The questioner : There is a report from 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that says: "Speak to people in a way they can understand. Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be denied?

The questioner: There is a report from 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that says: "Speak to people in a way they can understand. Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be denied?!" Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar transmitted a statement from Malik that the meaning of this is the hadiths of the attributes; is this report authentic? And if it is not authentic, what is meant by this matter?
The assumption is that he says: "And if it is authentic."

The Shaykh: The hadith is authentic, or this report is authentic as a mawquf report stopping at 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him); al-Bukhari narrated it with a connected chain to 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him); so it is authentic without doubt. As for the intended meaning, it is that it is obligatory that we do not speak to the general public about something their minds cannot bear. It is not of the kind mentioned regarding Malik, that we do not speak to people about the verses of the attributes and the hadiths of the attributes, or the hadiths of the attributes; because the meaning of this is that we do not speak to people about the verses of the attributes, and this is not something said by someone far below Malik, let alone by Imam Malik, the Imam of the City of Migration.
Especially since the fitrah of the general public is closer to the Salafi creed in this issue than the intellectuals influenced by the science of kalam; because the creed of the Salaf is, by the admission of the Khalaf, safer; so how can it be said that it is not befitting for us to speak to the general public about the creed that is safer? This example for this report does not match it, nor is it the intended meaning of it. Rather, we take as an example for it what al-Bukhari himself narrated, in my opinion, in this chapter, that Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) was riding behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): . He said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: . Mu'adh said: O Messenger of Allah, should I not give the people good news? He said: . . The statement of the Messenger (peace be upon him) to Mu'adh and his giving him good news about the virtue of this testimony, this good word, that whoever says it sincerely from his heart, Allah has forbidden his body from the Fire, may be understood by some people, as is the reality in many countries, especially among us in Syria, that since he testifies that there is no god but Allah, he has entered Paradise, "no reckoning and no punishment!" While the intended meaning of this testimony, which has that virtue, is not that whoever says it with mere speech, Allah saves him from the Fire, but rather he must believe in it, and then believing in it must be preceded by knowing its meaning.
And we, with great regret, are still arguing with the masses of Muslims to make them understand the meaning of this good word, for they still interpret it with an incomplete interpretation; they say: the meaning of "La ilaha" is: there is no Lord, and this interpretation is deficient. I do not want to enter into this topic, but the meaning is "La ilaha" meaning: there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah. If the Muslim knows the correct meaning of this good word, and then believes in it firmly from his heart, this is without doubt, as he (peace be upon him) said in another hadith: . But among the requirements of this good word is to act in accordance with its implications, and its implication is acting at least with the pillars. So whoever acts with the requirements of this testimony, Allah has forbidden his body from the Fire absolutely. This is the correct, complete meaning. But if he falls short in a little or a lot of acting with the requirements of this testimony, his affair is left to Allah, as our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) said in His Book: . If this monotheist, the one who says and believes in this testimony, dies, it saves him from eternal abode in the Fire, but it does not prevent him from entering the Fire because of sins he committed or did, if Allah wills He will punish him, and if He wills He will forgive him. The understanding of this text is corrupted by many people; therefore, when Mu'adh asked the Messenger of Allah for permission to give the people good news, he said to him: .
So this is a true example of the report of 'Ali: "Speak to people according to their understanding." So the people or individuals who understand you, if you give them this Prophetic good news contrary to the correct meaning, it is not befitting for you to speak to them about it unless you speak to them and explain the meaning to them fully, so that when they know this testimony, it increases their faith upon their faith and their righteousness upon their righteousness.