Explaining the Rule: (Every general text that has not been acted upon by the Salaf)

The Shaykh : On the occasion of mentioning a general text, a thought came to the mind of the brotherThe questioner : something very important, and although it has no connection to the innovation and the previous general rule, it is: that there are general texts that include details of obedience and worship. Some of these details were acted upon during the time of the righteous Salaf, but the practice of some of their other parts did not occur, even though this part—if you sat in a different position to drive away drowsiness from you—this part, although it falls within the general text, was not acted upon by the Muslims. In that case, this part falls under the generality of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: and it does not fall under the generality of the text that encourages it. This is as a principle, but it may need some clarification and explanation. For example: among the most famous hadiths related to warning against innovating in the religion are , . There are many hadiths that command congregation, especially congregation in prayer, where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the well-known hadith: How much?

The questioner : Twenty-five.

The Shaykh : But with twenty-five

The questioner : Twenty-seven.

The Shaykh : And is there a narration with twenty-five? Ah, so that means two narrations, one with twenty-five and one with twenty-seven. Good. And in another hadith, can you reveal it to us? Regarding the virtue of congregational prayer, two, three, four, five?

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : Very good. So let us suppose now that we entered the mosque for the midday prayer after the call to prayer, and each of us took a corner of the mosque wanting to pray the sunnah. One person came up with the idea to establish a good sunnah, so he said: "O people, why are you praying alone? Come, let us pray in congregation." He (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) said: , and so on. Now, let us be relaxed and broad in our research. Does this detail fall under the generality of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying ? It does, yes. If it does, is it permissible for us to establish this good sunnah? Because we have a hadith, as we said earlier, if one claims an innovation is a good innovation and brings evidence, we have now brought an example we often touch upon, and perhaps this is what our brother Abu al-Harith was hinting at with his question. He brought us the evidence . Do we accept it from him? The answer is no. Why? Because of the rule I mentioned last, and I said it needs clarification and explanation. If this hadith included this detail, would that have been hidden from the Salaf? From the Companions? From the Tabi'un? And the mujtahid imams? It would not be hidden from them. So when we find that the Muslims continued to not gather for this detail, this detail, if the Muslims gathered for it, would be an innovation, even if it falls under the generality of the text, because the generality in this detail was not acted upon. Is this clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So if we add this to what was previously explained, we will be on the right path, and we will be fully clear in the matter of the good sunnah and the bad sunnah. So this gathering to perform the pre-prayer sunnah in congregation, if we want to apply the hadith , in which part do we include this detail? In the first part? Or in the other part?

The questioner : The other part.

The Shaykh : The other part, because this would be a bad sunnah. And here the scholars say, "If it were good, they would have preceded us to it." So when we understand Islam with this clarity and this explanation regarding this hadith, the Muslim will be guided by his Lord and will not fall into what people have innovated in many acts of worship. Because every act of worship, or rather every innovation that they call an act of worship today, you will not fail to find a general text for it. So the answer, when they come to us with the general text, is that we tie them to the Salaf. This general text, my brother, you are applying it to this detail. Did the Salaf understand it or were they ignorant of it? There must be an answer from two options: either he says they understood it, or they were ignorant of it. If it is the latter, then he is ignorant, because he claims that the Salaf were ignorant while he is knowledgeable, and this is the height of ignorance and stupidity. And if it is the former, which is the truth, that they understood it, good. Did they apply it as you are applying it?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : So the answer is no. So they did not understand it with your understanding, so your understanding is the very error. Therefore it is said: .
"And all good is in following those who came before *** And all evil is in the innovation of those who came after"
And now we remain to ask permission to leave, because there are people who are, of course, tired.
Al-Halabi : ... on the same topic, but Shaykh, I mean for the benefit, Shaykh, some of the brothers mentioned regarding the previous verse that I mentioned, they mentioned a good point, so I want to know your opinion on it?

The Shaykh: Go ahead.
Al-Halabi : He said from what He permitted her, so it is in its generality, so there is no need for us to say it is a general text specified, or so on. So it is truly in its generality from what He permitted her to destroy.

The Shaykh : But this is like a riddle of words, because how did we know that it is from what He commanded? Is it not from reality?
Al-Halabi : Yes, this is the evidence that it is in its generality.

The Shaykh : This is not evidence, this is interpretation (ta'wil) as others are interpreted. He said "from what her Lord permitted," or as he said. Good, this phrase is not mentioned in the verse, but it was understood.
Al-Halabi : By the command of her Lord.

The Shaykh : You understood, but is "by the command of her Lord" limited by the text?
Al-Halabi : No, it is not.

The Shaykh : That is it.
Al-Halabi: May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : And you, yes.