Why did you stop continuing the commentary on Fiqh al-Sunnah and Zad al-Ma'ad?

Abu Ishaq: I had heard that you stopped continuing the commentary on Fiqh al-Sunnah and Zad al-Ma'ad? And is it true that Sayyid Sabiq is the one who asked you to stop commenting on his book?

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: Health and physical condition. I did not stop just this; I stopped many things. Why? Because a person lives in circumstances, and these circumstances suggest to him that he work on a certain project. Then circumstances come that he cannot control, which divert him from following up on that work. He finds a second project, for example, the Jiyad commentary on Zad al-Ma'ad. This one asks about Fiqh al-Sunnah, and this one asks about Zad al-Ma'ad, and this one asks about Thaman al-Mustatab. What is behind these questions? We need to answer each one. If you asked me now why, by Allah, I could not say, because it is not a fixed, tangible issue that I can depict for you. But I know, for example, Zad al-Ma'ad. I was teaching it to our brothers there in Damascus, and it is my habit not to adopt an opinion until I have scrutinized the statements of the scholars and their evidence, and adopted the stronger opinion among them. So I taught them the first volume of Zad al-Ma'ad. Then a suggestion came: "What do you think, Professor, if you taught us al-Rawdat al-Nadiyyah?" Considering that al-Rawdah is condensed, as you know, while Zad al-Ma'ad is detailed. By Allah, if you are tired of this long scientific style, especially Zad al-Ma'ad, I am with you. So I started with al-Rawdat al-Nadiyyah, and so it went.
Abu Ishaq: Yes, meaning you did one volume of Zad al-Ma'ad.

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: Your need, oh...Abu Layla : [The Shaykh]: Now our Egyptian brothers say that Syria has moved to us.
The student brothers laugh, and...The Shaykh .

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: Yes, I say we did the first volume of Zad al-Ma'ad, and so occasions came. One of our brothers got married and said to me, "What do you think if you write a treatise on the etiquettes of the wedding in the Sunnah?" He is one of my dearest brothers there. I told him, out of love and honor, I left everything and turned to this treatise, which is a small booklet. After that, other occasions came, and when I expand in this, I leave that, I leave that, and so on. A person cannot walk according to the theoretical plan he envisions.
Abu Ishaq: The motive for this question is that it is well-known in Egypt that Sayyid Sabiq is the one who asked you to stop the critique.

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: This has absolutely no basis.
Abu Ishaq: It has no basis.

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: Never, and I did not hear of it until this very moment. How?

The questioner : [The Shaykh]: This is very widespread.

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: Strange, by Allah, very strange, yes.

The questioner : The Shaykh : Sayyid Sabiq himself, in the ninth camp of Cairo University, the last Islamic camp, mentioned that he said that...The Shaykh : Al-Albani sent me volumes of commentaries; if I added them to Fiqh al-Sunnah, it would become volumes. So I refused. He said this in front of a large gathering, meaning.

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: This is different from that.

The questioner : [The Shaykh]: Perhaps...

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: ...This is different from that, is it not different from that?
Abu Ishaq: Yes, of course, the difference is that my account is that...The Shaykh : Sabiq asked you to...

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: Yes, this has no basis. As for that, it is true. What happened was that one of our Egyptian brothers at that time was from the Muslim Brothers who fled the injustice of Abd al-Nasser and came to Syria. When he looked at the completion of the commentary on Fiqh al-Sunnah, he said, "I think this book should be presented to Sayyid Sabiq, so that there might be cooperation between you and him, and his book would be printed with your commentary." I told him, "I do not think this can happen, but I do not object." On this basis, I gave him the introduction and the first part. And for a wisdom that Allah Blessed and Exalted is He willed, and contrary to my habit, I had some of my brothers clean up the introduction. I kept this cleaned-up version with me and sent the introduction and the first part, which were in my handwriting, with this man. He delivered that to Sayyid Sabiq on the basis that he would take his approval to include this commentary with his book. The introduction and the first part remained with him for more than a year. The man, our intermediary, returned to Damascus and entrusted one of the brothers there to follow up with Sayyid Sabiq. So I would write to him, and he would say, "By Allah, I reviewed..."The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: And he would say today and tomorrow, and today and tomorrow. And finally, he sent me the first part without the introduction. And my friend whom I was corresponding with...The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: ...said, "I do not know where the introduction is." So this is all that happened, and nothing more.
Al-Huwayni: Please, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : [The Shaykh]: No, this is for you, for you, for you, from me to you.
Al-Huwayni: May Allah reward you with good.