Explaining Some of the Etiquette of Gatherings

The Shaykh: All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever He misleads, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
, , , As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. And after that:
I have mentioned and reminded you in some gatherings of an etiquette that should be observed in gatherings of knowledge. That etiquette is gathering together and not separating in body; because gathering in body is a legitimate cause for gathering in hearts. I mentioned many hadiths in support of this, including what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to order his companions to do in straightening the rows in prayer, and he followed that with his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . In this hadith, there is a clear statement, clearer than any other, that a visible, material difference in straightening the rows leads to a difference in hearts and a difference in the actions that result from the hearts. Therefore, we, O Muslims, should observe the etiquette of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and his training of the Muslims in closeness in body. Among this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) saw his companions one day on a journey, and they had stopped at a place, and their dwellings were spread out in the desert among the trees. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them, after being silent for a long time—which was part of his policy (peace and blessings be upon him) to be patient with people and to take them gently until the time for reminding and warning came—he said to them (peace and blessings be upon him) in that place where they had stopped in the desert: . It is not only in the mosque, in the rows, and in the circles that separation is from the work of Satan; but also in the desert, where there is the vast land of Allah. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) encouraged them to be close in body and to sit near one another; because in that there is an effect on...; because the apparent is the title of the hidden, as some of the scholars of knowledge say. The narrator of this hadith—and he is Abu Thalhah al-Khushni (may Allah be pleased with him)—said: "So after that, when we stopped at a place—meaning in the desert—we gathered together until if we sat on a single carpet, it would have been enough for us." That is: after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) reminded them that that separation in the valleys and ravines was from the work of Satan, they responded to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in subsequent journeys, so that when they stopped at a place, they gathered together until if they sat on a single carpet, it would have been enough for them.
This also confirms that separation in body causes separation in hearts and insights. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) emphasized that the apparent affects the hidden, just as the hidden affects the apparent; that is: the rectification of the hidden affects the rectification of the apparent, and the rectification of the apparent affects the rectification of the hidden. This is a Prophetic psychological reality that few of those who hold fast to the Sunnah pay attention to, let alone others. I mean by this the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) which was recorded byThe Shaykh : in "their two Sahihs" from the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them both). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . The point of relevance is in the following remainder of the hadith; he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Therefore, it is not among the etiquettes of sitting in circles of lessons, preaching, teaching, and guidance to separate in body; because it affects the hearts.
For that reason, it came in "Sahih Muslim" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) entered his mosque one day and saw the people in circles, separated, so he disapproved of that for them and said to them: meaning: Why do I see you separated, some of you far from some? This is among the etiquette of gatherings, gatherings of knowledge which the angels of mercy attend and surround with their wings, and tranquility descends upon them, and mercy covers them. We hope that our brothers will observe this etiquette, which we see many people neglect, even in the mosques; where we see the circle around the teacher orThe Shaykh : or the preacher is very, very large, and between the preacher and those sitting in a circle around him are many steps. This is not among the etiquette of Islam. So this is a reminder, and the reminder benefits the believers.
And now, I hope you will direct your questions and not be disordered in them, so that the benefit may be complete, if Allah wills (Blessed and Exalted is He).