It means empty talk. They are not Arabs in their language. Their leader does not know how to speak a sentence correctly unless they write it for him, and he may forget a fatha or a kasrah. So, he reverses the truth there, because there is no Arabness in him except the name.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : We are talking now about Syria...
The questioner : ... If you please, sir, a question...
The Shaykh : You are right, you are among them, and among them...
The questioner : .....
The questioner : Because, linguistically, one of the scholars attributed a saying to his students, meaning he was biased toward his shaykh. He said, "How can we negotiate linguistically? Every innovation is misguidance, and what a good innovation this is."
The Shaykh : My dear friend... The person you know, I do not know him now. You and I ask you: since you understand that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab revived a sunnah from the sunnahs of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), why did he call it an innovation? Is it clear to you why he called it an innovation?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I do not think so, because if it were clear to you, you would not have asked that question. So, if you are reflecting on your statement, "Yes, why then did he call it an innovation?" bring it up so we can see.
The questioner : .....
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. Understand me well: he called it an innovation considering the years during which this sunnah was left after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left it, following the caliphate of Abu Bakr. The tarawih prayer, standing in congregation behind a single imam, did not exist. Do you understand?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, in the first caliphate of 'Umar, the tarawih prayer in congregation did not exist. What were they doing? The Muslims were praying individually... a group here and a group there. So, he established something new. I can say it was something new and old. It was new considering the years from 'Umar's caliphate, or from the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to 'Umar's revival of this sunnah. During this time, the sunnah did not exist. So, the sunnah, considering the time, was new; there was no sunnah in it. It was something new, something wonderful, something that had not happened before. But in reality, it existed in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Considering that it existed in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded it, it is not called an innovation in Islam or in the religion. But considering that the Muslims were praying not behind a single imam and in a single congregation, but scattered, this became something new. So, by this consideration, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab called it an innovation. But this is not a condemned innovation. He meant "innovation" in the linguistic sense. What does "innovation" mean? It means something new. It was truly new considering the period after the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) until 'Umar's revival of it. So, this is something new. But considering that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) established it by his action and his saying, it is not an innovation at that time. The tarawih prayer is covered by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire."
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : Excuse me, a question. At that time, I will conclude my speech with a question. The tarawih prayer that 'Umar performed and led them in, was it included in the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him)? Is it included in the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire"?
The questioner: HeThe Shaykh : This ...
The Shaykh : May Allah guide him. Answer me.The Shaykh ، The Shaykh : You are right in front of me. May Allah curse him and He has cursed me in you. Give me the answer to the question.
The questioner : .....
The Shaykh : This is a Syrian man who is greedy for the Syrians. We told him, "We are in Syria; whoever does not come with you, come with him, and you will say, 'I will always walk with him.'" For you, my dear friend, come with me in the manner that I am asking you a question, answer it for me. It does not mean you say, "I do not say it." If I wanted to tell you, "Say, 'I do not say it,'" our recording would have ended and we would be done. I am asking you a question in clear Arabic. The tarawih prayer that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed and commanded, and which 'Umar revived, does this prayer fall under his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) condemning innovations in general, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire"? The tarawih prayer that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab performed in his time is a misguiding innovation that falls under this hadith... He does not want to answer.
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : Who is the one who weakened it?
The questioner : One of his students.
The Shaykh : What do you want with it?The Shaykh : It is present. You do not say, "If water is present, tayammum is invalid." Why are you... He has a problem with this, by Allah. Perhaps you are not holding him accountable, or you do not understand him, or he could not understand you. What do I want with his student?The Shaykh : He is right in front of you and asking you a question. Either you know the answer and you say, "My answer is such and such," or you do not know. My brother, by Allah, it is a shame. By Allah, I have been asked dozens of times and I said, "I do not know." And I am like I am in my position, my status, my perfection, and my deficiency. What does it mean? There is no shame if you know the answer, give it to me. If you do not know the answer, well, why did you tire us, my brother? May Allah guide you... We have no answer, my brother. It is something the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did and commanded. How can it possibly be a misguiding innovation? Impossible. Did you understand that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the tarawih prayer? Did you understand?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And he commanded it. Yes, okay. If the tarawih prayer is a sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed and commanded, can it be a misguiding innovation? It is clear and obvious, like the sun. Does faith and disbelief meet at the same time? A sunnah and misguidance at the same time? They do not meet. So, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab revived a sunnah from the sunnahs of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which is the tarawih prayer. He called it a good innovation considering that it is prescribed by the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his action. And why is it an innovation? Because it was left, and then it was innovated after this leaving. By this consideration, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the Arab, and we must suspect ourselves. Yes, we are Arabs, but just as the non-Arab Arabizes, the Arabs also become non-Arabic, correct? And this is the calamity of the time today. We are Arabs, but our Arabness is like the Arabness of the Ba'athists, our group there. It means empty talk. They are not Arabs in their language. Their leader does not know how to speak a sentence correctly unless they write it for him, and he may forget a fatha or a kasrah. So, he reverses the truth there, because there is no Arabness in him except the name.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : We are talking now about Syria...
The questioner : ... If you please, sir, a question...
The Shaykh : You are right, you are among them, and among them...
The questioner : .....
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.