The Shaykh’s correction of a common error regarding the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “O Allah, forgive my people, for they do not know”

The Shaykh : They say that because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was tortured by his people and his head was gashed, he said: . This narration contains an error in two respects—may Allah reward you with good—in terms of the narration itself and in terms of the legal ruling. As for the narration, the hadith in *Sahih al-Bukhari* is: . The hadith is not about our Prophet (peace be upon him); rather, our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is recounting a prophet before him whose people beat him and gashed his head. Many people make this mistake, and it is not a recent one; this error is found in books of biography, stating that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . The correct version, as we mentioned, is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recounted this about a prophet before him, using the wording: . The second error is that it was not permissible for the Messenger (peace be upon him) to seek forgiveness for the polytheists after the prohibition of doing so was revealed in the Noble Qur’an. Therefore, if the hadith had been about him (peace be upon him), it would have been in the first wording: , and not in the wording: ; because these people were disbelievers and polytheists, and it was not permissible for him to supplicate for their forgiveness. However, supplicating for their mercy is a required matter. Therefore, we say that applying the hadith does not mean deviating from the correct narration. Rather, because no matter what they do, we cannot take them out of the circle of Islam, we say: “O Allah, forgive my people, for they do not know.”

The questioner : O Allah, guide my people.

The Shaykh: Hehehe.

The questioner : ... grateful to our brother Abu Malik ... .
Shuqara: He does not give thanks for this; it is an obligatory duty. Umm 'Abd al-'Aziz and Salih are, in any case, our sons, but we defend others; should we not defend them? May Allah reward you with good. This is a notebook, this ... .

The Shaykh : There is no god but Allah.
Shuqara: ... consider 'Abd al-'Aziz and Salih to be among them.

The Shaykh : They took all the good, what Allah willed.
Shuqara: And so when you say 'Abd al-'Aziz and Salih, immediately the mind turns to ...

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, and perhaps the matter is as it is said: birds fall according to their kind.
Shuqara: Yes, indeed, O Allah ... good people.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : ... easy.

The Shaykh: When?

The questioner : From one to six ...

The Shaykh : What Allah willed ...
Shuqara: ... meaning that sometimes the call reaches the heart, and sometimes people hesitate, Glory be to Allah, they are wonderful.

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : Here ... to half ...

The questioner : Yes, indeed...

The Shaykh : ... birds fall according to their kind.

The questioner : ...