The Importance of the Methodology of "Purification and Education" and the Need of the Ummah for It

The Shaykh : I will give you a very simple example because it happened yesterday: A Muslim called me on the phone to greet "Abu Malik." I was visiting him yesterday, so he understood from Abu Malik that I was present. He said, "By Allah, I was asking about him and couldn't find him, so I called you." What did he say? "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmat Allah ta'ala wa barakatuh." Ta'ala wa barakatuh. So I gave him a lecture. He said, "What is in it?" I told him, "There is nothing in it except that it is a deviation from the teaching of the Messenger (peace be upon him), this teaching that his Companions received from him after him, and then they transmitted it to us." I mentioned to him the well-known hadith in the Sunan: "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was in a gathering when a man entered and said: 'As-salamu alaykum.' He said: (peace be upon him). A second man entered and said: 'As-salamu alaykum wa rahmat Allah.' He said: . A third man entered and said: 'As-salamu alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.' He said: . They said: 'O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so entered and said this, and so-and-so said this.' He said: . Do you think if someone said: 'As-salamu alaykum wa rahmat Allah 'az wa jal,' which is more than 'ta'ala' by the word 'az wa jal,' is that better, or is what you said, O so-and-so, better? No, neither this nor that. Why?
Now, here a major disagreement may arise among us, who are extremely eager to follow the Messenger (peace be upon him) in a correct manner. We did what he did of acts of worship, and we cannot do what he did, because he was more mindful of Allah and more fearful of Allah. And we left what he left of acts of worship, and all of that we have left. Now, to explain the danger of this addition, even though it is very simple, we say: Is it good to add it or not? The answer is one of two things: either he says, "This addition is good," or he does not. If it is good, and therefore the one who added it added it, did the Messenger know about it? The answer is one of two things: either he knew about it or he did not know about it. Well, if we assume he knew it was good, did he leave it? First: he did not do it himself. Second: he did not convey it to the people. This is what Muslim says. But this knowledge and this logical sequence, most people are unaware of it in all their acts of worship, from purification to prayer to fasting to Hajj, and so on. So the matter has become today, O Abu Ahmad, as he (peace be upon him) said: . They said: "Who are they, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: . In another hadith: . I believe that when I pointed this out to this Muslim brother, I directed him to the Sunnah. . So the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him) that is transmitted by mass transmission has no addition: "Ta'ala"; even though it is an exaltation of Allah, and it does not have "az wa jal" or the like either.

The questioner : The hadith of the greeting, O Shaykh, is it mass-transmitted (mutawatir) as you mentioned?

The Shaykh : No, it is not mass-transmitted. But what is behind this strange, wonderful question?

The questioner : Because you mentioned mass transmission; so I thought it was mass-transmitted.

The Shaykh : No, no, I am saying now... When I mentioned the hadith, I said: "It was reported in some of the Sunan." But now, what is mass-transmitted from the Messenger (peace be upon him) is: "As-salamu alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh," not that hadith of the greeting; meaning, from the practical side, yes, okay.
So my purpose now is this mass transmission that we inherited from our righteous predecessors, led by the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him). When a person comes with a partisan bias, unaware of the correct knowledge, and adds an addition to an act of worship, and his intention is good, but his action is not good, I mentioned to this brother the following story, which is in "Sunan al-Tirmidhi" and "Al-Mustadrak" of al-Hakim with a strong chain from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "That a man sneezed in his gathering and said: 'Alhamdulillah, and prayers upon the Messenger of Allah' (or 'and peace upon the Messenger of Allah')." Ibn 'Umar was truly wise in teaching. And I used to say (when I was in Syria in Damascus): We must take a lesson in the good style of forbidding evil to the general public who do not have jurisprudential principles, especially regarding the Salafi methodology. For example, it often happened that some of the enthusiastic people for the Sunnah would hear the mu'adhdhin add prayers upon the Messenger (peace be upon him) after the adhan, and it is undoubtedly, for us, like that "ta'ala" addition. But the enthusiast who has no knowledge and no style will shout at the mu'adhdhin: "My brother, do not pray upon the Messenger; it is an innovation!" That person will find it objectionable, and it will lead to fitnah and problems. Ibn 'Umar taught us the wise style of forbidding evil. When he heard the sneezer say: "Alhamdulillah and prayers upon the Messenger of Allah," he said: "And I say with you: Alhamdulillah and prayers upon the Messenger of Allah." He did not say to him: "You are a Wahhabi," or say: "Like the Wahhabis, it did not come!" But he said: "But this is not how our Messenger taught us. Say: 'Alhamdulillah.'" This is following. For this reason, he (peace be upon him) said: . It is not that the later generations are not upon it; no, the later generations are as He (the Exalted) said: ""And a successor"" .
The student : .

The Shaykh : Yes?
The student : .

The Shaykh, what comes after that?
The student : .

The Shaykh : .
The important thing is that this is how the Salaf are; we receive the Sunnah through them and apply it as they applied it. This jurisprudence, O Professor, derived from the verse and this hadith, the Islamic scholar today is completely unaware of it, except for a few scattered individuals here and there. When the Ummah gathers on this correct Islamic jurisprudence, then the second stage, education, comes.
The meaning of education is: , and He determined to include us in His warning: . Now, you (may Allah bless you), if you know the meaning of education and this... education is educating ourselves first of all in the acts of worship that came, as we said, from the Messenger without distortion or excess. Then educating ourselves in... in everything, in our morals, in our behavior, in our dealings with one another, and so on. Educating our children, educating our wives, our daughters, and so on. And the rest, each of us can expand in it as much as Allah wills for him of knowledge. And as it was said: "The free man is satisfied with a hint."
Now, do you believe that the Islamic world, even if you look at it in a fragmented way—for example, region by region, country by country, neighborhood by neighborhood—do you believe that the majority, the majority of Muslims in the Islamic world, in such-and-such a state, in such-and-such a state, in such-and-such a town, in such-and-such a neighborhood; are they upon this purification and education? Do you believe that?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh: Huh?

The questioner : I do not think so.