What is the stronger position in your view regarding the dividing line between the early and later generations: is it 300 years or 500 years?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, in some books I sometimes read that they set the dividing line between the early and later generations at the year 300, and in others at the year 500. What is the stronger position in your view on this?
The Shaykh : What appears to be the case, and Allah knows best, is the first one, because they are the three centuries renowned for excellence. As for including the fifth century, that is not mentioned at all, unlike the fourth century, where there is a possibility, because the fourth century is mentioned in some narrations. However, most of the hadiths stop at the third century. Therefore, this is definitive regarding the third century, while the fourth is possible, but the fifth is not.
The Shaykh : What appears to be the case, and Allah knows best, is the first one, because they are the three centuries renowned for excellence. As for including the fifth century, that is not mentioned at all, unlike the fourth century, where there is a possibility, because the fourth century is mentioned in some narrations. However, most of the hadiths stop at the third century. Therefore, this is definitive regarding the third century, while the fourth is possible, but the fifth is not.
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