A sick man prayed the midday and afternoon prayers combined and shortened based on a fatwa he was given; does he have to repeat them or not?
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The questioner : A man says: I prayed the midday and afternoon prayers combined and shortened while I was sick in the hospital, knowing that I had asked and was given a fatwa to combine and shorten. Do I have to repeat this prayer now?
The Shaykh : What do you say in answer to the question? There is a distinction: if he was in a hospital in his own country, he must repeat what he prayed shortened. If he was in another country, his action is valid and he owes nothing. Yes.
An ignorant person gave him the fatwa, and the people’s affliction comes from the fatwas of the ignorant. Who gave him the fatwa? This fatwa is invalid because it contradicts the consensus of the Muslims, for shortening the prayer is only done while traveling. As for combining, there is no harm; that is, if he had completed the prayer and combined it, we would say there is no harm. But he did not complete it, and this fatwa is wrong. The problem is not with the simple ignorant person; the problem is with the complex ignorant person. Who is the complex ignorant person? The one who does not know and does not realize that he does not know; that is, he gives fatwas without knowledge. For this reason, I will give three examples so we can see who is the ignorant and who is the scholar. A man was asked: When was the Battle of Badr? He said: In the second year. Another man was asked: When was the Battle of Badr? He said: In the fourth year. The third was asked: When was the Battle of Badr? He said: I do not know. The first one, who said in the second year, is a scholar because the Battle of Badr was in the second year. The one who said in the fourth year is of the complex type of ignorance. The one who said I do not know is simply ignorant. The simply ignorant is better than the complexly ignorant, because the complexly ignorant wants to ride on his head and thinks he is a scholar. It is said that a man, whether as a story or as a fact, was called Thomas the Wise. Thomas the Wise: everyone who came to him, he gave a fatwa, whatever it was, and he was riding on a donkey. So the donkey said, and the speaker spoke in the voice of the donkey, because the donkey does not speak: "The donkey of the wise Thomas said: If the age had been just, I would ride
because I am simply ignorant, and my companion is complexly ignorant" meaning I would ride him because I am simply ignorant and my companion is complexly ignorant. The simply ignorant is better than the complexly ignorant.
And the second one says:
"And whoever seeks knowledge without a shaykh will stray from the straight path
and the knowledge will become confused for him until he becomes more astray than Thomas the Wise
who gives away daughters to men, seeking thereby the gardens of bliss"
Do you understand this? Young men came to him and said: We have no wives. He said: In the name of Allah, this is a wife as charity, and this is a wife as charity. He gave them in charity without a contract, without a mahr, without anything, because he thought that giving women in charity is like giving dirhams in charity. And this is from his ignorance.
The Shaykh : What do you say in answer to the question? There is a distinction: if he was in a hospital in his own country, he must repeat what he prayed shortened. If he was in another country, his action is valid and he owes nothing. Yes.
An ignorant person gave him the fatwa, and the people’s affliction comes from the fatwas of the ignorant. Who gave him the fatwa? This fatwa is invalid because it contradicts the consensus of the Muslims, for shortening the prayer is only done while traveling. As for combining, there is no harm; that is, if he had completed the prayer and combined it, we would say there is no harm. But he did not complete it, and this fatwa is wrong. The problem is not with the simple ignorant person; the problem is with the complex ignorant person. Who is the complex ignorant person? The one who does not know and does not realize that he does not know; that is, he gives fatwas without knowledge. For this reason, I will give three examples so we can see who is the ignorant and who is the scholar. A man was asked: When was the Battle of Badr? He said: In the second year. Another man was asked: When was the Battle of Badr? He said: In the fourth year. The third was asked: When was the Battle of Badr? He said: I do not know. The first one, who said in the second year, is a scholar because the Battle of Badr was in the second year. The one who said in the fourth year is of the complex type of ignorance. The one who said I do not know is simply ignorant. The simply ignorant is better than the complexly ignorant, because the complexly ignorant wants to ride on his head and thinks he is a scholar. It is said that a man, whether as a story or as a fact, was called Thomas the Wise. Thomas the Wise: everyone who came to him, he gave a fatwa, whatever it was, and he was riding on a donkey. So the donkey said, and the speaker spoke in the voice of the donkey, because the donkey does not speak: "The donkey of the wise Thomas said: If the age had been just, I would ride
because I am simply ignorant, and my companion is complexly ignorant" meaning I would ride him because I am simply ignorant and my companion is complexly ignorant. The simply ignorant is better than the complexly ignorant.
And the second one says:
"And whoever seeks knowledge without a shaykh will stray from the straight path
and the knowledge will become confused for him until he becomes more astray than Thomas the Wise
who gives away daughters to men, seeking thereby the gardens of bliss"
Do you understand this? Young men came to him and said: We have no wives. He said: In the name of Allah, this is a wife as charity, and this is a wife as charity. He gave them in charity without a contract, without a mahr, without anything, because he thought that giving women in charity is like giving dirhams in charity. And this is from his ignorance.