The story of Ibn Battah regarding those who stand for him while he dislikes it.
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The Shaykh : I conclude this talk with a story that contains knowledge, novelty, and benefit. Historians mention in the biography of Abu Abdullah Ibn Battah, one of the great scholars of hadith and the Hanbali school, that he disliked this standing that people have become accustomed to today, and even hundreds of years before today, with the strongest dislike. One day he went out to the market with a friend who was a poet. They passed by a scholar sitting in his place. This was the etiquette of scholars in the past; they relied on the labor of their hands and the sweat of their brows to earn their livelihood. They passed by this scholar and greeted him. The scholar stood up for Ibn Battah. Ibn Battah said to his poet friend, before that, the scholar stood up while knowing that Ibn Battah disliked this standing, as you hear now. So he excused himself to him with two lines of poetry, saying to him:
"Do not blame me for standing up, for my right *** when it appears that there is no hope of standing up.
You are the most honorable of creation to me, *** and it is the truth that I honor the honorable."
The scholar’s words are partly correct; it is his right to honor the noble ones. We mentioned a hadith, indeed two hadiths, earlier: it is the right of a Muslim to honor an elderly man. But is honoring done by other than the Sunnah, by contradicting the Sunnah? For example, is honoring done by prostration? No. All the shaykhs say: No, prostration to other than Allah is not permissible. Pardon me, I said "all the shaykhs say that prostration to other than Allah is not permissible." I wished I had been successful in being correct when I said "all the shaykhs," but I am sorry and compelled to say that not all of them say so. There are some in certain paths (tariqahs) whose tradition is that when the disciple (murid) wants to take permission from the shaykh to circulate in the gathering, he prostrates to the shaykh, and they say this is prostration of respect, not prostration of worship. We have read this in many treatises. Does a Muslim honor [another] by prostration? The answer, and praise be to Allah, is no, at least according to the majority. As for those, they are anomalies. We have the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal when he came to this land before its conquest by Islam and returned to Madinah. The first thing his eyes fell upon was the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he fell down to prostrate to him. He said to him: This is correct speech. If prostration to other than Allah were permissible, he is more deserving of prostration to him than to the priests and monks for their scholars. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1159Hasan (Darussalam) Because of her great right over him. In the hadith: So it is not permissible to honor a Muslim by prostration, because this is a privilege for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Now, is it honoring a Muslim to bow to him? The answer is also no, except in some paths or those who have permitted prostration; a fortiori, they permit bowing. It came in the hadith of Anas ibn Malik, also in Sunan al-Tirmidhi and others. A questioner said: So bowing is also like a foreign greeting that is not valid from a Muslim to a Muslim. So that scholar, when he said: "And it is the truth that I honor the noble ones", this is correct speech, but his action is not correct, because it is not a prescribed means to honor the learned man. Therefore, Ibn Battah said to his poet friend, and it seems this friend knew Ibn Battah’s opinion precisely, and he also seemed to be a poet by nature and instinct. So immediately, and on the same rhyme, he answered him by saying: "If you see no right for me in your resolve, and you display respect.
The merit of advancing and knowledge is yours, and we do not want you to be reserved." The point here is:
"So pardon me now from your standing up first, for I will reward you by standing up, though I hate it greatly, for it contains flattery and sin.
Do not compel your brother to receive you in a way that makes the forbidden lawful.
We are all confident in the love of our brother, so why our distress and for what?"
Therefore, it is obligatory for sincere Muslim preachers to return this huge Muslim society to the first era in everything, not only in creed, not only in worship, not and not, but Islam as a whole, including customs and traditions. We preserve them as we inherited them from our righteous predecessors. This is very clear. If the Muslim society today were raised as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his Companions, this standing would have no place, as they say. Why did this learned poet, the learned jurist, say:
"And if our consciences are sound, we are content not to weary our bodies.
We are all confident in the love of our brother, so why our distress and for what?"
Therefore, we strive with the knowledge we have and cooperate with all our Muslim brothers to return to the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). As you heard earlier and hear before every word we say, the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
"Do not blame me for standing up, for my right *** when it appears that there is no hope of standing up.
You are the most honorable of creation to me, *** and it is the truth that I honor the honorable."
The scholar’s words are partly correct; it is his right to honor the noble ones. We mentioned a hadith, indeed two hadiths, earlier: it is the right of a Muslim to honor an elderly man. But is honoring done by other than the Sunnah, by contradicting the Sunnah? For example, is honoring done by prostration? No. All the shaykhs say: No, prostration to other than Allah is not permissible. Pardon me, I said "all the shaykhs say that prostration to other than Allah is not permissible." I wished I had been successful in being correct when I said "all the shaykhs," but I am sorry and compelled to say that not all of them say so. There are some in certain paths (tariqahs) whose tradition is that when the disciple (murid) wants to take permission from the shaykh to circulate in the gathering, he prostrates to the shaykh, and they say this is prostration of respect, not prostration of worship. We have read this in many treatises. Does a Muslim honor [another] by prostration? The answer, and praise be to Allah, is no, at least according to the majority. As for those, they are anomalies. We have the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal when he came to this land before its conquest by Islam and returned to Madinah. The first thing his eyes fell upon was the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he fell down to prostrate to him. He said to him:
"O Mu'adh!" He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I came to the Levant and saw the Christians prostrating to their priests and leaders, and I saw that you are more deserving of prostration than they are."
مه يا معاذ! قال: يا رسول الله إني أتيت الشام فرأيت النصارى يسجدون لقسيسيهم وعظمائهم ورأيتك أنت أحق بالسجود منهمIf I were to order anyone to prostrate to anyone, then I would order the wife to prostrate to her husband.
لو كنت آمرا أحدا أن يسجد لأحد لأمرت الزوجة أن تسجد لزوجهاBut prostration is not fitting except for Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
لكن لا يصلح السجود إلا لله تبارك وتعالى"O Messenger of Allah, when one of us meets his brother, should he embrace him?" He said: "No." He said: "Should he bow to him?" He said: "No." He said: "Should he shake his hand?" He said: "Yes."
يا رسول الله أحدنا يلقى أخاه أفيلتزمه؟ قال: لا، قال: أفينحني له؟ قال: لا، قال: أفيصافحه؟ قال: نعمThe merit of advancing and knowledge is yours, and we do not want you to be reserved." The point here is:
"So pardon me now from your standing up first, for I will reward you by standing up, though I hate it greatly, for it contains flattery and sin.
Do not compel your brother to receive you in a way that makes the forbidden lawful.
We are all confident in the love of our brother, so why our distress and for what?"
Therefore, it is obligatory for sincere Muslim preachers to return this huge Muslim society to the first era in everything, not only in creed, not only in worship, not and not, but Islam as a whole, including customs and traditions. We preserve them as we inherited them from our righteous predecessors. This is very clear. If the Muslim society today were raised as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his Companions, this standing would have no place, as they say. Why did this learned poet, the learned jurist, say:
"And if our consciences are sound, we are content not to weary our bodies.
We are all confident in the love of our brother, so why our distress and for what?"
Therefore, we strive with the knowledge we have and cooperate with all our Muslim brothers to return to the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). As you heard earlier and hear before every word we say, the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.