What is the criterion for the fame of a Companion's statement?

Al-Halabi : My teacher, may Allah preserve you, in order to complete or supplement what came before before moving on to what you have just mentioned, a questioner might ask or someone might say: What is the criterion between fame and other things?

The Shaykh : Yes, and although it is not possible to establish a criterion that is all-encompassing and exclusive, as is said, there is no doubt that there are reports in which fame is evident, and this obligates the one who adopts the distinction we mentioned earlier to adhere to it and not to rule according to his own school or opinion.
I am now recalling some examples. When 'Umar ibn al-Khattab was delivering the Friday sermon, he recited a prostration verse, so he prostrated and the people prostrated with him. Then, in another sermon, he recited a prostration verse, and the people intended to prostrate, but he did not prostrate. He then said his well-known statement found in Sahih al-Bukhari: "Allah has not made it obligatory upon us except that we do it if we wish." And he did not prostrate. Does this example require a rule? It does not require a rule. And it is not hidden from you that many issues do not have rules, but every issue is studied individually. So, if we want to say, for example, "What is the ruling on prostration of recitation? Is it obligatory, as such-and-such a school says, or is it a recommended practice?" We find that those who say it is obligatory argue with general verses, some of which address the polytheists. In that case, we return to this principle, my brothers: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited these verses directly to those Companions, and as was mentionedThe Shaykh : earlier, they transmitted both the wording and the meaning to the end. And this Faruq, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, was preaching to a large gathering of people and said, "Allah has not made it obligatory upon us except that we do it if we wish," and he did not prostrate. So, leave your opinions and submit to these righteous Salaf. Perhaps of this nature is also his disapproval, I mean 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), of the man who was said to be 'Uthman ibn 'Affan when he entered the mosque while 'Umar was preaching. 'Umar said, "What is the matter with one of them being late for the Friday prayer?" He said, "By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, it was only that I heard the call to prayer and I came." 'Umar said, "And the call to prayer too? Did you not hear the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ?" He first disapproved of his lateness, and then he disapproved of his limiting himself to ablution without the full ritual bath. Here come interpretations from those who say the full ritual bath is not obligatory, which we do not need to delve into now. My intention is that this disapproval, also made publicly, is included among the indications that showed this was announced to the people and that it was known among them that one should not limit oneself to ablution on Friday. And he (peace be upon him) said . So, if we cannot establish that rule you asked about, this does not prevent us from studying every report objectively, as they say, and then attaching it to either the first category or the second category. This is all I have, and Allah knows best.
Al-Halabi : Abdullah, may Allah reward him with good, regarding the topic, mention was made of some reports that were transmitted not to a large gathering, as you mentioned in the two examples, but rather a fatwa was transmitted: a fatwa from, for example, Ibn 'Umar, a fatwa from Abu Hurayrah, a fatwa from Ibn Mas'ud, three, for example. So do we consider such a fatwa transmitted from two or three Companions to be famous, given that there is, for example, a fatwa from only one Companion that contradicts them? Do we say that these three have a share of the fame mentioned, given that there is one who contradicts them at times, or no one who contradicts them at other times?The Shaykh : Abdullah, may Allah reward you with good. In the topic, mention was made of some reports that were transmitted not to a large gathering, as you mentioned in the two examples, but rather as fatwas: a fatwa from, for example, Ibn 'Umar, a fatwa from Abu Hurayrah, a fatwa from Ibn Mas'ud—three, for example. Do we consider such fatwas, transmitted from two or three Companions, to be famous, given that there is, for example, a fatwa from only one Companion that contradicts them? Do we say that these three have a share of the fame mentioned, given that there is sometimes one who contradicts them, or sometimes no one who contradicts them?

The Shaykh : The discussion is about the case where there is no contradictor.

The questioner : This means we must distinguish between the two matters, because this topic was also researched, and it was stipulated that there should be no disagreement.

The Shaykh : Ten Companions say something, and then one Companion contradicts them. Is this also within the scope of disagreement?
Al-Halabi : Yes, let us first conclude the issue of the absence of disagreement, and then we will move on to the other one you are asking about.

The Shaykh : I say that if there are several statements from numerous Companions, issued by them on different occasions and without any collusion among them, meaning without what I call imitation, without one following the other, but rather it was purely by independent legal reasoning, then I assign this category to the first type.
I say that if there are several opinions from many Companions, issued by them on different occasions and without any collusion among them—meaning without what I call taqlid, without one following the other, but rather purely by independent legal reasoning—then I attach this category to the first type.

The questioner : Very beautiful. This is an opening from Allah.

The Shaykh : I attach this type to the first category, but investigating the topic is not an easy matter. I say this and I am precise in this precision because, to the extent of my knowledge and what I have read, I have seen that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), among the other Companions, had an awe in the hearts of the senior Companions, let alone those below them among the Companions. For example, the story of 'Ammar ibn Yasir regarding the issue of dry ablution: it reached 'Umar that he was issuing a fatwa for one in a state of major ritual impurity to perform dry ablution, so he sent for him, as if disapproving of that. He reminded him of the incident that happened to them together, where they did not find water and they rolled in the dust. When they came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said to 'Ammar . He reminded him with this hadith. When 'Ammar saw 'Umar, he did not remember. He said to him, "If you wish, I will hold you." He said, "No, I only appointed you to what you have taken on." This draws attention to the necessity of ensuring that those opinions were issued without any connection between one and the other among them. Also, for example, when Abu Musa came—I do not know where he was—and was issuing a fatwa on combining 'Umrah and Hajj with a break between them, he was told, "This is the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, who forbids combining 'Umrah and Hajj with a break between them." Now, my memory has lost what Abu Musa answered with something that aligns with the story of 'Ammar ibn Yasir. Do you remember it?

The questioner : Ah, there is something like that. Why? Because the Commander of the Faithful sees it that way. So if we are safe on this side in those multiple reports, I assign them to the first category. After this, we return to the case where there is disagreement. In that case, this disagreement reminds us of the saying of Ibn Taymiyyah: "We have the right to choose from their disagreement, but we do not have the right to innovate a third statement against them." But, Shaykh Abdullah, here is a matter that is very, very, very important, and in my belief, it is perhaps more important than the original issue from the perspective of the principles of jurisprudence, which is that the reports of the Companions, even to this day, have not been treated like the Prophetic hadiths. And so you will find that books of disagreement, I do not exclude any book, mention that so-and-so the Companion said such-and-such, and so-and-so the Companion said such-and-such. And if we return, at least to the sources at our disposal, we find that many of these reports are not authentic in terms of their chain of narration. So what is the value of the jurisprudential research at that time, and the matter is as it was said: "Can the shadow be straight while the stick is crooked?"

The Shaykh : Ah, there is something like this, meaning, why? Because the Commander of the Faithful sees it that way. So, if we are safe in this regard regarding those multiple reports, I attach them to the first category. After this, we return to the case where there is disagreement. In that case, this disagreement reminds us of the saying of Ibn Taymiyyah: "We have the right to choose from their disagreement, but we do not have the right to innovate a third opinion against them." But, Shaykh Abdullah, here is a matter that is very, very, very important, and in my belief, it is perhaps more important than the original issue from the perspective of the principles of jurisprudence. It is that the reports of the Companions, even to this day, have not been treated like the Prophetic hadiths. And so you find that books of disagreement—I do not exclude any book—mention that such-and-such a Companion said this, and such-and-such a Companion said that. And if we go back, at least to the sources at our disposal, we find that many of these reports are not authentic in terms of their chain of narration. So what is the value of the jurisprudential research at that time, and the matter is as it was said: "How can the shadow be straight when the stick is crooked?"

The questioner : But the reality is that we do not have books to which we can return to distinguish the established of these reports from the rest. We do not have them.

The Shaykh : Whoever comes to the Friday prayer should perform the full ritual bath.