A note on the meaning of the hadith: “Whoever Allah wishes good for, He grants him understanding of the religion.”

The Shaykh : And what the Messenger (peace be upon him) referred to in the well-known hadith this hadith

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Keep what you have. This hadith is interpreted in a very extreme way meaning memorizing the detailed jurisprudential branches in the school-specific books, from the Hanafi to the Shafi'i, and so on. This has nothing to do with fiqh. This hadith means understanding the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Here is the understanding, here is the fiqh. It is narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari from the hadith of Abu Juhayfah al-Sa'idi, a Companion, that some people asked 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) “Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) give you, O People of the House, something that he did not give to the people?” He said, “No, except for understanding that Allah grants to a servant in His Book, and except for what is in the sheath of my sword.” And he brought out a paper written on it and on this paper are also the rulings concerning wounds. The point is what he said: “He did not give us anything except for understanding that Allah grants to a servant in His Book.” The intention is fiqh in the Book and the Sunnah, not memorizing the branches, because these branches are endless, as is clear to students of knowledge. The branches are in the thousands. What does a person need to memorize? He cannot memorize them all. Also, I like a word by Ibn Rushd al-Andalusi on this occasion, in which he clarified the difference between the one who has fiqh and the jurist, between the mujtahid and the muqallid. He says that the muqallid is like a seller of sandals. A very wonderful and nice example. The muqallid is like a seller of sandals, and the mujtahid is like the shoemaker who makes the sandals and shoes. He says a man comes to the shoe seller with the measurement of a strange, long, thin foot, and so on. He searches through the models he has and does not find one because the measurement is strange. He goes to the shoemaker to have it made. He takes the measurement and tailors it for him. This is like the mujtahid, and that is like the muqallid. And this is the reality; we know it by experience. All of us Syrians know the great Abu al-Yusr, may Allah have mercy on him. A strange incident happened with one of the people. He was a merchant with large refrigerators in which he stored meat and fruits. One day, an Armenian... offered him a tempting wage to store pork for him. You know that a Muslim, even if he is not committed, as soon as he hears about pork, his skin breaks out. So the offer tempted him at first. He said, “By Allah, I want to ask.” He went to the mufti at the headquarters of the Ifta. He told him the story. He said to him, “Write it down.” Instead of telling them, “It is permissible” or “It is not permissible,” he said, “Write it.” The poor man wrote a paper and submitted it to the mufti. He said to him, “You will come to get the answer after a week.” He went. He said to him, “We have not yet found the text.” Hahaha. After a second week, the summary of three weeks, the third week, he knocked on the door. No one answered. He opened the door a little to see something. A cabinet on the table. He knocked on the door a little. He woke up. He said to him, “I found the text for you.” And he gave him what? A stamped paper. He says, “I took it and went out to the living room. I was... What was the answer? I did not understand. I read and read, and so on, and I did not understand whether it was permissible or not permissible...” Please, do you know one of our brothers named Salih al-Jazairi? Do you know him? Well, he was a car driver for this man. He says to him, “O Salih, read this fatwa to me. I am not understanding it, or it is not making me understand.” He read it. He said to him, “By Allah, it is not clear. Because it says, ‘It was said and it was said, and it was said and it was said.’” He said to him, “I will refer you to a person who is not a mufti. He is my colleague, but he will give you the answer immediately and in a way that reassures you. Come, by Allah, he is at my shop. Show me the text of the fatwa.” Allah is Great. We say it is contradictory. And from the writings, if the ordinary man hears it, he is surprised. Like, “The Qadi Khan said,” like, “It was mentioned in al-Bazzaziyyah,” like, “It was mentioned in al-Wajwajiyyah.” That is, names like al-Wajwajiyyah and al-Bazzaziyyah. Yes, we say they are completely different. It was mentioned in such a book from Abu Hanifa that if a Muslim hires a dhimmi to transport wine for him, that is permissible and his wage is lawful. Another is quoted from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani. Abu Yusuf said, “A Christian hired a Muslim to build a church for him. Is that permissible for him? No, it is not permissible and his wage is not lawful.” We say, what? It is contradictory. And as they say... And what does the last one say? “And from what has been mentioned before, the answer to the question is understood.”

The questioner : At Abu al-Yusr’s.

The Shaykh : Did he tell him the story? He said to him, “Write it down.” Instead of telling them, “It is permissible” or “It is not permissible,” he said, “Write it.” The poor man wrote a paper and submitted it to the mufti. He said to him, “You will come to get the answer after a week.” He went. He said to him, “We have not yet found the text.” Hahaha. After a second week, the summary of three weeks, the third week, he knocked on the door. No one answered. He opened the door a little to see something. A cabinet on the table. He knocked on the door a little. He woke up. He said to him, “I found the text for you.” And he gave him what? A stamped paper. He says, “I took it and went out to the living room. I was... What was the answer? I did not understand. I read and read, and so on, and I did not understand whether it was permissible or not permissible...” Please, do you know one of our brothers named Salih al-Jazairi? Do you know him? Well, he was a car driver for this man. He says to him, “O Salih, read this fatwa to me. I am not understanding it, or it is not making me understand.” He read it. He said to him, “By Allah, it is not clear. Because it says, ‘It was said and it was said, and it was said and it was said.’” He said to him, “I will refer you to a person who is not a mufti. He is my colleague, but he will give you the answer immediately and in a way that reassures you. Come, by Allah, he is at my shop. Show me the text of the fatwa.” Allah is Great. We say it is contradictory. And from the writings, if the ordinary man hears it, he is surprised. Like, “The Qadi Khan said,” like, “It was mentioned in al-Bazzaziyyah,” like, “It was mentioned in al-Wajwajiyyah.” That is, names like al-Wajwajiyyah and al-Bazzaziyyah. Yes, we say they are completely different. It was mentioned in such a book from Abu Hanifa that if a Muslim hires a dhimmi to transport wine for him, that is permissible and his wage is lawful. Another is quoted from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani. Abu Yusuf said, “A Christian hired a Muslim to build a church for him. Is that permissible for him? No, it is not permissible and his wage is not lawful.” We say, what? It is contradictory. And as they say... And what does the last one say? “And from what has been mentioned before, the answer to the question is understood.”
Another questioner: ...

The Shaykh : Absolutely not. He preserves a text. I mean, I told him, “You are right, my brother. What he wrote is not understanding. Where is the truth? He himself is lost between the contradictory quotations. But I am reminding you of some texts. Even if you are not a student of knowledge, you are an Arab and you understand. Allah the Exalted said: Pork, is it a sin or lawful? He said, “It is a sin.” I said to him, “If you memorized this, the sin means you participated in the sin. You helped him in the wrong. It is not permissible.” And I mentioned to him and so on. And the other hadith: He said to me, “May Allah reward you with good.” Now... What is this fiqh that leaves this man giving him a delay to give him an answer like this simple answer? A week, then a second week, then a third week? So we ask Allah to grant us understanding in the religion and to teach us interpretation. Where is Abu Akram?