The Shaykh’s response to some doubts regarding the exclusive following of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : There are some doubts that act as stumbling blocks on the path of adhering to this exclusive following that I mentioned at the beginning of this talk. Just as we make Allah unique in His worship, we must make the Messenger (peace be upon him) unique in following him. Some doubts have stood in the way of achieving this following. Some people have opened the door for Muslims to follow other things besides what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) brought. This means they have opened the door to associating partners with the Messenger in following him and emulating him. This is a violation of the second testimony: "And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger". They have clung to some doubts. I will now mention one doubt and answer it, so that other doubts you may hear, which are no less harmful to this second pillar of the two testimonies, "and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger", can be measured against it. The evidence or doubt they relied on comes from a hadith in Sahih Muslim, the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, and other books of the Sunnah, from the hadith of Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him), in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: to the end of the hadith. They say in interpreting this hadith: meaning whoever innovates in Islam meaning a good innovation to the end of the hadith. What I want to clarify now in this blessed hour, if Allah wills, is that the meaning of the hadith is not as they claim. The hadith is not about whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam. Rather, the meaning of the hadith is whoever opens a path to a good, prescribed, and known Sunnah in Islam, which is not an innovation as they claim. He will have the reward of reviving this Sunnah and the reward of everyone who acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their rewards. The evidence for what we are saying consists of several matters. The first is the reason for the hadith’s occurrence. We have learned from our scholars, especially the scholars of tafsir, that whoever knows the reason for the revelation of a verse has understood half of its meaning, and he must then understand the other half from the Arabic language and its etiquette. We have adopted from their saying that whoever knows the reason for the occurrence of a hadith, any hadith, finds it easy to understand half of the meaning, and all that remains is for him to understand the other half. We are now mentioning the reason for the occurrence of this hadith so that you may confirm with me that their interpretation of the hadith, as we have just related, is among the most false of falsehoods. It is not fitting for a non-Arab to interpret it in that way, let alone an Arab, let alone to attribute that meaning to the most eloquent of those who spoke in the Arabic tongue (peace and blessings be upon him). The reason for the hadith’s occurrence: Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a group of Bedouins came to him, wearing patched cloaks and wearing swords, most of them from the tribe of Mudar, or rather all of them from Mudar. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw them, his face changed. His face changed, meaning his features changed (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) out of sadness, grief, and sorrow for the poverty of these Bedouins. So he (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) stood up and addressed the Companions, reciting His saying, the Exalted: Then he (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) said: تصدق بدرهمه بديناره بصاع شعيره فما كان من أحد أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إلا أن نهض بعد أن سمع هذه الخطبة المباركة ليذهب إلى داره ويعود وقد حمل في طرف ثوبه ما تيسر له من طعام أو دراهم ودنانير فوضعها أمام النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم فلما رأى أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم ذلك قام كل منهم إلى داره ليعود بما تيسّر له من طعام ودراهم فاجتمع أمام النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم من الصدقات كأمثال الجبال أكوام فلما رأى ذلك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم تنوّر وجهه عليه الصلاة والسلام كأنه مذهبة أي كأنه فضة مطلية بالذهب تلألأ فرحا عليه الصلاة والسلام باستجابة أصحابه لحثه إياهم على الصدقة وقال بهذه المناسبة من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة فله أجرها وأجر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أجورهم شيء ... إلى آخر الحديث وهنا نقول كيف يصح تفسير الحديث بالتفسير السابق وهو لا يتلاءم بل يتنافر تمام التنافر مع ما وقع من الصدقة في مجلس النبي صلى الله عليه وأله وسلم بعد أن سمعتم سبب ورود الحديث لا تجدون هناك بدعة حدثت بعد أن لم تكن معروفة بينهم، لا شيء من ذلك أبدا لا شيء إلا الصدقة كما سمعتم وقد تلا على أصحابه عليه السلام الآية الكريمة التي تأمر بالصدقة ثم أكّد ذلك بقوله عليه السلام تصدق رجل بدرهمه بديناره بصاع بره بصاع شعيره فإذًا هذا كله يدل على أن القصة ليس فيها بدعة وإنما فيها سنة مشروعة ألا وهي الصدقة، الإنفاق على هؤلاء الفقراء الذين جاؤوا ضيوفا على أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم بهذه المناسبة قال عليه الصلاة والسلام من سن في الإسلام سنة حسنة في تمام الحديث اختصرته اختصارا ومن سن في الإسلام سنة سيئة فعليه وزرها ووزر من عمل بها يوم القيامة دون أن ينقص من أوزارهم شيء . Give charity with a dirham, with a dinar, with a sa' of barley. No one among the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained after hearing this blessed sermon but that he rose to go to his house and return carrying in the corner of his garment whatever food, dirhams, or dinars he could manage. He placed it before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw that, each of them went to his house to return with whatever food and dirhams he could manage. Piles of charity, like mountains, gathered before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw that, his face (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) shone, as if it were gilded, meaning as if it were silver coated with gold, glittering with joy (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) at the response of his Companions to his urging them to give charity. On this occasion, he (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever initiates a good Sunnah in Islam will have its reward and the reward of everyone who acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their rewards..." to the end of the hadith. Here we ask: How can the hadith be interpreted with the previous interpretation, which does not fit, but rather completely conflicts, with what happened of charity in the gathering of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) after you have heard the reason for the hadith’s occurrence? You do not find there any innovation that occurred after it was not known among them. Nothing of that at all. Nothing but charity, as you heard. And he (peace be upon him) recited to his Companions the noble verse that commands charity, then he confirmed that by saying (peace be upon him), "Give charity with a dirham, with a dinar, with a sa' of barley, with a sa' of barley." So all of this indicates that the story contains no innovation, but rather a prescribed Sunnah, which is charity, spending on these poor people who came as guests to the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). On this occasion, he (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever initiates a good Sunnah in Islam." In the full hadith, I have abbreviated it. "Whoever initiates a good Sunnah in Islam will have its reward and the reward of everyone who acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their rewards." And whoever initiates a bad Sunnah in Islam will have its sin and the sin of everyone who acts upon it on the Day of Resurrection, without anything being deducted from their sins.