How to reconcile the two hadiths: (There was no prophet except that he had companions who followed his guidance

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Eid Abbasi : How can one reconcile the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):

There is no prophet sent by Allah except that there were among his nation people who follow his guidance and adopt his Sunnah

ما بعث الله من نبيٍّ إلا كان في أمَّته قومٌ يهتدون بهديه ويستنُّون بسنَّته

to the end, and his saying when it was revealed to him:

I saw the Prophet with a group, the Prophet with two men, and the Prophet with no one with him

فرأيت النبي ومعه الرهط ، والنبي ومعه الرهطين ، والنبي وليس معه أحد

.

The Shaykh : Repeat the question for me?

Eid Abbasi : How can one reconcile the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):

There is no prophet sent by Allah except that there were among his nation people who follow his guidance and adopt his Sunnah

ما بعث الله من نبيٍّ إلا كان في أمَّته قومٌ يهتدون بهديه ويستنُّون بسنَّته

, and the other hadith:

I saw the Prophet with a group

رأيت النبي ومعه الرهط

and with two groups

ومعه الرهطين

and with no one with him

وليس معه أحد

?

The Shaykh : What appears to me—and Allah knows best—in the answer is that the hadith:

There was no Prophet except

ما من نبيٍّ إلا

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2245Sahih (Darussalam)

, what is the text of the hadith?

Eid Abbasi :

Allah did not send a prophet except that there were people in his nation who followed his guidance

ما بعث الله من نبيٍّ إلا كان في أمَّته قومٌ يهتدون بهديه

.

The Shaykh

Allah did not send a prophet except that there were people in his people who followed his guidance

ما بعث الله من نبيٍّ إلا كان في قومه مَن يهتدي بهديه

, this is one of the general texts that is specified by the other hadith in which it was presented to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): the Prophet with no one with him; that is: the norm—and this is a matter of certainty by sight and observation—is that when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent the prophets, there must be those who respond to their call, but whether the responders are few or many, this does not negate that there were some individuals among the prophets to whom no one responded. So the first hadith is understood in terms of the norm of the relationship between callers and those called, the relationship between prophets and those called; generally, those called respond to the call of the prophets because it is a call to truth, with the difference—as we said—in number, but sometimes no one responds to the Messenger at all, and this is part of the trial and testing from Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
Thus, the reconciliation between the two hadiths is by the rule: "Applying the general to the specific," and thereby the difficulty is resolved. This does not pose a difficulty for students of knowledge; because it is like His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He), for example:

Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ

[Al-Ma'idah 5:3]

; this is exactly like if a questioner asked: How to reconcile between the verse and his saying (peace be upon him):

Two types of carrion and two types of blood have been made lawful to us: the fish and the locust, and the liver and the spleen

أُحِلَّت لنا ميتتان ودمان : الحوت والجراد ، والكبد والطحال

? The answer:

Prohibited to you are dead animals

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ

[Al-Ma'idah 5:3]

except, likewise blood except; meaning this text is general, the Qur'anic text is a general text, from which what was mentioned in the hadith is specified, likewise the general principle that every prophet Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent, those who responded to him responded, except we take an exception from the second hadith, and it was presented to him the Prophet with no one with him, thus general and specific, this is the reconciliation.

Eid Abbasi : Another question.

Source www.al-albany.com

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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