Some general hadiths regarding the virtue of dhikr have been reported; do they establish the prescription of dhikr in congregation?

The questioner : The existence of some general hadiths... many of the innovators in congregational dhikr, they glorify and praise... then another hadith: to the end of the hadith, they use these hadiths as evidence for the prescription of congregational dhikr?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : It is not permissible... to use general texts as evidence when practice has not followed them.

Another questioner: And upon you peace.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
It is not permissible to use general texts as evidence when practice has not followed them; that is, their generality remains in the Shari'ah. This is because the general text spoken by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is more knowledgeable about its indication than those who come after him. As for using a generality as evidence, we should look to see if practice has followed this generality or not. If it has, then the practice is a Sunnah; if it has not, then the practice is a religious innovation, and using such a generality as evidence is of no benefit.
Let us give a clear example of this. Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) says: , , ; these are general texts describing the Muslims as being of a nature that they remember Allah frequently. Relying on these generalities, an innovator comes and calls the adhan for the Eid prayers. He is told: This is a religious innovation. He says: No, fear Allah; I am remembering Allah and declaring His oneness; what are you objecting to me for? Am I associating partners with Allah when I say: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, or am I declaring His oneness? Of course, I am declaring His oneness, and so on. So we will say to him: This timing and this dhikr that you are engaged in on the occasion of the Eid prayer; did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) do it? His answer will be: No, he did not. Good, why do we do it? Out of ignorance and lack of interest in the remembrance of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? He says: From the beginning, of course not. So why did the Messenger (peace be upon him) not call the adhan for the Eid prayers if the adhan was prescribed? This innovator must say one of two things: The Messenger did not call the adhan because it is not prescribed, or it is prescribed and he left it, and the Companions and the Tabi'un left it, and so on, until this innovator comes and uses general texts as evidence for this specific dhikr and places it in a specific location where the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not place it. This is legislation from his own self, but he relies on generalities that practice has not followed.

The questioner : Shaykh, one of them.

The Shaykh : We have not finished yet.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : What... .

The questioner: Yes ... .

The Shaykh : Good, please go ahead.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : ... .