A statement is attributed to al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "And do not say to them 'uff'."
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The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. In terms of time, I cannot promise this or be certain of it; rather, it depends on personal and psychological energy. Otherwise, you know the youth, as do I and others; therefore, we respond within the limits of our capacity and readiness. As for the speech and the direction and answering questions, I fear that if I begin delivering the speech, all the time will be lost; because I am not prepared for the speech as some people are, such that one can determine a quarter of an hour or half an hour in the Sufi manner, "Abu Futuhat"...
The questioner : In any case, when will the session for questions begin?
The Shaykh : And I am certain that most of the attendees will not get answers; because the questions will be many and very many.
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate; the first question says:The questioner : Regarding the statement of al-Shafi'i in interpreting the saying of Allah the Exalted: which is, "If Allah had known a word less than it, He would have mentioned it." The question is: Is the attribution valid, and is it valid to say, "If Allah had known..."? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : As for whether the attribution of this statement to Imam al-Shafi'i is valid, I have no knowledge of it; as for whether it is permissible to say, "If Allah had known such and such," I see nothing wrong with it; because the meaning of the statement is: if something had preceded in the knowledge of Allah that is gentler than the word 'uff,' Allah the Mighty and Majestic would have forbidden the son from directing it to his father; so there is nothing wrong with it, and this is not a Prophetic hadith such that we would concern ourselves with its narration and knowing its chain of narration, whether it is authentic, good, or weak. That is because there is a great difference between a word that issues from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and becomes an eternal law that every Muslim must adhere to, and another word that issues from a scholar among the Muslim scholars, no matter what his status is in knowledge, righteousness, and piety, he is not infallible; therefore, he may hit the mark or he may err. And if the matter is so, it is necessary to weigh the word of every speaker among the Muslim scholars in light of what came in the Book and the Sunnah; and accordingly, we see no harm in this statement, even though we are ignorant of the validity of its establishment from Imam al-Shafi'i. Yes.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. In terms of time, I cannot promise this or be certain of it; rather, it depends on personal and psychological energy. Otherwise, you know the youth, as do I and others; therefore, we respond within the limits of our capacity and readiness. As for the speech and the direction and answering questions, I fear that if I begin delivering the speech, all the time will be lost; because I am not prepared for the speech as some people are, such that one can determine a quarter of an hour or half an hour in the Sufi manner, "Abu Futuhat"...
The questioner : In any case, when will the session for questions begin?
The Shaykh : And I am certain that most of the attendees will not get answers; because the questions will be many and very many.
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.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate; the first question says:The questioner : Regarding the statement of al-Shafi'i in interpreting the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And do not say to them "uff"
ولا تقل لهما أفThe Shaykh : As for whether the attribution of this statement to Imam al-Shafi'i is valid, I have no knowledge of it; as for whether it is permissible to say, "If Allah had known such and such," I see nothing wrong with it; because the meaning of the statement is: if something had preceded in the knowledge of Allah that is gentler than the word 'uff,' Allah the Mighty and Majestic would have forbidden the son from directing it to his father; so there is nothing wrong with it, and this is not a Prophetic hadith such that we would concern ourselves with its narration and knowing its chain of narration, whether it is authentic, good, or weak. That is because there is a great difference between a word that issues from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and becomes an eternal law that every Muslim must adhere to, and another word that issues from a scholar among the Muslim scholars, no matter what his status is in knowledge, righteousness, and piety, he is not infallible; therefore, he may hit the mark or he may err. And if the matter is so, it is necessary to weigh the word of every speaker among the Muslim scholars in light of what came in the Book and the Sunnah; and accordingly, we see no harm in this statement, even though we are ignorant of the validity of its establishment from Imam al-Shafi'i. Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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