The Shaykh’s reading of a treatise by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his commentary on it.

The Shaykh : He says: "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
, the Knower of what has been, what is, and what will be, who , who , , who indicated His oneness in His divinity through the kinds of signs, and made known His knowledge to His creation through the precision of the created things, and displayed His power over His creation through what He has created of the kinds of new things, and guided to His action through His sunnah by the variety of differing conditions, and guided to His mercy for His servants through His blessings which none can count except the Lord of the heavens, and made known through His perfect wisdom the proofs of His praise and thanks which He deserves from all states. The servants cannot encompass praise for Him; rather, He is as He has praised Himself, due to His names and attributes. He is described with descriptions of perfection and attributes of majesty in which nothing of the existing things resembles Him. He is the Holy, the Peaceful, the One who is free from anything resembling Him in descriptions of perfection or anything catching up to Him in defects. So, .
He sent the messengers , bringing good news to those who obeyed them of the ultimate goal of everything that souls love and see as bliss, and warning those who disobeyed them of the curse and distance, and that they will be punished with a painful punishment. He commanded them to call creation to worship Him alone, having no partner, making their religion sincere for Him, even if the polytheists hate it. As He - the Exalted - said: , . He established for each of them a law and a path so that they would be upright toward Him and not deviate from it. He concluded them with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), the best of the first and the last, and the choice of the Lord of the worlds, the witness, the bringer of good news, the warner, the guide, the bright lamp, who brought people out of darkness into light, and guided them to the path of the Mighty, the Praiseworthy, . He sent him with the best of paths and laws, and he nullified the kinds of disbelief and religious innovations through him. He revealed to him the best of books and news, and made him the guardian over the books of the heavens that came before him.
He made his ummah (the Muslim community) the best ummah brought forth for people, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. They fulfill the role of seventy ummahs, being the best of them and the most honorable to Allah. He is a witness over them, and they are witnesses over the people in this world and the Hereafter, due to the inner and outer blessings He has bestowed upon them. He protected them from agreeing upon misguidance, as no prophet remained after him to clarify what was altered of the message. He perfected their religion for them, completed His blessings upon them, and was pleased with Islam as their religion. He made it manifest over all religion, manifesting it through victory and establishment, and manifesting it through argument and clarification. He placed among them their scholars, the heirs of the prophets, who take their place in conveying what was revealed from the Book. And a supported group will remain manifest upon the truth, and those who oppose them or fail them will not harm them until the time of the Reckoning. He preserved for them the remembrance which He revealed from the hidden Book, as He - the Exalted - said: ; so there will not occur in their Book any distortion or alteration as occurred with the people of the Torah and the Gospel. He distinguished them with narration and isnad (the chain of narration) by which the experts and critics distinguish between truth and falsehood. He made this inheritance carried by the upright people of knowledge and religion from every generation (the Khalaf); they repel from it the distortion of the extremists, the fabrication of the falsifiers, and the figurative interpretation (ta'wil) of the ignorant; so that the blessing may continue for the ummah through them, and light may appear from darkness through them, and the religion of Allah may live through him whom He sent His messenger with, and Allah may clarify His path to people through them. So the best of creation are those who follow this noble prophet, described in His saying - the Exalted: .
And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, having no partner, Lord of the worlds, God of the messengers, and Owner of the Day of Judgment. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger, whom He sent to all people. He sent him while people were in disbelief, ignorance, and misguidance, in the ugliest failure and worst state. So he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not cease to strive in conveying the religion and the guidance of the worlds, and in fighting the disbelievers and the hypocrites, until the sun of faith rose, the night of slander set, the army of the Most Merciful was honored, the party of Satan was humbled, the light of the Criterion appeared, the recitation of the Qur'an became famous, the call of the adhan (the call to prayer) was proclaimed, and the people of the deserts and cities were illuminated by the light of Allah. The argument of Allah was established over the jinn and humans, when the one who responded from Ma'ad ibn 'Adnan stood up. May Allah send prayers upon him and his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence, a prayer that the Judge who is the Reckoner is pleased with, and a salam accompanied by the pleasure of Allah. As for what follows:
Indeed, there is no happiness for the servants, and no salvation in the Hereafter, except by following His messenger: . Obedience to Allah and His messenger is the axis upon which happiness revolves, and the stable point of salvation from which one does not deviate. For Allah created creation for His worship, as He - the Exalted - said: . And He made them worship Him through obedience to Him and obedience to His messenger. So there is no worship except what is obligatory (wajib) or recommended (mustahabb) in the religion of Allah; and what is other than that is deviation from His path. For this reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: , reported by both of them in "al-Sahihayn" (the two authentic collections). And he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said in the hadith of al-'Arba' ibn Sari'ah, which the people of the Sunan reported and al-Tirmidhi authenticated: . And in the authentic hadith reported by Muslim and others, it was said that he used to say in his sermon: .
Allah mentioned obedience to the messenger and following him in about forty places in the Qur'an, such as His saying - the Exalted: , and His saying - the Exalted: , and His saying - the Exalted: , and His saying - the Exalted: . He made the love of the servant for his Lord necessitating the following of the messenger, and He made following the messenger the cause for Allah loving His servant. And He - the Exalted - said: . So what Allah revealed to him, Allah guides by it whom He wills of His servants, just as He (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was guided by Allah - the Exalted - through it, as He - the Exalted - said: , and He - the Exalted - said: .
Through Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), disbelief was distinguished from faith, profit from loss, guidance from misguidance, salvation from calamity, error from rightness, deviation from correctness, the people of Paradise from the people of the Fire, the righteous from the sinners, and the preference of the path of those upon whom Allah has bestowed favor from the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous, over the path of those upon whom anger has fallen and those who are astray. Souls are in greater need of knowing what he brought and following it than they are of food and drink; for if this is missed, death occurs in this world, and if that is missed, punishment occurs.
So it is obligatory (wajib) upon everyone to exert their effort and ability in knowing what he brought and obeying him; for this is the path of salvation from the painful punishment and happiness in the abode of bliss. And the path to that is narration and transmission; for mere reason is not sufficient for that. Rather, just as the light of the eye does not see except with the appearance of light before it, so the light of reason does not find guidance except when the sun of the message rises upon it. For this reason, conveying the religion is among the greatest obligations (fara'id) of Islam, and knowing what Allah commanded His messenger is obligatory (wajib) upon all people.
And Allah - Glorified is He - sent Muhammad with the Book and the Sunnah, and through them He completed the favor upon his ummah. He - the Exalted - said: , . And He - the Exalted - said: . And He - the Exalted - said: . And He - the Exalted - said: . And He - the Exalted - said regarding al-Khalil (Abraham): . And He - the Exalted - said: .
More than one scholar has said this, including Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, Qatadah, and al-Shafi'i, among others. They said: "Wisdom is the Sunnah." Regarding the phrase "He teaches you the Book and wisdom," they stated that wisdom is the Sunnah. This is because Allah commanded the wives of His Prophet to recite what is recited in their homes of the Book and wisdom. The Book is the Qur'an, and what else the Messenger recited is the Sunnah. It has been reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from several angles, in the hadith of Abu Rafi', Abu Thalhah, and others, that he said: , and in another narration: .
Since the Qur'an is distinguished by itself through the inimitability (i'jaz) by which Allah set it apart from the speech of people, as He said (Glorified and Exalted is He): , and since it was transmitted by mass transmission (tawatur), no one dared to hope to change any of its words or letters. However, Satan hoped to introduce distortion and alteration into its meanings through change and figurative interpretation (ta'wil), and he hoped to introduce omissions and additions into the hadiths by which he would mislead some of the servants. So Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) established the experts, the critics, the people of guidance and uprightness, who defeated the party of Satan, distinguished the truth from slander, and took upon themselves the preservation of the Sunnah and the meanings of the Qur'an from addition and subtraction.
Each of the scholars of religion fulfilled what was bestowed upon them and upon the Muslims, standing in the position of the people of jurisprudence (fiqh) who understood the meanings of the Qur'an and hadith by rejecting the errors that occurred in them, whether in the past or the present. Some of this is apparent and clear, such that deviation from it is not permissible; and some is subtle, such that independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) by scholars to deviate is permissible.
The scholars of transmission and critique engaged in the science of narration and chain of transmission (isnad). They traveled to lands for this, abandoned the comfort of sleep, parted with wealth and children, and spent the new and the old (their resources) in it. They were patient with calamities and were content in this world with the provision of a traveler. They have famous stories and narrated tales regarding this, which are known to those who know it and are well-defined for those who seek to know it. This includes one of them lying on the earth, abandoning delicious food and drink, leaving the company of family and friends, enduring the bitterness of being away from home, and suffering through severe hardships. Allah made this beloved to them and adorned it for them, so that by this, the religion of Allah would be preserved. Just as He made the House a place of return for people and a safety that they seek from every deep valley, and they bear painful things that occur on the journey. And just as He made jihad with soul and wealth beloved to the people of fighting, a wisdom from Allah by which the religion is preserved, to guide those who seek guidance, and to manifest the guidance and the religion of truth with which He sent His Messenger, even if the polytheists should be displeased.
Whoever is sincere in the works of religion, doing them for Allah, is among the close friends of Allah (awliya) who are mindful of Him, and the people of abiding bliss; as He said (Glorified and Exalted is He): .
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained the good news in this world in two types:
The first is the praise of those who praise him.
The second is the good dream that a righteous man sees or that is shown to him; so it was said: . And al-Bara' ibn 'Azib was asked about the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) statement regarding His saying: ? He said: .
Those who preserve the knowledge inherited from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the rabbans who preserve it from addition and subtraction, are among the greatest of the close friends of Allah (awliya) who are mindful of Him and His successful party. Indeed, they have a distinction over others among the people of faith and righteous deeds, as He said (Glorified and Exalted is He): . The science of chain of transmission (isnad) and narration is what Allah specifically granted to the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and made it a ladder to understanding. The People of the Book have no chain of transmission by which they transmit reports, and so do the innovators of this Ummah, the people of misguidance. The chain of transmission is only for those upon whom Allah has bestowed a great favor, the people of Islam and the Sunnah; by it they distinguish the sound from the defective, and the crooked from the straight. Others, among the people of innovation and disbelievers, only have reports they transmit without a chain of transmission, and they rely on them in their religion, yet they do not know the truth from the falsehood in them, nor the valid from the invalid.
As for this merciful Ummah and the infallible companions of this Ummah, the people of knowledge and religion among them are certain in their affair. Truth became apparent to them from falsehood, just as the dawn becomes apparent to one who has eyes. Allah protected them from agreeing upon an error in the religion of Allah, whether rational or transmitted. He commanded them, if they disagree about something, to refer it to Allah and the Messenger, as He said (Glorified and Exalted is He): . So if the people of jurisprudence agree upon a ruling, it is nothing but truth, and if the people of hadith agree upon authenticating a hadith, it is nothing but truth. Each of the two groups has evidence for their objective, both apparent and subtle, by which one knows who is well-versed in this matter. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) inspires them with the correct judgment in this matter, as indicated by the scriptural proofs, and as it is known by empirical experience. For Allah wrote faith in their hearts and supported them with a spirit from Him, because they were truthful in their loyalty to Allah and His Messenger and their hostility to those who deviated from Him; He said (Glorified and Exalted is He): .
The people of knowledge inherited from the Messenger are the greatest of people in standing by these principles. No one among them is deterred by the blame of a blamer in the cause of Allah, nor are they prevented from the path of Allah by great matters. Rather, one of them speaks the truth that is upon him, and speaks about the people he loves most, acting upon His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): , and His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): .
They have, in their vindication and critique, and in their weakening and authenticating, a praiseworthy effort and a righteous work that was among the causes of preserving the religion and protecting it from the fabrications of the liars. They are in this on different levels: some are content with mere transmission and narration, some are the people of knowledge of hadith and understanding, and some are the people of jurisprudence in it and knowledge of its meanings. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the Ummah that whoever witnessed for one who was absent should convey from him, and he made a supplication for the conveyors that is answered. He said in the authentic hadith: , and he also said in his sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage: .
... , and in this is his supplication for whoever conveyed his hadith, even if he was not a jurist, and a supplication for whoever conveyed it, even if the listener was more knowledgeable than the conveyor, due to the radiance (nadhrah) given to the conveyors by the supplication of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It is said: nadhara and nadhara, and the opening (fath) is more eloquent.
The people of knowledge, in the past and present, have always held the transmitters of hadith in high esteem, until al-Shafi'i (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When I see a man from the people of hadith, it is as if I have seen a man from the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." Al-Shafi'i said this because they are in the position of the Companions in conveying the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Al-Shafi'i also said: "The people of hadith have preserved [it]; so they have a distinction over us because they preserved it for us."
This is the end of what this researcher found of this wonderful sermon from the words of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). He has many, many other words scattered throughout these many volumes, as we mentioned to you earlier, from which a researcher can compile a special treatise on the virtue of the people of hadith and that they are the saved sect, and he will come with many proofs from the Book and the authentic Sunnah regarding this.