Defining the understanding of reality, evidence for its existence among the Salaf, and a warning against overemphasizing it
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Your Eminence! The knowledge of understanding reality has become on the tongues of many of our brothers, some exaggerating and some falling short. What is the Shari'ah criterion? And what is the evidence for the existence of this understanding among the Salaf of this Ummah? I ask you to elaborate on this due to its importance and the need of many of our brothers for it, and may Allah reward you with good?
The understanding of reality means: The understanding of the reality of the people who are in it.
This is the understanding of reality. It is well known that the reality of people must be known to a person so that he knows what he is living in. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to this meaning in his statement when he sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal to Yemen: (You will come to a people of the Book) So he informed him of their reality and their condition. However, it is not permissible under any circumstances for this to overshadow the understanding of religion, and for the young man or anyone else to have no concern except to research what has happened in a matter that he cannot fix—also, if he wanted to fix it. The understanding of religion is the foundation.For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Whomever Allah wishes good, He grants him understanding in religion) .
And the understanding of reality is what we need to apply the understanding of religion to the conditions of people; because it is not possible to rule that a person's prayer is invalid, for example, until you know that he did something that invalidates it, or that his fasting is void until you know that he did something that voids it. But it is not permissible under any circumstances for the understanding of reality to overshadow the understanding of religion, such that a person has no concern except reading newspapers and magazines, and the like, and thereby neglecting the study of the Book and the Sunnah.
The understanding of reality means: The understanding of the reality of the people who are in it.
This is the understanding of reality. It is well known that the reality of people must be known to a person so that he knows what he is living in. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to this meaning in his statement when he sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal to Yemen: (You will come to a people of the Book) So he informed him of their reality and their condition. However, it is not permissible under any circumstances for this to overshadow the understanding of religion, and for the young man or anyone else to have no concern except to research what has happened in a matter that he cannot fix—also, if he wanted to fix it. The understanding of religion is the foundation.For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Whomever Allah wishes good, He grants him understanding in religion) .
And the understanding of reality is what we need to apply the understanding of religion to the conditions of people; because it is not possible to rule that a person's prayer is invalid, for example, until you know that he did something that invalidates it, or that his fasting is void until you know that he did something that voids it. But it is not permissible under any circumstances for the understanding of reality to overshadow the understanding of religion, such that a person has no concern except reading newspapers and magazines, and the like, and thereby neglecting the study of the Book and the Sunnah.