A dialogue regarding the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asking for water.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, it is a matter of scholarly disagreement, but what is the text regarding this issue? These people do not investigate it, because they want to leave the issue ambiguous, with disagreement, and each person takes from the disagreement whatever he desires.
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : Is there a hadith regarding this issue? Yes, there is a hadith. So how is this hadith constructed? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked for water, so it was brought to him and he drank. We are mentioning the hadith briefly now because we have repeated it so often. There was a remainder in the cup. Ibn Abbas was on his right, and Abu Bakr was on his left. There was a remainder in the cup, so he said to Ibn Abbas, "Do you permit me to give it to Abu Bakr?" He said, "No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I do not prefer anyone over the leftover of your drink." So he gave it to him and said to those present, "The right one, then the right one." What does this council have to do with this? What did it benefit? The point is, may Allah bless our brother, he entered into doubt. So you entered from there, your right is here. You entered from there as a water-carrier, your right is here. It is one of the most amazing things to hear. His doubt was that this Ka'bah is cubic, you know it, but its image in your mind... here is the Black Stone, what does he imagine? He imagines that the man who circumambulates like this, if the Black Stone is on his left, he walked on the left and did not walk on the right. He is now neglecting a legal reality. The legal reality, if you do not see it in the image, we saw it in reality. The Saudi state, out of its kindness to the pilgrims, paved a black line like this along the length, for what? So that when a person circumambulates, he does not deviate from this line. The Sunnah is to face the Black Stone and kiss it if he is able. If he is not able, he touches it. If he is not able, he points to it with his hand.
The questioner : Every lap, of course, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes, so it is supposed that when he wants to start the circumambulation, he starts from the black line and walks like this, so he is facing the direction of the Black Stone before it. This is the first degree before it. Where is the right? His right, if he walks on his right. He imagines he did not walk on his left because he imagined it was like this, whereas it is like this, so doubt entered him, glory be to Allah. His problem is that he does not have a love for free mixing; he would certainly have benefited from it.
The questioner : Glory be to Allah, when he delivered this sermon that he delivered, which was... in a hadith he mentioned, which is weak, that if a drop of Zaqqum...
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : So the important thing is, he asked me for a tape, and some others asked. I said, "Ask his permission to remove this from his speech so that we do not mean..."
The Shaykh : The tape of the sermon, I mean.
The questioner : Yes, so I called him on the phone and said, "You mentioned a weak hadith, and it is the drop of Zaqqum that descended to the earth. So what is your opinion? Shall I remove it so that the tape is well-organized and so on?" He said, "By Allah, in my opinion, and I reviewed the Shaykh's books, and yes, O Shaykh, in some of your books you have retracted it, apparently. The important thing is, he said he is reviewing it now, may Allah reward him with good. So the important thing is also, I said to our brother Ali, I told him and I am reviewing it, he said it is weak. He wants to be sure of its status, so he said, "By Allah, it is weak, may Allah reward you with good, and so on." So I brought him the tape and asked him today, the day I asked him, "What is your opinion of the tape? Does anything appear on it?" He said, "Never, may Allah reward you with good," and he was pleased.
The questioner : The continuation of this hadith?
The Shaykh : Yes, and it is the excretion of the people of the Fire.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is a matter of scholarly disagreement, but what is the text regarding this issue? These people do not investigate it, because they want to leave the issue ambiguous, with disagreement, and each person takes from the disagreement whatever he desires.
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : Is there a hadith regarding this issue? Yes, there is a hadith. So how is this hadith constructed? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked for water, so it was brought to him and he drank. We are mentioning the hadith briefly now because we have repeated it so often. There was a remainder in the cup. Ibn Abbas was on his right, and Abu Bakr was on his left. There was a remainder in the cup, so he said to Ibn Abbas, "Do you permit me to give it to Abu Bakr?" He said, "No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I do not prefer anyone over the leftover of your drink." So he gave it to him and said to those present, "The right one, then the right one." What does this council have to do with this? What did it benefit? The point is, may Allah bless our brother, he entered into doubt. So you entered from there, your right is here. You entered from there as a water-carrier, your right is here. It is one of the most amazing things to hear. His doubt was that this Ka'bah is cubic, you know it, but its image in your mind... here is the Black Stone, what does he imagine? He imagines that the man who circumambulates like this, if the Black Stone is on his left, he walked on the left and did not walk on the right. He is now neglecting a legal reality. The legal reality, if you do not see it in the image, we saw it in reality. The Saudi state, out of its kindness to the pilgrims, paved a black line like this along the length, for what? So that when a person circumambulates, he does not deviate from this line. The Sunnah is to face the Black Stone and kiss it if he is able. If he is not able, he touches it. If he is not able, he points to it with his hand.
The questioner : Every lap, of course, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes, so it is supposed that when he wants to start the circumambulation, he starts from the black line and walks like this, so he is facing the direction of the Black Stone before it. This is the first degree before it. Where is the right? His right, if he walks on his right. He imagines he did not walk on his left because he imagined it was like this, whereas it is like this, so doubt entered him, glory be to Allah. His problem is that he does not have a love for free mixing; he would certainly have benefited from it.
The questioner : Glory be to Allah, when he delivered this sermon that he delivered, which was... in a hadith he mentioned, which is weak, that if a drop of Zaqqum...
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : So the important thing is, he asked me for a tape, and some others asked. I said, "Ask his permission to remove this from his speech so that we do not mean..."
The Shaykh : The tape of the sermon, I mean.
The questioner : Yes, so I called him on the phone and said, "You mentioned a weak hadith, and it is the drop of Zaqqum that descended to the earth. So what is your opinion? Shall I remove it so that the tape is well-organized and so on?" He said, "By Allah, in my opinion, and I reviewed the Shaykh's books, and yes, O Shaykh, in some of your books you have retracted it, apparently. The important thing is, he said he is reviewing it now, may Allah reward him with good. So the important thing is also, I said to our brother Ali, I told him and I am reviewing it, he said it is weak. He wants to be sure of its status, so he said, "By Allah, it is weak, may Allah reward you with good, and so on." So I brought him the tape and asked him today, the day I asked him, "What is your opinion of the tape? Does anything appear on it?" He said, "Never, may Allah reward you with good," and he was pleased.
The questioner : The continuation of this hadith
Whoever says of a believer what is not in him, Allah will settle him in a place of madness.
من قال بمؤمن ما ليس فيه أسكنه الله ردعة الخبالThe Shaykh : Yes, and it is the excretion of the people of the Fire.