I heard from one of the students of knowledge that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to teach before the Friday sermon
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The questioner : Shaykh, regarding the lesson before Friday, before the sermon, I heard from one of the students of knowledge that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to give this lesson before the day of Friday or before the sermon, and then the sermon would come and take its place!
The Shaykh : Yes, and what did the Prophet of Abu Hurayrah do?
The questioner : Of course, it was different from that.
The Shaykh : So what does it matter to you from what you heard from the student of knowledge!
The questioner : The action of a Companion.
The Shaykh : Let us return now to the subject itself; is the student of knowledge you heard from a scholar?
The questioner : A student of knowledge, not a scholar.
The Shaykh : That is it, what does the issue matter to you as long as he is a student of knowledge who saw a narration of Abu Hurayrah and cannot reconcile it with: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited gathering in circles on Friday"? Did you ask him this question? May Allah forgive you.
The questioner : By Allah, it slipped my mind.
The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah forgive you.
The questioner : O Allah, amen.
The Shaykh : Let us grant you permission in advance.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Now, Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) may have done his action, and others may do it in every time and place. For example, an issue may arise and someone stands to preach about it before the regular official imam’s sermon, and it is said that Abu Hurayrah did such and such. But where does it come from that Abu Hurayrah did that as a permanent system? And finally: if he did it, his action might be viewed with acceptance if there were no hadith from the Messenger contradicting what Abu Hurayrah persisted in, and persistence is not narrated at all. But if we assume this is an exaggeration to eliminate the root of the problem that arose in this student’s mind, and occupied the mind of whoever was like him, whether a student or not, then to eliminate the problem we say: if the hadith said that Abu Hurayrah persisted in it, we would say: Abu Hurayrah, or the Prophet of Abu Hurayrah?
The questioner : The Prophet of Abu Hurayrah.
Those present : (Peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : Why do we care about every narration that is reported when we have a hadith from the Messenger (peace be upon him) that contradicts that narration reported from other than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? Take, for example, something related to Abu Hurayrah: it is established from Abu Hurayrah in a hadith more authentic than the hadith of his lesson before the Friday prayer that he used to roll up his sleeves like this when he performed ablution. Do you know this hadith or not? We say: he said (peace and blessings be upon him) after he performed ablution once, then twice, then three times, then he said (peace and blessings be upon him):. So did the Messenger, when he performed ablution, do it like this? No, this is certain; the scholars of hadith do not differ on this that the Messenger used to wash up to the elbows as is the text of the Noble Qur'an. So Abu Hurayrah did an addition to this washing that I mentioned to you. Then a student of knowledge comes and says: Yes, I saw a hadith in "Sahih Muslim" that Abu Hurayrah did such and such. The poor man does not know that hadith, or he knows it and both are bitter. If he knows it, how does he turn his attention away from acting according to what came from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to what came from Abu Hurayrah, which contradicts first: the action of the Messenger and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him). And second: Abu Hurayrah is among the curiosities that once he was seen doing this action, so someone who was watching him caught his attention, and he said to him: Are you here, son? What did he say to him: Son of Furukh?!
The questioner : Son of Furukh.
The Shaykh : Son of Furukh, what? It was as if he was doing it and thought no one was watching him. What is the reason? I know what the reason is; he used to see that this action is not a sunnah, but he did it for himself as a precaution. Many people do this; and therefore he said: if he had known that someone was watching him, he would not have done this action. So this is not an act of worship; meaning, to bring the subject closer with an example: some of the obsessive-compulsive, and if you wish I say the obsessive-compulsive, may do an action and know that by Allah the obsession is not prescribed, but Satan has taken control of him, so if someone noticed him, he would not say to him: you must do like his action, he knows that he is overcome by his condition. So jurisprudence is not an easy matter, my brother; therefore it is not befitting for us to say: by Allah, the preachers say such and such, or some of them say such and such, some students of knowledge say such and such, and so on, otherwise the issue would become chaos with no system.
The Shaykh : Yes, and what did the Prophet of Abu Hurayrah do?
The questioner : Of course, it was different from that.
The Shaykh : So what does it matter to you from what you heard from the student of knowledge!
The questioner : The action of a Companion.
The Shaykh : Let us return now to the subject itself; is the student of knowledge you heard from a scholar?
The questioner : A student of knowledge, not a scholar.
The Shaykh : That is it, what does the issue matter to you as long as he is a student of knowledge who saw a narration of Abu Hurayrah and cannot reconcile it with: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited gathering in circles on Friday"? Did you ask him this question? May Allah forgive you.
The questioner : By Allah, it slipped my mind.
The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah forgive you.
The questioner : O Allah, amen.
The Shaykh : Let us grant you permission in advance.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Now, Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) may have done his action, and others may do it in every time and place. For example, an issue may arise and someone stands to preach about it before the regular official imam’s sermon, and it is said that Abu Hurayrah did such and such. But where does it come from that Abu Hurayrah did that as a permanent system? And finally: if he did it, his action might be viewed with acceptance if there were no hadith from the Messenger contradicting what Abu Hurayrah persisted in, and persistence is not narrated at all. But if we assume this is an exaggeration to eliminate the root of the problem that arose in this student’s mind, and occupied the mind of whoever was like him, whether a student or not, then to eliminate the problem we say: if the hadith said that Abu Hurayrah persisted in it, we would say: Abu Hurayrah, or the Prophet of Abu Hurayrah?
The questioner : The Prophet of Abu Hurayrah.
Those present : (Peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : Why do we care about every narration that is reported when we have a hadith from the Messenger (peace be upon him) that contradicts that narration reported from other than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? Take, for example, something related to Abu Hurayrah: it is established from Abu Hurayrah in a hadith more authentic than the hadith of his lesson before the Friday prayer that he used to roll up his sleeves like this when he performed ablution. Do you know this hadith or not? We say: he said (peace and blessings be upon him) after he performed ablution once, then twice, then three times, then he said (peace and blessings be upon him):
This is my ablution and the ablution of the Prophets before me; so whoever adds to it or subtracts from it has transgressed and wronged
هذا وضوئي ووضوء الأنبياء قبلي ؛ فَمَن زاد أو نقص فقد تعدَّى وظلمThe questioner : Son of Furukh.
The Shaykh : Son of Furukh, what? It was as if he was doing it and thought no one was watching him. What is the reason? I know what the reason is; he used to see that this action is not a sunnah, but he did it for himself as a precaution. Many people do this; and therefore he said: if he had known that someone was watching him, he would not have done this action. So this is not an act of worship; meaning, to bring the subject closer with an example: some of the obsessive-compulsive, and if you wish I say the obsessive-compulsive, may do an action and know that by Allah the obsession is not prescribed, but Satan has taken control of him, so if someone noticed him, he would not say to him: you must do like his action, he knows that he is overcome by his condition. So jurisprudence is not an easy matter, my brother; therefore it is not befitting for us to say: by Allah, the preachers say such and such, or some of them say such and such, some students of knowledge say such and such, and so on, otherwise the issue would become chaos with no system.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.