When is the statement of a Companion considered a proof? Is it when we find no one disagreeing with it, or when his statement becomes widespread?

The questioner : What is close to the statement of a Companion? When does it become a proof? If it becomes widespread and no one is found disagreeing with it, does it become agreed upon?

The Shaykh : No. Of course, it is close to that, but as the research into the indication of the wording shows, the ruling is, as you say, close to that.

The questioner : The Shaykh, because [the verse says] "and follow not the way of those who do not believe," so the way of the believers here is that if the statement of one of the Companions becomes widespread and they agree with it, or no one is found disagreeing with it, then it is a proof, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : Yes, but the matter is not as if there is an opinion and we do not know that the Muslims are upon it, or we know that the Muslims differed and one of them said it, so the verse is not intended in that case!

The questioner : One of them.

The Shaykh : One of them, even if he was a scholar. Just as it is not intended by the hadith "one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs," as [some] argued. Second, we say that it may not mean they agree with this clear interpretation of the hadith, and that the intended meaning of the Rightly Guided Caliphs is all of them, their total, and not some of them or one of them. So we will say to them: Is the intended meaning the Sunnah upon which one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs is? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to follow him, and if you contradict his Sunnah, I do not think the answer would be... and if the answer is... Third, and perhaps lastly, Uthman ibn Affan's adhan was not the adhan that exists in this time. And this is what was the subject of discussion between me and one of the Muslim brothers, and it is exactly...The Shaykh : Mustafa al-Zarqa. There was a mosque in Damascus in the middle of the Syrian University. The Syrian University, in the era of the Turks, was a military barracks. Then when the French took over Syria and colonized it, they converted the military barracks, which was called the Hamidiyyah Barracks, into a barracks for them and made the mosque a tavern!

The questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : And as is the custom, unfortunately, the traces of the colonizers remain when they withdraw from the lands of the Muslims. Their traces remain for a long time, then they may change, or they may remain as they are. Here, for example, in Oman, we live... we are still under some of the rulings of that Englishman, the Arabized one. What is his name?

The questioner : Klab.

The Shaykh : Klab Pasha. Pasha. Today, the military system forbids a soldier to grow a beard. The system of Klab, to this day, we live under the shadow of this system. There, in Syria, the French left and the national rule was established. They claimed it was under... what did they call it? Nationalism? No, nationalism. There was a name like that. The important thing is that we lived for years, and the mosque in the Hamidiyyah Barracks, which was a mosque, is still a dance hall and a tavern, and so on. One of the zealous students advanced, and I remember him well, the brother of...The Shaykh : Ali al-Attar. His name is Sa'id. I do not know if you have seen this Sa'id!

The questioner : In Makkah, professor.

The Shaykh : He is still with you.

The questioner : He is present in Makkah, as far as I know.

The Shaykh: In Makkah.

The questioner : Al-Sawwaf, a Shaykh who became in Makkah.

The Shaykh : In Makkah, this is Sa'id al-Afghani, excuse me, al-Attar.
The students: Al-Attar.

The Shaykh : He is one of the young men who holds firmly to his religion and has very strong sectarian zeal!

The questioner : He is a Hanafi.

The Shaykh : A Hanafi, indeed.

The questioner : What Allah wills, Shaykh Sa'id.

The Shaykh : Yes, but I do not know if he has adapted to you!

The questioner : Heh.

The Shaykh : As his brother did, his brother here in Damascus. He was a bitter enemy of the Salafi call and used to launch fierce campaigns against me. And they were ruling by the Ottoman laws, from the Majallah. When they were ruling by executing divorce with the phrase "three times," I used to issue a fatwa that this is one divorce. So he made a great fuss. Then later, he was one of the members of the committee that amended the rulings to what they call the... what?

The questioner : The Majallah of Civil Law.

The Shaykh : So they made the ruling as it is in the Sunnah: if a man divorces his wife three times in one sitting, it is one divorce. They returned to the Sunnah that he used to deny in me. Not by ruling to follow the Sunnah, but to solve the problems. Please.

The questioner : A benefit, a benefit.

The Shaykh: What?

The questioner : I say, a benefit. The name of Ali came up incidentally.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : Ali had days when he knew that the media had opened up for him.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : With old episodes, and they do not record anything new for him!

The Shaykh : Hmm, hehe.

The questioner : He is now sick, he is now sick, but I heard, professor, and perhaps I mentioned to you, two years ago, I heard with my own ears him saying: "By Allah, my brothers, these are issues of the madhahib, their issues are complex. Now I have become inclined to follow the authentic hadith, meaning!"

The Shaykh : But we say to him: "In summer you lost the milk!"

The questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : Who is older than me is he.

The questioner : May Allah bless him with guidance, praise be to Allah!

The Shaykh : But this is a general guidance, and he has contradicted the Sunnah in dozens of matters!

The questioner : With Allah, this speech is good, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Good, without a doubt.

Another questioner : ... You said "In summer you lost the milk"...

The Shaykh : If Allah wills.

The questioner : ... His brother Sa'id, to this day, does not visit him because there is a television in his house.

The Shaykh : I know this Sa'id. He holds firmly to his religion and used to resent his brother for being lenient. Among his leniencies was the television. The point is, our brother Sa'id, despite his zeal for his Hanafi madhab, cooperated with some of the Muslim youth there, and they submitted a petition. Yes, now it comes to my mind, the national government.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : They submitted it, and at that time the Prime Minister was a man who was not a military officer. The important thing is that they raised the request to restore the section that was in the French era a tavern and a nightclub, and the like, to its original state as a mosque. So it was approved, and this was in fact a good young man. And the Muslim Brothers began to preach in this mosque on Friday. And I was one of those who frequented this mosque, to the exclusion of other mosques, because I was resentful of their preachers and their culture, and so on. Because those who used to preach in this mosque were between Ali al-Attar, between al-Zarqa, between 'Isam al-'Attar, and sometimes some of our brothers, like our brother Sa'id al-Tabi'. Do you know? You, Sa'id al-Tabi', his son opened a bookstore next to 'Adil al-Labbidi.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : The important thing is that we, in our weakness, tried to develop the mosque into a Salafi mosque. And we raised the issue of the Ottoman adhan. And a discussion took place between me and Mustafa al-Zarqa himself. So he argued with what you are now transmitting from some of the doctors. So I said to him: "Professor, your adhan is not Ottoman. If you want to argue with the Ottoman adhan, I agree with you now, but on the condition that it is Ottoman, meaning conforming to the Ottoman adhan. How is that? I said: The Ottoman adhan was not in front of the preacher and in the mosque, but on the Zura, a place where the market gathers, where the merchants gather, so they hardly hear the adhan that was being called in the Prophet's Mosque. And especially, at that time, these means of amplifying sound from a distance did not exist. So he did not innovate, and God forbid, but this was a departure from what the scholars of the Muslims, or at least some of them, later agreed upon, which is called the maslakh al-mursalah. So he realized a maslakh al-mursalah by placing an adhan on the Zura so that the people of the market would notice that the prayer has arrived and they would respond to the call of Allah. So if you want, Professor Mustafa, to argue with Uthman's adhan, then move your adhan to the door of the mosque. The mosque is in a very large square, and the main road is far from the mosque. So pull a line to the loudspeaker that calls the adhan, one adhan, which is the Prophetic adhan, and leave the loudspeaker there so that the passersby hear the adhan and respond. If you do that, you will have... what? Held to the principle. And he is called a faqih, but I know his fiqh. It is traditional fiqh, not fiqh derived from the Book and the Sunnah. Otherwise, he would not argue with the action of Uthman ibn Affan. And with this, I clarified to him: Uthman placed a second adhan in a distant place. And if you place this second adhan at the door of the mosque, you have done what Uthman did. But now, you do not need a second adhan. This loudspeaker that you mentioned is sufficient for those who argue with this hadith. So Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) realized a maslakh al-mursalah. Now, this maslakh al-mursalah is realized without bringing in a second adhan, but by extending the sound of the single Prophetic mu'adhdhin to any place where the sound is to be extended...