Explaining the severity of dispersing in the circle of knowledge and not drawing close to one another, and explaining that the rectitude of the outward is part of the rectitude of the inward

The Shaykh : We used to travel with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and when we would stop at a place, we would disperse in the valleys and gorges. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): . He said: So after that, when we would stop at a place, we would gather together, until if we sat on a carpet, it would have been enough for us. This is a legal and psychological reality at the same time; for the Shari'ah has emphasized in more than one text that the rectitude of the outward is by the rectitude of the inward, and its corruption is by the corruption of the inward, and the rectitude of the inward is the rectitude of the outward, and the corruption of the inward... its corruption is outward; meaning that there is an interaction between the outward and the inward, each strengthening the other in rectitude and in corruption. And when the scholars say: "The outward is the title of the inward," they mean this reality.
This is what came in many hadiths, among them the famous hadith recorded in "the two Sahihs" from the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them both). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Do not forget to pray the greeting, O Sayyid. Did you pray the greeting? You have done well.
; so if the heart is righteous, it exudes righteousness, and the opposite is the opposite. From here the scholars said: "The outward is the title of the inward." Likewise, it was from the conduct and Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that when he stood for prayer, he would order the straightening of the rows, and on many occasions he would say: , If you do not do so, Allah will strike the hearts of some of you against others; meaning: this difference in the outward in straightening the row was a cause for difference in the inward. From this door, completely, is the hadith of Abu Thalhah al-Khushani that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said to them: , and where are we staying here? In the wilderness in the "shool"; so how about us when we sit for dhikr and knowledge; it is not fitting for us to sit like this as...
And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
As came in "Sahih Muslim" that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon the Companions in the mosque one day and saw them dispersed, so he said to them: . So this dispersing, even if it is only with the bodies, indicates dispersing in the hearts and minds. So if we distance ourselves from the dispersing which the wise Lawgiver forbade, even in the outward.

The questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
If we distance ourselves from the dispersing in the outward which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, that is among the strongest causes for creating agreement in the inward.
Therefore, it is not befitting for Muslims to take lightly the Islamic legal etiquettes which some people today describe as formal, trivial matters of no value. For these outward matters which they describe as trivial and formal have a status in the Islamic Shari'ah, and some of them describe them as shells. And it is obligatory for the Muslim to care for the kernel of matters, and these people neglect or feign to neglect that the kernel which Allah creates directly without the effort and shaping of the man, He creates around it a shell; to preserve it and keep it safe from the defects that may cross the path of its life. This is in material matters, so in religious and spiritual matters likewise; meaning: these matters which are called formal and shell-like matters are also among the matters which must be adhered to; for by them we are able to preserve what they call the kernel. The shell should not be taken lightly without the kernel. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has legislated this and legislated this; He legislated the kernel because it is the foundation, and He legislated the shell - in their expression - to preserve this kernel.
So gathering in the circle is among these matters which the Messenger (peace be upon him) encouraged in his previous saying: . So dispersing in the lesson and distancing oneself from the teacher is not from Islam, it is not from the etiquettes which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated. And so his conduct (peace and blessings be upon him) was that when he sat among his Companions, he was hardly distinguished and hardly known that he was the chosen Messenger among us all. And all of you know that the Bedouin would enter the circle or the mosque and say: Which of you is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? That was due to the closeness of some of them to others, and the non-distinction of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) by anything over his brothers from the noble Companions.
This is a word before that dispersing and distancing of some of us from others.