Clarification that the Wise Lawgiver does not legislate rulings that cause people to neglect the first congregation, and an explanation of the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir

The Shaykh : Since the matter is thus, it is self-evident and clear that the Wise Lawgiver would not legislate rulings that cause people to turn away from caring about the first congregational prayer. An example of such legislation would be to say that all congregations held after the first one are prescribed and have a virtue of twenty-seven degrees. Because if any community adopts such a ruling—namely, the permissibility of all congregations that come after the first one—the result of such legislation would be that people turn away from the first congregation, as is the case with Muslims today. For every person, as is established in psychology, whether believer or disbeliever, righteous or wicked, moves through life within the bounds of his belief. If his belief is sound, his movement will be sound, and the opposite is the opposite, as is hinted at in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, the beginning of which is: to its end, and he said at its end: . So the heart is, without doubt, the gathering place of all thoughts, all opinions, and all beliefs, whether sound or corrupt. It is this heart, with its sound or corrupt thoughts, that drives a person to act in this worldly life.

The questioner : I think the house will not fit us in the congregation; so whoever wants to go to the congregation and pray 'Isha'...

The Shaykh : Fine, there is nothing wrong with it. Do not worry, we are in this context. Did you not hear the beginning of the discussion?

The questioner : No, excuse me, it is outside the country. A long discussion took place on this topic. We hope that you... send them the tape...

The Shaykh : If Allah wills.
We said earlier that any person moves through his life and his striving within the bounds of the thoughts, beliefs, and opinions that have settled in his heart; if it is good, it is good, and if it is evil, it is evil. I cited as evidence for this the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, which contains: . This is a reality witnessed by the reality of people's lives, even among Muslims across their different eras and schools of thought. We know, for example, that many people—I mean Muslims—engage in means that do not lead them to the ends they seek. The clearest example of this is a person who is sick or has a sick relative who goes to a grave, which may be that of a righteous person in himself, or of one who is claimed to be righteous. He calls upon him for aid other than Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and asks him to cure him or cure his child. Does he obtain healing? The answer is no. Why? Because he did not follow the path of healing.
The path of healing is of two types: either a prescribed path, which we can also call a legal cause. This includes turning to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with one's heart, sincerely and humbly, asking Allah to heal him or cure him, or to heal his sick relative. This is the legal cause, and Allah responds to his supplication and cures him. The second cause is the cosmic cause, which can be called the natural cause. This is when a person goes to the specialized doctor to treat his illness or the illness of his relative.
So why does this person go and seek treatment from a dead person who, by the explicit text of the Qur'an, neither harms nor benefits? It is because he has come to believe in his own heart that the dead person harms and benefits. So he goes to one who neither harms nor benefits and asks him for benefit and harm. Thus, he strives within the bounds of a deviant, false belief that has settled in his heart. One of the effects of this in society is that the sick person becomes sicker, because he has not engaged in either the legal cause or the natural cause for his healing or the healing of his illness.
I was once in a village between Idlib and Latakia. We attended the Friday prayer, and then the preacher of the village invited us to his house. We gathered, and naturally, we gather to convey to people the call of Allah, the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). A long conversation took place between us and him. One of the most important topics discussed was calling upon other than Allah for aid, and the misguidance of many of the common Muslims, indeed even their scholars, in this area, as they consider it permissible to call upon other than Allah for aid in times of distress. The position of this preacher was disappointing; we thought he would agree with us that calling upon other than Allah for aid is shirk (associating partners with Allah) that contradicts the explicit Qur'an and Sunnah. Instead, he explicitly stated that it is permissible, and he justified it with a justification that is an argument against him. He said: "The one who calls upon other than Allah for aid believes that the one he calls upon other than Allah neither harms nor benefits." We said to him: "If he believes this belief, why does he call upon him for aid? If he believes that he does not benefit or harm, what is the meaning of calling upon him for aid while he believes that he does not benefit or harm?" I said to him: "What do you say if he says in his supplication: 'O so-and-so, O Baz,' for example. Do you have 'Baz' like we do, or do you not have it? You have it. If he says, 'O Baz, O one who neither harms nor benefits, help me,' is that permissible? He said: It is permissible. 'O Baz, O one who does not benefit or harm, help me,' is that permissible? He said: It is permissible. We said: "Then what is the difference between these people and those who call upon stones? Do stones harm and benefit? He said: No. So what is the difference between a person who calls upon a dead person who neither harms nor benefits, and another person who calls upon a stone that neither harms nor benefits?"
The point is: how do these people come to do deeds that non-Muslims consider too low to do? In reality, do you find a disbeliever who does not believe in Allah and His Messenger calling upon a wall today to cure him? To provide him with sustenance, and so on? No. Do you find any of them calling upon a dead person who has become dust and calling upon him for healing, well-being, and sustenance? No. Even though some of this is found among Muslims today.
Where did this come from? From what has settled in the heart. The heart overflows with what is in it; if what is in it is a sound belief, what overflows from it is sound, and the opposite is the opposite.