The Shaykh’s account of a story about resolving a magazine’s issue, where he was asked to oversee its problems and discuss the matter

The Shaykh: All right, others, my brothers, we have almost finished. I have another observation that I consider important. Our brother al-Dawsari called me—was it al-Dawsari?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh: In the name of Allah, he told me that he is traveling to the Emirates for the sake of the magazine. I do not see it as wise to contact certain centers that are described as governmental, because in my opinion, we will now be under various types and forms of pressure. I think it is wise that we do not seek out such pressures. What comes despite our noses, there is no power or protection except in Allah. But as for seeking them out, I do not see that as the right path. Yes.
The student : No.

The Shaykh: So, I was actually afraid, but his words were only general. I kept this question in my mind, fearing that he would contact some centers there that are connected to Islamic groups, and these groups have connections to known Islamic governments. I think the magazine should remain as it is, even if only five hundred copies are printed with the funds that have become available in what we might call a popular, individual way, from here and there and here. Let us not have any governmental assistance.
The student: By Allah, my Shaykh, this is in the charter.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student: This is in the magazine’s charter, which we have and which is signed.

The Shaykh : Well done.
The student: There is a point here confirming your words. Like our brother Abu... May Allah reward him with good. You know how dear, noble, and kind he is. May Allah reward him with good. This magazine means a great deal to him; he was very pleased with it, as were many of the brothers.

The Shaykh: They have the right to be pleased.
The student: May Allah bless you. The issue was printed when he spoke with you, or had it not yet reached them? He said: One of the brothers donated five thousand riyals to support the magazine.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward him with good.
The student: One of the brothers. We told him we do not want it. What do you think, my Shaykh?

The Shaykh: No, we do not see this.
The student: I do not mean, my Shaykh, from what we are... out of embarrassment regarding what you mentioned.

The Shaykh: I understand, my brother.
The student: Not from near or far.

The Shaykh: We do not want either this or that. Individual donations do not bind us or corrupt us. But official bodies and associations, and the like, we are in no need of them.
The student: My Shaykh, after discussions, after mentioning... there was one... five thousand riyals. So there was a conversation between us, and the matter settled on what you have favored.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
The student: Personal support that does not affect the magazine’s course is acceptable; otherwise, we do not accept it.

The Shaykh: And it is so. So his departure remained... and his travel, for what purpose?
The student: He had a trip to Kuwait. He wanted to arrange things with the brother... for the magazine, so that he would work on the cancellation and the procedures for cancellation and the like. But in reality, my Shaykh, the matters in their endings... for the magazine, the last news is with the brother Abu Harith... the brother Abu Nasser.
Another student : Yesterday.
The student: Or yesterday. He has, meaning, a detailed account.

The Shaykh: May Allah give us its good and protect us from its evil.
The student : O Allah, amen, O Lord.
Another student : He called. Actually, our brother Abu Nasser said he wanted a personal power of attorney for him so that the magazine could enter. They said he is coming now without a power of attorney. Indeed, yesterday we wrote a power of attorney based on... Then he called at night. I told him I wanted to inform you that we have made a power of attorney and, if Allah wills, we will send it to you tomorrow. He said: But there is another problem. What is the problem? He said: The problem is that Saudi Arabia still considers Jordan a country of rejection, or in words close to that. Therefore, this magazine, on its first page, you write Amman, Jordan, and so on. This made them consider it Jordanian, even if it came from Beirut. Therefore, the magazine is currently suspended until the royal decision to release it. That is what he said. But in reality, it is not suspended in the sense that they distributed it, but it was a personal distribution, not an official distribution in bookstores where it is sold and bought.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes.
The student: So, my Shaykh, when we saw this obstacle, how long should we wait? Now the second issue is at the door. In ten days, the second issue will be in people’s hands. And as you favor, my Shaykh, now the eyes are open on it, and we are in a severe trial, which Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) knows, and we ask Allah to keep us firm.

The Shaykh: Amen.
The student: So I suggested, my Shaykh, today. I think I brought it with me. I made an amendment, in fact, to the first page of the magazine. What were we writing at the bottom? Correspondence: Amman, Jordan, and so on. What did I do, my Shaykh? Instead of this phrase, what did I write in bold type?

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student: This magazine is published under the supervision of... in very small letters, then enlarged: Dar Ibn Hanbal, Beirut, Lebanon, Sadaqah, Ba, and so on. And indeed... Dar Ibn Hanbal, which is the one supervising it. But these people, my Shaykh, do not really think... they are formal matters. And what was in the front, I put in the back, on the page of authorized distributors. I said: For correspondence and ensuring its arrival: Amman, Jordan, and so on. For subscriptions and ensuring their arrival: Amman, Jordan, and so on. So the matters returned to the opposite, but in a way of turning and twisting that is necessary for routine matters to work.

The Shaykh: Meaning, these correspondences written here.
The student: Yes, I put it on the last page of the magazine.

The Shaykh: Did I fix it?
The student: I fixed it in the variety of the magazine’s topics.

The Shaykh: Now, stop.
The student: No, I mean what is in your hands.

The Shaykh: Ah, I thought you were asking.
The student: No, I mean in what is in your hands, the variety of the magazine’s topics that are in your hands.

The Shaykh: In light of the most important, it is possible to sometimes dispense with what is important if the circle of useful scientific research expands. Here, I am reviewing the index to gather in my mind the topics you asked about. I found here that the issues and their answers... I think that if you choose to publish some of the questions and answers, you should present them to me, because it may appear to me that something needs to be added that is not good to publish in the magazine without this addition.
The student: Very good, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Of course, when I say this, you all, and especially you, will laugh until you cry.
The student: I laughed and finished, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes, but the point is that sometimes something necessary remains for this phenomenon. Here I read a very brief answer of mine regarding someone who entered the mosque while the prayer was being performed in the state of combining. He has to pray Maghrib. What does he do? Do you know the answer?
The student : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh: So we answered in our way. Like someone today who asked me. I am not now recalling the question. He said to me: What is the evidence? I told him: There is no room for evidence now. C, D, there is no room for evidence. So sometimes in this matter, this is C, D, we answer, but in the magazine, it is not good to publish with this limitation and this... It is better that you present these questions if you choose them, and this is for your benefit, and then for your benefit again, and then for the benefit of everyone.
The student: If Allah wills, my Shaykh, may Allah prolong your life.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
The student: And these fatwas, which are three pages here, will gather to become thirty-eight volumes, like the fatwas of Ibn Taymiyyah.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
The student : If Allah wills.

The Shaykh : May Allah keep you safe.
The student : O Allah, amen.

The Shaykh: In reality, I was seeing, but I fear that I will not be able to do this. I was seeing, or I almost said, that before the final edition is printed, the final edition.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh: The last experiment.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh: I wanted to say, I see, in the spirit of cooperation that we hinted at, that you present them to me.
The student : May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : Yes, and may Allah bless you. As for the speech, there is no answer to it... Yes, but I am saying that I may not be able to comply with this, because there is a difference. For example, I have here the introduction to the first volume of the *Sahih* series, on the basis that I will include it, because as you know, the printing of the book depends on this introduction. But no one there can keep up with me, because when I go to place this introduction, I find that I have gone this way and that way, and the introduction has become forgotten and lost for me. Before the introduction, I have the introduction to the second volume of the same *Sahih*, which is now out of place here, because the order has become the first volume before the second. Now, I am presenting this first volume, and it has been three or four weeks, and I was not able to finish it. What is the reason? Because there is no one I am committed to. So when I am committed to you, I do not want to delay you, because you have written that the magazine will come out every month or two months. Now, then, may Allah will, it will become what? Bi-monthly. So in that case, I am not able to be bound by your schedule. Therefore, if you accept this excuse that I am offering in advance, you can contact me and ask about my situation, and I will say, "Welcome." That will be my good fortune. Otherwise, I offer my excuse, and "the excuse of noble people is accepted."
The student : Shaykh, in any case, we will bring you a bound, organized copy of the issue a week before we send it.

The Shaykh : How is it organized?
The student : I mean, we will send you a copy of it in the form of a magazine, as if it is a ready-made magazine.

The Shaykh : I mean, before it is finally printed.
The student : A week before we print it, we will bring it to you, so that it pleases you and does not tire you with flipping through it.

The Shaykh : Very good.
The student : So in that case, a week with you. I mean, if it is a quarter of an hour or ten minutes every day during your break, may Allah will, it will be finished within a week or ten days.

The Shaykh : As for your saying "during a break," that is a misprint.
The student : An academic break.
Another student: What is it, our Shaykh? We are your break. May Allah help us. You have no break except in knowledge and its door...

The Shaykh : All right, in this period, I will read your magazine, and there will be an opportunity to address any observations that may arise.
The student : Of course, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : How much will there be?
The student : We want to organize it and give you the magazine a week before sending it. This is in light of these days, of course, because now the magazine is every two months.

The Shaykh : Excuse me, before sending it to...
The student : Before sending it to printing, to final printing, because we correct and scrutinize it here. So now, we have a two-month period between one issue and the next. Now, in the first year, we are actually, our Shaykh, even to have some free time and such, in the first year, if Allah wills and prolongs life and improves the work, that... then matters, we ask Allah.

The Shaykh : With ease, may Allah will.
The student : We ask Allah for that.

The Shaykh : Good, if Allah wills.
The student : May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The student : Our Shaykh, to confirm the point you mentioned a moment ago, which is the issue of deleting something at the expense of something else if it is found.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student : There is an article by our brother Abdullah al-Abaylan, an article that is truly very beautiful, under the title, of course, the general title is "Conduct and What is Moral Education and Purification of Souls." Yes, this is the title, which is a permanent title. Then the subtitle of this research that he wrote is "Trial: Between Repelling and Inviting." I mean, how the Shari'ah commands people to repel trials rather than invite them. And he refers to this, our Shaykh, to... which we are living through, the youth and their enthusiasm and emotions, and so on. This led us to delete some things that we might do without, and so on.

The Shaykh : That is it. Yes, all right. May Allah give you health. We wish you success.
The student : We ask Allah for that.