Allah the Exalted said: “And We sent not before you any but men to whom We revealed. So ask the people of the remembrance if you do not know.”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Allah the Exalted says in the text of the verse: [An-Nahl 16:43]; so is the original question directed to non-Muslims? And does the generality of the word “remembrance” include Muslims?
The Shaykh : Yes; here the context of the remembrance... the word “remembrance” is interpreted according to the context. Here, the context is very clear that the intended meaning of “remembrance” or “the people of the remembrance” is the People of the Book. But what I see is that we are not in need of expanding the meaning of the verse to include non-Muslims; because what precedes in the verse suffices us from expanding this verse; is that clear?
The questioner : Yes, but when citing it as evidence.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : But when we want to cite it as evidence, I do not know; perhaps it is necessary to mention that although it is regarding such-and-such, it includes such-and-such.
The Shaykh : We are not in need of this as long as we have [what we have].
The questioner : It has become [clear]; how do we cite it as evidence while it is regarding [them]?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : How do we cite it as evidence while it is regarding [him]?
The Shaykh : Ah, here, as the scholars say: “The consideration is the generality of the wording, not the specificity of the cause.”
The questioner : Very good.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Okay; then, is the word in the text correct in that it is mentioned?
The Shaykh : It is “Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir,” meaning.
And We sent not before you except men to whom We revealed [Our message]. So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِمْ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَThe Shaykh : Yes; here the context of the remembrance... the word “remembrance” is interpreted according to the context. Here, the context is very clear that the intended meaning of “remembrance” or “the people of the remembrance” is the People of the Book. But what I see is that we are not in need of expanding the meaning of the verse to include non-Muslims; because what precedes in the verse suffices us from expanding this verse; is that clear?
The questioner : Yes, but when citing it as evidence.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : But when we want to cite it as evidence, I do not know; perhaps it is necessary to mention that although it is regarding such-and-such, it includes such-and-such.
The Shaykh : We are not in need of this as long as we have [what we have].
The questioner : It has become [clear]; how do we cite it as evidence while it is regarding [them]?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : How do we cite it as evidence while it is regarding [him]?
The Shaykh : Ah, here, as the scholars say: “The consideration is the generality of the wording, not the specificity of the cause.”
The questioner : Very good.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Okay; then, is the word
The people of Allah
أهل اللهThe Shaykh : It is “Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir,” meaning.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.