The Shaykh’s remarks on the reason for not responding to the call of the people of hadith in India, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

The questioner : He saw it, encouraged it, and supported it. In fact, he encouraged me more than I asked you to, because using the argument against you and against us is... and this, for me, is an investment trip. I want to invest this trip so that, perhaps, when I die, Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) will reward me for some of it.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : Because I am not the guarantor of the work.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. We ask Allah to rectify all our deeds.

The questioner : What encourages me to repeat this to you, my master (may Allah preserve you), is that al-Banna saw their situation there. When we spoke about this matter with him, he encouraged it, supported it, and acted. Also, do not be surprised that he acted, because he knows your trips and knows your nature. He saw something there. I may dare to say that if al-Albani goes for three days, or five days, or two days, or even if it is just one day, I am ready to believe you for one day’s plane ticket.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. May Allah reward you with good, and may He record reward for you. You have provisioned yourself with good for after death in advance. I am telling you this because the intention, praise be to Allah, is good, and the spending in the path of good is much and much. So what matters to you after that is whether your desire was actually realized or not. Often, some people narrate a hadith, saying: But this has no authenticity either. This hadith has no authenticity. But I ask, who is this for?

The questioner : This is your right.

The Shaykh : This is if it is your right. I mean, do I have two rights? I do not accept anything but one right. Okay, in the name of Allah... I ask Professor al-Banna, I think you know that I was invited repeatedly to India and Pakistan, is that not so? Is there a difference for me, from the perspective of the Shari'ah, between my not responding to the call to Pakistan repeatedly and repeatedly, and from the heads of the associations of the people of hadith there, repeatedly and repeatedly, in Pakistan, India, and Sudan, the supporters of the Sunnah, and you know them better than I do, and their like, repeatedly and repeatedly? And I apologize.

The questioner : You say, is there a difference?

The Shaykh : In terms of the fact that if I was able.

The questioner : Bangladesh or Pakistan.

The Shaykh : Yes. No, no, that is not it. Is there a difference if I was able to respond to the call of the people of hadith in Pakistan, or the people of hadith in India, or the people of hadith in Sudan, or the people of hadith in Bangladesh? Half of the speech has no answer. I tell you, I agree only in a difference, but what I am asking about is not this difference. I am either able to respond to all these calls, or I am not able. In that case, there is no difference, whether I am invited to Pakistan, or to India, or to Sudan, or to Bangladesh. And if I am able, it is obligatory for me to respond. And if I am not able, Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.

The questioner : He says there is a difference.

The Shaykh : No, I do not think you say there is a difference? No, excuse me, sorry. Before you clarify the difference, what difference do you mean?

The questioner : A difference in the Shari'ah.

The Shaykh : A difference in the Shari'ah. If I am able to do anything and not able to do anything else, what is the difference?

The questioner : There is a difference.

The Shaykh : You also say, with all boldness, please go ahead.

The questioner : ...The difference between India and Bangladesh. Bangladeshis wear a futa, and Indians wear a lungi.

The Shaykh : What did the speaker say?
"Indeed, what I feared has come to pass. Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we return."
I say there is a difference in terms of ability. You are just going around in circles.The Shaykh : Al-Banna may not be good at going around in circles... And what is the difference, may Allah bless you? Bring it so we can see.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : What is it?

The questioner : ...Pakistan has... India has... You will receive the reward, if Allah wills...

The Shaykh : ...And the one who counts the sticks is not like the one who eats them.

The questioner : You are talking about... and we are talking about a conceptual difference.

The Shaykh : Okay, stick to the word that I agreed to in principle. That is the best thing, if Allah wills. In truth, you are very much mistaken. Abu 'Arab is excused, excused. But you are very much mistaken. As Allah the Exalted said: What is the good here, as you know? Okay, if a man has good wealth, please, here is the wealth in front of you, take what you wish. What does he take? He takes it. Okay, which of the two is better, worldly wealth or hereafter wealth? If I am able to take from this hereafter wealth, do you think I would be stingy with it for myself? And this is the point of wonder. Pray for me, but you, pray for me. My Lord (Mighty and Majestic) means the paths of good are many, and in truth, let me give you an example. I was in Sham, combining teaching people one or two lessons a week, or more, with research, verification, and authorship. Some of the Salafi professors, the intelligent and wise ones, advised me: do not teach, leave teaching, leave all the people, and devote yourself only to authorship, because no matter how long you live, tomorrow you will die like the rest of the living, so leave behind a book or many books so that people benefit after your death, for long centuries. As for these people, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, they will die, Allah knows about them, no matter how long they live and have offspring, the good you left in them may vanish. So write. One point of view. But I used to see that combining both matters would be better. But when there is nothing left in the garden but firewood, I found that the opinion presented to me in the prime of my youth is its time now. So you know how many times we went to Morocco and Britain, and they still encourage us to go. I apologize, I apologize. Morocco, or Sudan, or here, or here. But people do not accept the excuse, because as we said, "The one who does not know what is in the ladle does not know the story." I am now, no matter how long I live, the inevitable term will catch up with me, so I want to seize these projects that are before me. So I prefer that to everything, to everything, to travel, to this, to 'Umrah. I come here just to spend one week, at most ten days. But "your brother is not a hero if he is forced." I find myself sometimes unable to do anything but break what I had focused in my mind, which is just one week, at most ten days. So you, may Allah bless you, if you have a state with Allah, and the response from supplication, drag me along until I walk with you.

The questioner : I will do it, if Allah wills. I will do it, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.