A word from the Shaykh on the necessity of receiving the Book and the Sunnah in light of the understanding of the righteous Salaf.

The Shaykh : And based on what they understood and transmitted to us, this issue you asked about earlier may serve as an example of the necessity of interpreting the texts of the Shari'ah in light of the application of the righteous Salaf. However, I wanted to remind our brothers present of an example that occurs with every Muslim every day, if Allah wills, many, many times, and yet most people are heedless of it. I do not exclude anyone, nor do I make an exception for many of our brothers among the people of hadith or the followers of the righteous Salaf. What is it? Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their Sahihs from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: He mentioned the tashahhud known as the tashahhud of Ibn Mas'ud. This is the tashahhud of Ibn Mas'ud, but he (may Allah be pleased with him), out of his care in conveying beneficial knowledge to the Muslims, inserted an intervening phrase when he reached the point where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him the salam in the tashahhud. Ibn Mas'ud said, "And he was among us. So when he died, we said, 'Peace be upon the Prophet.'" Here is the point: we must receive the Book and the Sunnah in light of the understanding and application of our righteous Salaf. Everyone is aware of this hadith, and the hadith of Ibn Abbas, and the hadith of Aishah, and the hadith of Umar, all of which revolve around the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) teaching the tashahhud to his Companions using the wording of direct address: "Peace be upon you, O Prophet." But Ibn Mas'ud, who was granted a fiqh rarely granted to any other of the Companions, let alone those who came after them, and therefore was eager to convey his knowledge to the Tabi'un and his followers after him, inserted this intervening phrase after conveying to us the teaching of our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) that we should say in the tashahhud, "Peace be upon you," using the direct address "you." He added this as a correction to teach us, saying, "And he was among us," meaning he taught us to say "Peace be upon you" while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was alive. So when he passed away, Ibn Mas'ud completed this phrase by saying, "So when he passed away, we said, 'Peace be upon the Prophet.'" Thus, we take the teaching of the Messenger (peace be upon him) to say "Peace be upon you" with the condition that he is still alive. That is, this ruling was specific to the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and conditioned by his life (peace and blessings be upon him). So when he passed away, his Companions said, "Peace be upon the Prophet."