What is the ruling on distinguishing between the fundamentals and the branches, is this division correct, and does it have a basis?

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: Can I ask another question?

The Shaykh : Please, go ahead!

The questioner: Our Shaykh, the process of distinguishing between the fundamentals, meaning those who distinguish between the fundamentals of the religion and the branches, or the husks!

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: And for example, much of this happens with the matter of the beard?!

The Shaykh: This distinction is truly a modern misguidance. There is no doubt that in Islam there are matters related to creed and matters related to actions, which are called rulings. These rulings include what is obligatory, what is a recommended practice, what is recommended, what is permissible. There is no doubt that these are ranks and degrees, and no student of knowledge, let alone a scholar, can deny them. But no student of knowledge can call any of these rulings husks or secondary matters. This is the misguidance of the present age. Look, for example, to clarify the truth from a scientific perspective, at the hadith of that Bedouin who came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked him what Allah had made obligatory upon him. He mentioned to him the five prayers in every day and night, and the month of Ramadan, one month of fasting in the year. Every time he mentioned an obligation to him, he would say: "Is there anything else upon me besides these?" He would say: , meaning to offer voluntary prayers, meaning to draw near to Allah with whatever voluntary acts you wish, but they are not obligatory upon you. What was the man's answer? In the end, he said: "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I will not add to them nor subtract from them." So the Messenger (peace be upon him) testified for him by saying: But is it permissible for this Muslim who vowed to himself to maintain what Allah has made obligatory and not add to it, is it permissible for him to call the addition to these obligations from voluntary acts and extra worship husks? Or that they are secondary matters? Or that it is not befitting for a Muslim to care about them? The answer: Far be it from a Muslim to say that, unless he is afflicted with the disease of the present age. We affirm in this hadith that there is obligation and there is voluntary worship. But let us look now: why is it not permissible to divide Islam into core and husk? Because this husk is not something a Muslim can do without. Like a merchant who buys any merchandise, any fruit has a husk and a core, so he sees it necessary to preserve the core by preserving the husk. That is: Allah (Mighty and Majestic), when He created many of the fruits and produce with a core and a husk, did not create them in vain: Likewise, in perfecting what concerns the legal rulings, when He made them ranks: obligatory, voluntary, permissible, and so on, that was not in vain, far be it from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), except that it proceeds from Him as what is required by divine wisdom. Look now at what the Messenger (peace be upon him) said about voluntary worship, which some ignorant people in Islamic jurisprudence dare to say: these are husks, these have no value. I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant. He said (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him): , He said in another hadith: , So voluntary worship is like a reserve. How, for example, a car driver cannot cover a distance unless he has with him what do you call it?

The questioner: Gasoline!

The Shaykh: Huh?

The questioner: A tire!

The Shaykh: A tire?

The questioner: A spare!

The Shaykh: A spare, yes. If one of the four tires bursts, he can change it. This is a reserve. Likewise, the Muslim who performs the five prayers may be afflicted with a deficiency in them, and this deficiency may sometimes be in quantity and sometimes in quality. As for quantity, for example, I pray on some days four prayers and miss one prayer, like many of the youth, indeed the adults, who do not wake up for the Fajr prayer. They say: We will pray it, but we wake up and before we go to work, to the office, to the shop. Yes, this is a deficiency in quantity, missing one of the five prayers on some day. As for the deficiency in quality, many people are described by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , So there is a person who prays but has no prayer. And it came in "Sahih al-Bukhari": that a man entered the mosque and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was in a corner of it, so he prayed and then came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and said: "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah." He said: , and the hadith is long, in summary, three times after the prayer, and he would come to the Messenger and greet him, and the Messenger would say to him: The fourth time, our friend realized that he did not know how to pray, so he admitted and said: "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I do not know how to do it, so teach me." So he taught him (peace and blessings be upon him) how to pray. The point: this is called having prayed and not having prayed. Why? Because he was clicking through it, barely bowing before raising his head, barely prostrating before raising his head, and so on. So the prayer may be deficient either in quantity or in quality. The prayer that we can call, metaphorically, a spare, is taken from it to make up for the deficiency that afflicted his obligation, whether it was in quantity or in quality. Is it said: that these prayers are husks? I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant. Therefore, Islam must be adopted in its entirety, it cannot be divided. But every person according to his capacity. So some person may suffice, on the path of that questioner, by praying the five prayers and that is it, there is no harm. But another person volunteers as a reserve, perhaps he forgot a prayer or missed a prayer or performed a prayer poorly, and all of this is possible for a Muslim to encounter. Therefore, the Muslim should increase in voluntary acts, whether from prayer or zakah or any charitable work. So from the innovations of the present age: dividing Islam into core and husk. And with the ugliness of this division in wording, we say: and can one do without the husk? Without the husk, the core would spoil, obviously. So let us carry Islam in its entirety, indivisible. This is the answer to what you asked as well.