What is the ruling on a caller reminding people after the completion of the Friday prayer, and after every four rak'ahs of the tarawih prayer?

The questioner : In some Islamic countries, after the imam finishes the Friday prayer, one of the callers to Allah the Exalted stands and reminds people of the days of Allah. Does this conflict with the verse ? Also, this issue occurs in the tarawih prayer when the imam finishes every four rak'ahs; he stands and reminds people of the days of Allah the Exalted. Is this permissible?

The Shaykh : The first issue differs from the second, and the second from the first. There is no conflict or contradiction between a man standing after the Friday prayer to remind, preach, and perhaps teach, and the saying of Allah the Exalted . This is because, although the verse is explicit in the command, this command is not for obligation by the consensus of the scholars; it is a command of permissibility and the lifting of a previous prohibition in the same surah, where Allah the Exalted said . So when Allah the Exalted wanted to restore the previous ruling before commanding them with "and leave off trade," He said regarding trade, buying, and the like. This verse is among the evidence of the scholars of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) that a command does not necessarily imply obligation always, even though they differed on the original ruling: is the original ruling of a command obligation, which is the stronger position (rajih) among the scholars and scholars of usul al-fiqh, or is the original ruling of a command neither obligation nor recommendation, and that this requires other external evidence? As you see, or as you feel with me, this is a weaker position (marjuh) because it requires research and individual analysis for every command, which those addressed by all these commands cannot do. Therefore, the statement of the majority that the original ruling of a command is obligation is correct one hundred percent, because first, the style of speech in the Arabic language requires it, and second, making the command ambiguous does not benefit obligation or recommendation except in light of the evidence that every listener of the command must directly know. This means suspending the legislative commands and suspending the implementation of what the Muslims were commanded to do. This reminds me of a story, and it seems the time has ended, so let us make it the last thing in this session, because it has first a benefit and second a joke and wit. Once, one of our Salafi brothers in Damascus came to me while I was in the Zahiriyyah Library and complained to me about his boss in the office where he works, saying that he had disagreed with his boss on this usul al-fiqh issue: is the command for obligation or not for obligation? His boss adopted the second view that it is not for obligation, and our brother adopted that it is for obligation, as we explain in all our gatherings. Our brother was not as strong as his boss in religious culture and knowledge of usul and furu' (branches). Due to this disparity, the boss overcame the subordinate first, and second, he is the boss. I told him that I could not, like this Salafi brother, teach him the evidence in one session, especially since he comes to me while I am bent over research and verification in the Zahiriyyah Library, and the library is not a place for preaching and teaching, and so on. So I gave him words by which he could make his companion and boss understand. I told him: "As long as it is so, whenever your boss orders you to do something, you do not obey him. For example, if he says, 'Give me that book,' 'Give me a pen,' 'Give me paper,' 'Give me this' (in the Syrian expression), I told him: 'Tunash tunash,' meaning act as if you did not hear, until the commander gets annoyed. Then he will say to you, 'My brother, what is wrong with you? Why do you not listen? Why do you not execute the order?' You say to him, 'Professor, you taught us that a command does not imply obligation.' So he acted as if he was responsible, and he did so, and he got rid of him. In fact, if it is said that a command does not imply obligation, this is suspended. When can the commanded person be able to do so? If the master says to the servant, 'Go, get water,' he does not stand in his place and does not respond to the order. Why? Because the command does not imply obligation. Until what? Is there a sign? Where does the sign come from for such a commanded person or that one? So the command implies obligation. When the verse came, it means the lifting of the previous command: 'Leave off trade,' 'Stop trade.' Now the command to seek livelihood came, so it lifted that prohibition. The command for something after its prohibition only implies permissibility and does not imply obligation. Since that is the case, the preacher who preaches to people on Friday after the prayer is not contradicting this hadith, because the hadith does not obligate immediate departure as it obligates departure from prayer by the taslim (closing salam) . There is a great difference between this and that. This is regarding the preacher on Friday. As for the preacher after four rak'ahs of tarawih, the matter differs completely in my view. And although there is no command here that implies permissibility as the command in the previous verse, I see that the prayer of standing (qiyam) is a special situation. The intended purpose is not knowledge and teaching, but the intended purpose is the purification of souls by turning to Allah Blessed and Exalted is He through prayer, standing, bowing, prostration, and the remembrance of Allah the Exalted after the prayer. So this atmosphere is not permissible to be occupied with anything else, even if that other thing is worship, or even if it is better than worship, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said So seeking knowledge and proceeding in it is better than the voluntary prayer. But the lesser thing may be better than the greater thing in some times. For example, you know his (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibition of reciting the Qur'an in ruku' (bowing) and sujud (prostration). We say 'Subhan Rabbi al-'Azeem' (Glory be to my Lord the Mighty) and 'Subhan Rabbi al-A'la' (Glory be to my Lord the Most High) in ruku' and sujud, and other known supplications. Is that better than the Qur'an? The answer is no. But we say yes, here in this place, this recitation is better than the Qur'an, not as a principle, but as a branch related to this place. When we sit for the tashahhud in prayer, we do not recite al-Fatihah, but we recite 'At-tahiyyat lillah' (The greetings are for Allah). Are the greetings better than the Qur'an, better than al-Fatihah, the opening of the Book? The answer is no. But if we recite al-Fatihah in the tashahhud, we have disobeyed, and if we recite the tashahhud, we have followed. So the wisdom is to place every thing in its place. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated from his Lord the prayer of standing in Ramadan, did he remind? Did he teach? The answer is no. It is pure worship. Therefore, the matter differs in my view regarding reminding during tarawih. So this is not prescribed (mashru'), except in one case: if an occasion arises, for example, if the imam sees a man who does not know how to perform the prayer of standing, he teaches him. But to make reminding a regular part of the recitations in the prayer of standing in Ramadan, this is religious innovation (bid'ah). And in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or lends an ear while being a witness. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And perhaps you have learned, if Allah wills, in the sum of what you have learned, contentment. So there is no question after this, so depart as the righteous.