What is your opinion of those among the Salafis who narrow the meaning of the Sunnah?
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The questioner : In truth, my dear brother, it is that we have noticed among some of those who follow the Salafi methodology, for example in Kuwait, where I have taught in several fields...
Another questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : The aim of the question I asked was the narrowing of the meaning of the Sunnah, and that is why I asked you this question. There are some among the Salafis who narrow the Sunnah, who narrow the meaning of the Sunnah, so I do not know why it is as if they restrict it to some...
Another questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. What is your opinion of this Sunnah, is it narrowing or expanding? What is this man doing? The handshake. And I hope the answer will be within the scope of the question: is this narrowing the Sunnah or expanding it?
The questioner : I have no knowledge of that... I heard from you the ruling on standing up [to greet] twenty years ago...
The Shaykh : What am I asking you, my brother?
The questioner : I do not know.
The Shaykh : You do not know, but did you see something in your time like this gathering?
The questioner : If I sit, I do not greet except with "As-salamu alaykum" only.
The Shaykh : So you have narrowed the Sunnah now, may Allah reward you.
The questioner : I narrowed it out of ignorance.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, do not force me to speak words that distress me, to be rude to my brother.
The questioner : No, no, may Allah will it, we have not known you to be like this.
The Shaykh : You are now criticizing people we do not know, and you say about them that they narrow [the Sunnah], and here you have fallen into this narrowing.
The questioner : I fell into it out of ignorance, if I fell into it out of ignorance.
The Shaykh : And perhaps those people also fell into it out of ignorance, so what do we have to do with them? May Allah reward you, what do we have to do with them? Is it not among the principles of Islam[An-Najm 53:36-39] ? Is that not so?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Now, the Muslims in the Islamic world number in the millions, and every people has its traditions, customs, good and bad, and so on. So a people here has, for example, customs that are disapproved of by another people, and both are Muslim. Do we hold the Syrian people, for example, accountable for a bad Jordanian custom, and vice versa? Of course not. That you do not commit the transgression of another, if that is to be our practice, may Allah reward you, let us understand the truth with whoever it is, whether they are in Kuwait or in Syria or in Sudan, and so on. So why do we turn to criticizing individuals? First, we do not know them. Say, for example, they do such and such. I said, for example, just now, that they narrow the meaning of the Sunnah. Explain it to us, let us see what the broad Sunnah is and what their narrowing of it is. And in reality, you have now seen here a very broad Sunnah, where the one who entered did not suffice with saying "As-salamu alaykum" but took to shaking hands with the seated people, one by one. This is an expansion of the circle, and this expansion may be disapproved of by some people, but it does not concern us whether it is expansion or narrowing. What concerns us is following the Sunnah, whether in expansion or in narrowing... You should clarify for us what is the Sunnah that you saw narrowed in a certain country. It does not concern us now to name a specific country.
The questioner : The intention of the question is not to disparage, but the aim is to hear your opinion on this issue?
The Shaykh : No problem, but I did not understand the question. You say they narrow the Sunnah. What is this broad Sunnah that you saw them narrowing? I agree with you on this, but explain to me what is the broad Sunnah and what is it that they narrowed?
The questioner : I asked you about the Sunnah, and you gave me an opinion, which is correct: that everything reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the form of a statement, an action, or an approval.
The Shaykh: All right.
The questioner : The disagreement remains regarding the dividing line between the confirmed Sunnah and the Sunnah of additions. This means you are leaning in one direction, and some scholars or some researchers lean in another direction. Disagreements in jurisprudential issues are inevitable; this is a very natural matter.
The Shaykh : Yes, I see you have strayed from the point and not returned to the previous thread of the discussion!
The questioner : My dear brother, the discussion began with the meaning of the Sunnah. We asked you for your opinion on the meaning of the Sunnah. When you came to the practical Sunnah, you divided it into two parts. Before we finish with this detail, the purpose of the first question was the meaning of the Sunnah. But when you divided the practical Sunnah into confirmed and additions, we wanted to clarify this detail, so we stopped at this detail.
The Shaykh : Continue, let us see what your opinion is on the issue of the beard, the topic you started!
The questioner : No. I mean, we want to hear your opinion regardless, and if you allow us, to discuss with you some of the evidence you rely on in this direction?
The Shaykh : Discuss, my brother.
The questioner : We do not want to hear your opinion on them...
Another questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : We said the evidence we stopped at before the prayer, which is the rational evidence, and some of it was transmitted. And as I recall, from the transmitted evidence, which is the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) or , I believe this is the evidence that came in your letter and in the booklet on the beard. So it seems the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) conditioned the obligation of the beard or following it by differing from the Majus. And as we say, the ruling revolves with its cause in existence and absence. So for differing from the Majus, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded letting the beard grow. Is this really the cause? Are these transmitted evidences, is the cause differing from the Majus, or is there another cause in letting the beard grow?
The Shaykh : Yes, of course there is another cause, but I ask you that the path of research not be vague, not be aimless, but be specific. You are now telling me we want to hear your opinion on what? What do you want to hear an opinion on? I mean, I repeat to your ears the letter you read, and more. This is not reasonable!
The questioner : Briefly.
The Shaykh : Rather, as you did recently, you bring an example you understood from us and you have a problem with it, you raise it. But if you muddy the subject, it means we need to stay up all night around an issue like this. So now your last question is limited in scope: you say this Prophetic command is explained by a cause. Do you see if there is another cause or not? This is a scientific, sound, and precise question. Before we enter the topic of whether there is another cause or not—and it really exists—we say: is this statement of his (peace be upon him) the cause for this ruling, such that the matter differs if the command came only to let the beard grow?
Another questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : The aim of the question I asked was the narrowing of the meaning of the Sunnah, and that is why I asked you this question. There are some among the Salafis who narrow the Sunnah, who narrow the meaning of the Sunnah, so I do not know why it is as if they restrict it to some...
Another questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. What is your opinion of this Sunnah, is it narrowing or expanding? What is this man doing? The handshake. And I hope the answer will be within the scope of the question: is this narrowing the Sunnah or expanding it?
The questioner : I have no knowledge of that... I heard from you the ruling on standing up [to greet] twenty years ago...
The Shaykh : What am I asking you, my brother?
The questioner : I do not know.
The Shaykh : You do not know, but did you see something in your time like this gathering?
The questioner : If I sit, I do not greet except with "As-salamu alaykum" only.
The Shaykh : So you have narrowed the Sunnah now, may Allah reward you.
The questioner : I narrowed it out of ignorance.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, do not force me to speak words that distress me, to be rude to my brother.
The questioner : No, no, may Allah will it, we have not known you to be like this.
The Shaykh : You are now criticizing people we do not know, and you say about them that they narrow [the Sunnah], and here you have fallen into this narrowing.
The questioner : I fell into it out of ignorance, if I fell into it out of ignorance.
The Shaykh : And perhaps those people also fell into it out of ignorance, so what do we have to do with them? May Allah reward you, what do we have to do with them? Is it not among the principles of Islam
(36) Or has he not been informed of what was in the scriptures of Moses (37) And [of] Abraham, who fulfilled [his obligations] - (38) That no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another (39) And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives
أم لم ينبأ بما في صحف موسى وإبراهيم الذي وفى أن لا ترزوا وازرة وزر أخرى وأن ليس للإنسان إلا ما سعىThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Now, the Muslims in the Islamic world number in the millions, and every people has its traditions, customs, good and bad, and so on. So a people here has, for example, customs that are disapproved of by another people, and both are Muslim. Do we hold the Syrian people, for example, accountable for a bad Jordanian custom, and vice versa? Of course not. That you do not commit the transgression of another, if that is to be our practice, may Allah reward you, let us understand the truth with whoever it is, whether they are in Kuwait or in Syria or in Sudan, and so on. So why do we turn to criticizing individuals? First, we do not know them. Say, for example, they do such and such. I said, for example, just now, that they narrow the meaning of the Sunnah. Explain it to us, let us see what the broad Sunnah is and what their narrowing of it is. And in reality, you have now seen here a very broad Sunnah, where the one who entered did not suffice with saying "As-salamu alaykum" but took to shaking hands with the seated people, one by one. This is an expansion of the circle, and this expansion may be disapproved of by some people, but it does not concern us whether it is expansion or narrowing. What concerns us is following the Sunnah, whether in expansion or in narrowing... You should clarify for us what is the Sunnah that you saw narrowed in a certain country. It does not concern us now to name a specific country.
The questioner : The intention of the question is not to disparage, but the aim is to hear your opinion on this issue?
The Shaykh : No problem, but I did not understand the question. You say they narrow the Sunnah. What is this broad Sunnah that you saw them narrowing? I agree with you on this, but explain to me what is the broad Sunnah and what is it that they narrowed?
The questioner : I asked you about the Sunnah, and you gave me an opinion, which is correct: that everything reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the form of a statement, an action, or an approval.
The Shaykh: All right.
The questioner : The disagreement remains regarding the dividing line between the confirmed Sunnah and the Sunnah of additions. This means you are leaning in one direction, and some scholars or some researchers lean in another direction. Disagreements in jurisprudential issues are inevitable; this is a very natural matter.
The Shaykh : Yes, I see you have strayed from the point and not returned to the previous thread of the discussion!
The questioner : My dear brother, the discussion began with the meaning of the Sunnah. We asked you for your opinion on the meaning of the Sunnah. When you came to the practical Sunnah, you divided it into two parts. Before we finish with this detail, the purpose of the first question was the meaning of the Sunnah. But when you divided the practical Sunnah into confirmed and additions, we wanted to clarify this detail, so we stopped at this detail.
The Shaykh : Continue, let us see what your opinion is on the issue of the beard, the topic you started!
The questioner : No. I mean, we want to hear your opinion regardless, and if you allow us, to discuss with you some of the evidence you rely on in this direction?
The Shaykh : Discuss, my brother.
The questioner : We do not want to hear your opinion on them...
Another questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : We said the evidence we stopped at before the prayer, which is the rational evidence, and some of it was transmitted. And as I recall, from the transmitted evidence, which is the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
Differ from the Christians
خالفوا النصارىDiffer from the Zoroastrians
خالفوا المجوسThe Shaykh : Yes, of course there is another cause, but I ask you that the path of research not be vague, not be aimless, but be specific. You are now telling me we want to hear your opinion on what? What do you want to hear an opinion on? I mean, I repeat to your ears the letter you read, and more. This is not reasonable!
The questioner : Briefly.
The Shaykh : Rather, as you did recently, you bring an example you understood from us and you have a problem with it, you raise it. But if you muddy the subject, it means we need to stay up all night around an issue like this. So now your last question is limited in scope: you say this Prophetic command is explained by a cause. Do you see if there is another cause or not? This is a scientific, sound, and precise question. Before we enter the topic of whether there is another cause or not—and it really exists—we say: is this statement of his (peace be upon him)
Differ from the Jews and the Christians
خالفوا اليهود والنصارى
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.