The Shaykh mentioned a story of his illustrating the importance of jurisprudence in answering questioners, and that one should direct the questioner to what benefits them, and it is not necessary to answer their specific question.

The Shaykh : Yesterday, I received a phone call, of course, from some of the good Salafi women, and we can call them da'iyah (female callers to Islam). A woman died here, so some of her family are here and some are in the West Bank, especially her eldest brother who is there. He sent a message... So the ones here wanted to bury the deceased here. Her eldest brother sent news, and look at the foolishness and ignorance: that if you bury her here, meaning in Jordan, he will come and dig her out of her grave and take her to bury her with him. The important thing was that the question was that this deceased woman was in the hospital in the refrigerators, and they washed her in the hospital, and it had been about two days. By chance, the borders were closed, then Saturday came, the Jews' holiday, and so on, meaning it was delayed for days. So the question was that it is obligatory to wash her a second time. I answered the questioner, and she is one who has a strong connection with us on the scholarly side. I told her, let them ask if it is permissible to transfer her to Jerusalem before they ask if it is obligatory to wash her a second time or not. And I remembered on this occasion a hadith in Sahih Muslim: a man from the people of Iraq came to 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and said to him, "I see the fly falls on my garment, and there is impurity in its legs, does this have an effect?" He said: "O people of Iraq, what has made you commit the major sin and leave the minor one? I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:

Beware, the fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is here, beware, the fitnah is here, beware, the fitnah is here, and there will emerge the horn of Shaytan (Satan).

ألا إن الفتنة هاهنا ، ألا إن الفتنة هاهنا ، ألا إن الفتنة هاهنا و هناك يخرج قرن الشيطان

" pointing to Iraq. So I remembered the hadith on the occasion of the question, and I asked this sister, who has a willingness and is walking with us on the straight path, if Allah wills, to understand them that this is not the question they should ask; they should ask if it is permissible to transfer this deceased woman, especially since it has been two or three days, to the West Bank... So I told the questioner that it is necessary—I advised them that they should not take her to the West Bank. The answer, in truth, is that I advised them, but they do not have the willingness, because their eldest brother is pressuring them and threatening them with threats. I said to her, in any case, you go back and repeat the advice, and tell them on my behalf that he is not answering this issue; you are asking about the small thing and leaving the important, big thing.

The questioner : Like the people of Iraq.

The Shaykh : Like the people of Iraq. After a while, the phone rang back, and it was the daughter of the deceased, repeating the same question. And, praise be to Allah, it was clear that she was skilled at twisting and turning, meaning she wanted to get from me an answer: do we wash her or not? And I was telling her, it is not permissible to transfer her; when you decide that you are burying her here, at that time I will give you the answer. And the twisting and turning continued, just as we learned in Syria: "Stay in your place". She was in her request, and I was in my answer to her. After a while, she called my wife, this same second questioner. I heard the question and saw the same topic. I said to my wife, this one asked an hour ago and we gave her the answer that the issue is not whether she should be washed a second time or not; it is not permissible to transfer her. I asked her, "Did you not ask your husband an hour ago?" She denied it. Then we knew that she lied because... the first one called us and we understood from her that she was the same questioner. So, glory be to Allah. The important thing in the matter is that a person asks about the most important thing, not the thing that is not important, but rather far less important than that. My wife, of course, had an opinion that would answer this opinion in accordance with her culture. She said, "What is the objection? We tell them that they wash her or not." We told her, at that time, if we give them the answer, they will not take the initiative to care about the issue of...

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : And therefore we do not give them this answer, because we do not help them in good by giving this answer. And based on this approach, the scholars say that not every question has an answer; a person should be wise. For example, the saying of Allah the Exalted, and this is among the evidence they use to argue for this principle: What was their question? Why does it become a crescent and grow and grow and become a full moon? It is an astronomical issue. What does it matter to this questioner to know the precision of this transformation that our Lord made a cosmic law in this world? But the important thing is that you know the wisdom behind it, from which legal rulings follow. So the answer was contrary to the questioner's request. And so we should observe this Qur'anic etiquette, and we do not give an answer to every question; rather, we direct to what is more important, or the important thing. I do not know what the occasion was that led us to this. Were we speaking on the pulpit, perhaps?

The questioner : On the pulpit.

The Shaykh : Yes, so the pulpit should not be moved; it should be cut off, because if we move it, it means we have supported the new religious innovation!

The questioner : In truth, in the current situation, with the presence of the imam, actually... the mihrab is coming out of the mosque.

The Shaykh : This statement is true, but we do not value material savings if they contradict religious principles. I remember well that Western clothing now, especially some clothing related to women, has economic savings, but this is contrary to the Shari'ah. So what is the value of this saving?!

The questioner : ...Zakah on his wealth has economic savings.

The Shaykh : This is the intention; we do not look at the issue materially!