The intended meaning of the praiseworthy knowledge in the Book and the Sunnah, and an explanation of its sources.

The Shaykh : What is the knowledge that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, mentions in more than one verse, and that the Messenger, peace be upon him, praises the virtue of in many hadiths? Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says, for example: . The Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, says, for example: . There are many, and very many, hadiths on this, among them his saying, peace be upon him: . So what is this knowledge that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, praised its people, and then His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, affirmed that in the many hadiths? Is it merely hearing a statement from a scholar, whatever his status, who explains a verse or explains a hadith in a way that has not been preceded by the scholars of the righteous Salaf and those who came after them, or by the mujtahid imams among them and their followers who followed the path of the former? Is this any part of knowledge? The answer we hear from the words of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, for he says:
"Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said *** The Companions said; it is not deception
Knowledge is not: you setting up foolish disagreement *** Between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist
No, and neither denying the attributes and negating them, out of fear of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) and tashbih (likening Allah to creation) .
What is knowledge? It is clear, explicit Arabic. Knowledge: Allah said it first, then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said it, then the Companions said it. And this, of course, if they agree on something, their agreement is a proof, as we clarified in a previous talk a few nights ago, citing, for example, His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: . So the path of the believers is the path of the noble Companions, and it is not permissible to contradict them. So knowledge, then, is only taken from the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, then from the saying of His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, then from what came to us from his noble Companions.
So if an exegete comes to a verse like this verse and expands the meaning to include spending zakah funds on building mosques, spending zakah funds on building schools, and so on, it is not befitting for us to advise such an expansion or such an interpretation, because it is an interpretation by opinion that contradicts the interpretation of the righteous Salaf. If we return to the books of tafsir, especially those that are the mothers and basic references relied upon by all the exegetes who came after them, such as the tafsir of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, the famous exegete, hadith scholar, and historian, or if we return to the tafsir of al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi, also the exegete, hadith scholar, and historian, we will not find such an interpretation in the phrase to mean the general, comprehensive sense of all paths of good. Rather, we found in them and in other books of tafsir, and even books of fiqh, that "in the cause of Allah" means jihad and Hajj to the House of Allah, the Sacred. So when we find such an expansion, it is not befitting for us to accept it, because it is contrary to what our righteous Salaf were upon. And we have mentioned more than once that when we call people to follow the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, our following of these two sources should be in accordance with what our righteous Salaf were upon in their understanding of them and their application of them in their blessed lives. So when we review the tafsir of this verse, we do not find this expansion, and thus this interpretation contains a deviation from what the righteous Salaf were upon. And this alone is sufficient for us to realize the error of such an interpretation.