What is the meaning of *balaghat*? And what is their ruling?

The Shaykh : And what comes after that?

The questioner : "Balaghat."

The Shaykh : As for "balaghat," this term became famous through some of the Imams, such as Imam Malik ibn Anas (may Allah have mercy on him), the Imam of the City of Migration. He often says in his *Muwatta*: "It was reported to me from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that such and such," or "It was reported to me from so-and-so that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said such and such." These *balaghat*, whether from Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) or from others, are in the category of disconnected narrations (*mursal*), and the scholar must search for their origins. If he finds an origin for them, he studies them according to the methodology of hadith terminology and the science of narrator criticism and vindication. Whatever this study leads him to, he judges the hadith as either authentic, good, or weak. However, the mere fact that a hadith is a *balagh* from the author means that it has no chain of narration. Therefore, the scholars of hadith who examined the *Muwatta of Malik* stated that it contains many *balaghat* that have been connected in other books, such as *al-Tamhid* by Ibn Abd al-Barr, or other books. They connected many of Imam Malik's *balaghat* with chains of narration, but a few hadiths remained for which the scholars of Islam have not been able to find chains of narration to this day—and they will not be able to. Among these is what is mentioned in the *Muwatta* that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I do not forget; I am made to forget in order to legislate." This hadith has no origin. I mentioned it in *Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah* and clarified this point—that it has no chain of narration. Nevertheless, it is denounceable (*munkar*) from the angle of the denial of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in this hadith of attributing forgetfulness to him, even though it is established in *Sahih al-Bukhari* and *Sahih Muslim* that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . He (peace be upon him) is like humans; he forgets just as they forget. But this does not negate that there may be a wisdom in his forgetfulness (peace and blessings be upon him) from which a legal benefit follows. For example, the hadith or story the Messenger (peace be upon him) mentioned in connection with this hadith: . The story tells that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led his companions in the midday prayer for five rak'ahs and then said the closing salam. One of them said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, has the prayer been increased?" He said: . They said: "You prayed five rak'ahs." So he prostrated the two prostrations of forgetfulness, and then he said this hadith: . That is, he was telling them that it was incumbent upon them to remind him of this extra rak'ah; that is, they should have said "Subhan Allah" (Glory be to Allah), as is the known Sunnah.
So, this forgetfulness occurred from him (peace and blessings be upon him), and a legal ruling followed from it. Many people today contradict this ruling that we derived from this incident. We have often heard questions coming in about a story similar to this one: an Imam was praying a four-rak'ah prayer, so he stood up for the fifth rak'ah while forgetting. The people behind him became confused; some followed him, some remained sitting in the tashahhud and said the salam, parting from the Imam, and some sat in the tashahhud waiting for the Imam's state and his return so they would say the salam with him. The hadith says that the Companions followed the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) all of them; he stood up for the fifth rak'ah and they all stood up with him, and then they all said the salam with him. So, if a Muslim is afflicted with such a situation, where he is following an Imam who stood up for the fifth rak'ah while distracted, he must follow him. It is not permissible for him to contradict him, as we mentioned earlier regarding what some people do. It is not said here, as some people say, that the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) only followed him because they thought it was possible that a new legislation had come, making the four-rak'ah prayer five, and they followed him for that reason. If they had known that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up while forgetting, they would not have followed him. This is what some say. We say: Where do you get this from? Where do you prove that if such and such were the case, then such and such would be the case? Where does this come from? Moreover, this hypothesis contradicts two things in the first place:
The first thing: The rule stated in the words of the Messenger himself: . This rule is absolute and obligates the followers to follow the Imam, even if the Imam made a mistake in the view of the followers. Do you not see that if the Imam forgets the first tashahhud and stands up for the third rak'ah, it is obligatory for the followers to follow him? The answer is: Yes, and this is established in the authentic Sunnah. This is the first point regarding the obligation to follow the Imam if he makes a mistake and stands up for the fifth rak'ah; that is, the original rule is to follow the Imam, and it is not permissible to depart from this original rule except with a specific piece of evidence, as we always say; we act according to the general text unless something is found that prevents us from acting according to it in part of its parts.
The second thing: If the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when they followed the Messenger and stood up with him for the fifth rak'ah, were mistaken, the Messenger (peace be upon him) would have clarified to them: "You have made a mistake, and it was incumbent upon you to remain sitting for the tashahhud," or at least he (peace and blessings be upon him) would have clarified that those who come after us—after the legal rulings have been settled, with no increase or decrease in them—should not follow the Imam. Because, as the scholars say: "Delaying clarification until the time of need is not permissible." So, if the Companions' following of the Messenger to the fifth rak'ah was because the time was the time of legislation, and when the time of the end of legislation came, the Messenger (peace be upon him) would have clarified to the people, because, as we mentioned earlier, he (peace be upon him) said: . He did not leave the Muslims in doubt about any legal ruling. Among these is that if the Imam makes a mistake and stands up for the fifth rak'ah, he did not say in any hadith, "Do not follow him and contradict him." Rather, he established that general rule: , and in another wording: , . So, the Imam standing up for the fifth rak'ah while distracted, and the worshippers remaining in the tashahhud; this is undoubtedly a contradiction of the Imam, and that is not permissible.
Anything else? There are ten minutes left.
Please proceed.