What is the meaning of the mentioned principle (every general text that was not acted upon by the Salaf...

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : I would like you to explain to us the principle that Imam Ibn Taymiyyah said, as I believe: "Every general text that was not acted upon by the Salaf..."

The Shaykh : I was on this matter, may Allah bless you. I was going to reach this conclusion because when I mentioned that man who makes ten gestures with every takbir, he took that from this general text, and I wanted to say that I fear, and I fear greatly, that other innovations will come from other general texts. For example, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And we know that in the prayer there are supplications, some short and some long. For example, the supplication between the two prostrations: "My Lord, forgive me and have mercy on me," and so on. What do you think of a person who acts on this hadith and raises his hands, especially in the final tashahhud where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, after seeking refuge from four things: If he supplicates and raises his hands acting on that hadith, this is ignorance of a very important scientific principle, which is: "That any general text contains many parts; one of these parts is indicated by the general text, but the practice was not carried out for this part..." And these examples are before you. But I was inspired one day, and then I had a flash of insight. I was inspired one day by an example. What do you think? We entered the mosque for one of the prayers that has sunnahs before it, for example, the Zuhr prayer, three, four, five, ten, each person took a side to pray the sunnah. One of the congregation, one of those who do not understand how to comprehend texts, said, "O people, why is this separation? The hand of Allah is over the congregation, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. Come, let us pray in congregation." And the strongest indication from this hadith is: Come, let us pray in congregation. How do we respond to these people with the word that the scholars of the Salaf say, namely those who understood the methodology of the Salaf and acted according to the methodology of the Salaf, which is: "If it had been good, they would have preceded us to it."
Take any example from these examples, and it will become clear to you that these general arguments have no value at all. In fact, I say that the origin of most of the innovations that we fight people over is derived from taking general texts that were not acted upon in some of their parts. So the innovation of adding to the adhan and the iqamah, and the innovation of the pulpit platform in front of the preacher on Friday that exists in some mosques, all of these have a basis in the Book and the Sunnah. This is how Allah said. What are we doing? These are general proofs. So the origin of all innovations, except for a few of them, is resorting to acting on a general proof that the Salaf did not act upon. Therefore, in this research, in this knowledge, a person cannot simply read a book and understand what this hadith means, what that hadith means. He must have a comprehensive understanding of what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was upon and what the righteous Salaf were upon. And if this is achieved, it requires something that is not hidden from you all, which is to distinguish between what is authentic and what is not authentic, whether from the Sunnah or from the athar of the righteous Salaf.
This leads me to remind you of a matter in which I disagree with some of our Salafi brothers, the shaykhs in India and outside India, who place the right hand over the left after raising the head from bowing. It is the same method that these people resort to in the previous examples. These people fell into it, unfortunately. They do not have a hadith, even if it is weak or fabricated, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to place the right hand over the left in the prayer when he raised his head from bowing. So where did they come from? They came from general texts. For example: They tell you this is a general text. But O people, did the action of the Messenger follow this general text that you understood? Did the Salaf act upon it? Did any of the Imams say it? Absolutely, no one.

The questioner: My Shaykh, if you allow me, is it established that the Salaf did not act upon this?

The Shaykh: This is a question by which we refute them, and they cannot respond. We say to them, if the placement was not in the first standing, what would you do? Would you make it up on your own? Of course, they say no. Because this is a form, they cannot legislate with their minds. We say, with this principle, bring us a text that the Messenger used to place [his hands] in this second standing so that we can follow you. Otherwise, by Allah, you must bring a proof that the Messenger did not do such and such. And if the innovators heard them, they would take it as a successful weapon against them. Why? By Allah, the addition to the adhan after the prayer upon the Messenger after the adhan is an innovation. Bring a text, O my brother, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it or that they did not do it? We do not have such a thing, of course. But we know the life that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was upon, which some scholars express by saying that if it had happened, it would have been transmitted. Because these are matters that people’s efforts combine to transmit. A mu'adhdhin calls the adhan every day five times in five prayers, and all these centuries pass, and no narration comes that one of them used to come with this addition. This is undoubtedly pure fabrication. And so we say, all these centuries have passed, and no one from the mujtahid Imams, whether they were the four, or the forty, or the four hundred—we do not be fanatical for one over the others—no one of them says that it is from the Sunnah to do it this way. So the error arises from the application of personal understanding by a person who, in our Syrian expression, is in the shallow water, meaning in the water that is not deep, after he has not mastered swimming and cannot venture into the seas, so he comes out with these ideas and these opinions.
So once a student of knowledge whom I know came to me. He graduated from the Islamic University, he was originally Tunisian and was in Damascus, and he got to know me. I was the one who recommended him at that time, so they accepted him as a student in the university, and he continued and the man graduated. So he was sent for da'wah to Belgium. He visited me, I think a year or two ago, at home. We prayed Maghrib, and he, as a traveler, and with him a person who came with him from Belgium, originally Moroccan. When he prayed, and there he raised his finger between the two prostrations. He raised his head from the first prostration and moved his finger between the two prostrations. I, before I witnessed this witnessing, used to bring this example and say, perhaps you heard it from me. And I was surprised to find that it had happened before me. After he finished the prayer, I discussed it with him. He said there is a hadith about it. We said to him, where is the hadith? He said it is in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad. We said to him, is it authentic? He said yes. I said to him, O my dear, this hadith is called by the scholars of hadith the shadhdh hadith, and it is from the categories of weak hadith. Because when we move in the tashahhud, our basis is the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr, who said: This hadith has paths. These paths meet at one person, who is 'Asim ibn Kulaib, and he is from his father, and he is from Wa'il ibn Hujr, three people. Then the paths multiply below him. All the paths narrate the hadith as we mentioned to you, a gesture in the tashahhud. One path deviated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, in the Mu'jam of al-Tabarani, in the Musannaf of 'Abd al-Razzaq, and from his path these scholars received it from Sufyan from 'Asim ibn Kulaib from his father from Wa'il, mentioning the description of the prayer. So when he raised his head from the first prostration, he gestured with his finger. And when he mentioned the tashahhud, there was no gesture. This is a shadhdh hadith, an erroneous hadith, which we can also call and consider an example of a reversed hadith. Because the gesture was reversed from the tashahhud to what is between the two prostrations.
All of this, as I mentioned earlier, is a reminder. We said that one must encompass the extent of one's ability with the Sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the righteous Salaf followed, on the condition of what? Distinguishing the authentic from the weak. Otherwise, one falls into religious innovation without intending it or even realizing it. This is the example. This is an action based on a hadith, and it exists in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, but this hadith is anomalous. How can every student of knowledge identify this anomalous hadith? It is impossible. Therefore, I consider it a profound ruling what some Sufis mistakenly narrate as a hadith attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord." They narrate it as a hadith, but it is not a hadith; rather, it is wisdom in its place. When a person knows his state, that he is still walking the walk of a nursing infant, how can he jump up and make himself out to be a great mujtahid? And if he is asked, "Where did you get this from?" he says, "It is my opinion." If every person had his own opinion and his own independent legal reasoning, that would be a calamity of the times. And this is a calamity that specifically affects those who claim to adhere to the Book and the Sunnah. So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to inspire us with guidance, to correct our behavior, and to inspire us to act upon correct knowledge, which necessitates that we know the ways of reaching correct knowledge.