Caution against reading books whose author is unknown.
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The Shaykh : To our brothers, the students of knowledge: do not approach, and do not be influenced by, any book that falls into your hands about whose author you know nothing. Is this one you are pointing to now known to you by knowledge?
The questioner : On the contrary, it is known.
The Shaykh : Then such a statement should not be made!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... But why do you read such books? In our Syrian countryside, they say: "He who does not want to see disturbing dreams should not sleep between the graves." Then, if he sleeps between the graves, he will see something disturbing and wake up in a state of agitation. No, you must restrain yourself from reading any book by these contemporary authors who, in the expression of the Salaf, are considered among the people of desires. This is if they are scholars; in reality, most of them have no knowledge. This is what I wanted to draw attention to regarding the answer: that the response... First, the hadith mentioned is from Ibn 'Umar.
Another questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
...
The Shaykh: This hadith of Ibn 'Umar is in Sunan Abu Dawud; although Abu Dawud said of it: "A denounced narration"; but I believe it is a sound hadith. And here we draw attention to the fact that if that author had not been among the people of desires—and he is certainly not among the scholars with knowledge of authentic and weak hadiths—he would have had to say, when transmitting the hadith, for example, that it was transmitted by... But he and his like, as Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in explaining the difference between the people of the Sunnah and the people of innovation, said (may Allah have mercy on him): "The people of the Sunnah mention what is in their favor and what is against them, whereas the people of innovation and desires mention what is in their favor and do not mention what is against them." This is what pertains to the chain of the hadith.
The Shaykh: As for its text, it is the furthest thing from being permissible to use it as evidence for changing the prohibition of entertainments to dislike, as you transmitted. This also confirms that the man is not knowledgeable. The explicit hadiths of prohibition do not accept figurative interpretation, whereas this hadith of Ibn 'Umar does not indicate permissibility; rather, it indicates the exact opposite. Because, as Nafi' narrates from Ibn 'Umar, Ibn 'Umar said: "I was with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he heard the flute of a shepherd. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) placed his two fingers on his ears while walking and said to Ibn 'Umar:. He said to him: 'I do not hear.' So he lowered his fingers. The hadith indicates that Ibn 'Umar was hearing, as evidenced by the fact that the Messenger was asking him: . Look now at how desires blind their people. He did not argue that the Messenger (peace be upon him) placed his fingers in his ears, but rather he argued with the hearing of Ibn 'Umar. And here we say: ... that listening to the song involves a denial that opens up songs and musical instruments. So, in this situation, you are in one of two states: either you do this, or you are in your work or speech. In this case, you are a listener, so you are a partner in the sin. As for the other case, you are a hearer and not a listener; so there is no sin on you in the second case, and the sin is in the first case. Do you see? Was Ibn 'Umar a listener or a hearer? He was a hearer. And where is the argument in what he said? This is one thing. The second thing is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not listen, but he heard. However, out of his scrupulousness (peace be upon him), he blocked his ears so that nothing impermissible would enter them.
The Shaykh: And finally: there is nothing in the hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved of the shepherd's flute. This is from their limited imagination; because they imagined that the Messenger passed by the shepherd who was on the side of the road, so he remained silent about his flute and his playing on it, so it became an approval, indicating permissibility!! There is nothing of that in the matter. You know the custom of shepherds: they travel long distances, and the sound of the flute can be heard from a far place. Does this mean that the one using this as evidence thinks that the Messenger had to follow the sound of this shepherd playing the flute, go to him, and say to him: "This is not permissible"? All of this is burdens and fabrications that a scholar should not say any of, and you... (may Allah bless you).
...
The Shaykh : All right; may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: ... the permissibility of musical instruments. Rather, it is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not listen to the flute while it was far from him, and that Ibn 'Umar heard but did not listen. The discussion is about listening, not about hearing; is that clear?
The questioner : Is that clear?
The questioner : On the contrary, it is known.
The Shaykh : Then such a statement should not be made!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... But why do you read such books? In our Syrian countryside, they say: "He who does not want to see disturbing dreams should not sleep between the graves." Then, if he sleeps between the graves, he will see something disturbing and wake up in a state of agitation. No, you must restrain yourself from reading any book by these contemporary authors who, in the expression of the Salaf, are considered among the people of desires. This is if they are scholars; in reality, most of them have no knowledge. This is what I wanted to draw attention to regarding the answer: that the response... First, the hadith mentioned is from Ibn 'Umar.
Another questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
...
The Shaykh: This hadith of Ibn 'Umar is in Sunan Abu Dawud; although Abu Dawud said of it: "A denounced narration"; but I believe it is a sound hadith. And here we draw attention to the fact that if that author had not been among the people of desires—and he is certainly not among the scholars with knowledge of authentic and weak hadiths—he would have had to say, when transmitting the hadith, for example, that it was transmitted by... But he and his like, as Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in explaining the difference between the people of the Sunnah and the people of innovation, said (may Allah have mercy on him): "The people of the Sunnah mention what is in their favor and what is against them, whereas the people of innovation and desires mention what is in their favor and do not mention what is against them." This is what pertains to the chain of the hadith.
The Shaykh: As for its text, it is the furthest thing from being permissible to use it as evidence for changing the prohibition of entertainments to dislike, as you transmitted. This also confirms that the man is not knowledgeable. The explicit hadiths of prohibition do not accept figurative interpretation, whereas this hadith of Ibn 'Umar does not indicate permissibility; rather, it indicates the exact opposite. Because, as Nafi' narrates from Ibn 'Umar, Ibn 'Umar said: "I was with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he heard the flute of a shepherd. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) placed his two fingers on his ears while walking and said to Ibn 'Umar:
Do you hear? Do you hear?
أتسمع أتسمع ؟Do you hear? Do you hear?
أتسمع أتسمع ؟The Shaykh: And finally: there is nothing in the hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved of the shepherd's flute. This is from their limited imagination; because they imagined that the Messenger passed by the shepherd who was on the side of the road, so he remained silent about his flute and his playing on it, so it became an approval, indicating permissibility!! There is nothing of that in the matter. You know the custom of shepherds: they travel long distances, and the sound of the flute can be heard from a far place. Does this mean that the one using this as evidence thinks that the Messenger had to follow the sound of this shepherd playing the flute, go to him, and say to him: "This is not permissible"? All of this is burdens and fabrications that a scholar should not say any of, and you... (may Allah bless you).
...
The Shaykh : All right; may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: ... the permissibility of musical instruments. Rather, it is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not listen to the flute while it was far from him, and that Ibn 'Umar heard but did not listen. The discussion is about listening, not about hearing; is that clear?
The questioner : Is that clear?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.