A word from the Shaykh regarding the danger of inverting legal and linguistic facts.

The Shaykh : And upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows: This is the fourth meeting this year, the year 1411 AH, in the Sacred Mosque, which corresponds to the twenty-fourth night of the month of Ramadan. So this is the twenty-fourth night, and the night before it is the twenty-third night, and the night before that is the twenty-second night, and the night before that is the twenty-first night, and the coming night is the twenty-fifth night, and the one after that is the twenty-sixth, and the one after that

The questioner : is the twenty-seventh

The Shaykh : and the one after that

The questioner : is the twenty-eighth

The Shaykh : and the one after that

The questioner : is the twenty-ninth

The Shaykh : and the one after that is the thirtieth or the first of Shawwal. I only said this because I am amazed by two questions that reached me this night. One question states that he heard from some shaykhs that this night is the twenty-third night, and that the nights follow the days. Based on this analogy, the first night of Ramadan would be the night of Monday, not the night of Sunday, and Ramadan would be deficient at the beginning, having no first night, because we fasted on Sunday, is that not so? Now, according to the principle of this person who claimed that some scholars told him that this night is the twenty-third night, the night of Monday would be the first night of the month of Ramadan, and the tarawih that we established on the night of Sunday would be out of place. I am pointing this out because this is an inversion of legal facts and an inversion of linguistic facts. The beginning of the month is the night, not the day, because the month enters with the appearance of the crescent after the setting of the sun. When does the crescent appear after the setting of the sun? In the night, not in the day. So there is no doubt in the matter. But someone might say: Is it not the case that the standing at 'Arafah extends until the dawn of the Day of Sacrifice? The answer is yes, but this does not mean that the night of the festival, which follows the ninth day, is the ninth night; rather, it is the tenth night by consensus. However, to make it easier for the Muslims, the ruling of the standing extended until the dawn of the tenth night. On this occasion, I would like first for us to have firm knowledge and not to accept everything that is said. Unfortunately, due to the opening up of religious and academic culture, people have started speaking about what they do not know, or rather what they do not realize. They are stumbling blindly and confusing the minds of beginner students of knowledge with the ideas and opinions they bring, which are anomalous and not based on foundations of knowledge and religion. I am not saying that everyone is on this path, but there are some people who are on this path, and they keep the Muslim community in doubt and anxiety about their religion and their language. This is a matter whose dire consequences are feared, namely that the Muslim community will be divided because of these anomalous opinions. This is what I wanted to point out. Otherwise, it is well known that this night is the twenty-fourth night, and our saying that this night is the twenty-fourth night is like the saying of one who says, "The sky is above us and the earth is beneath us," meaning that it does not need to be confirmed that this night is the twenty-fourth night. But I said this, or pointed this out, because two questions reached me this night in which the questioner claims that some scholars told him that this night is the twenty-third night because the night follows the day. This is undoubtedly an error, and you have known the answer to it, but