Continuing the discussion with the Shaykh regarding the issue of pressuring scholars to accept a matter even if they are averse to it.

The questioner : I agree, O Shaykh, may Allah reward you. I am speaking about one specific situation, which applies to what Safar said. I see that this body, because...The Shaykh : He said, "A body that is removed from Zayd of the people." I accused one of the bodies of possibly being subject to pressure or not being subject to it. I told him, "It may be subject to pressure, but I say this pressure that I am under—this is a body of scholars that I have, and it has presented evidence and hadiths. So, in reality, let us speak in detail. It presented hadiths and clarified them, and it brought hadiths and clarified them with verses that this... So I come and I bear it and say, 'It may be subject to some pressures.' If this body came and said that seeking assistance is permissible without mentioning any evidence from the Book of Allah or from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, I would tell you, 'Go ahead, it may have been subject to some pressures.' But if this body comes with all the evidence it has from the Book of Allah and from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, and with valid evidence—and they have valid evidence, regardless of whether they were correct or wrong—I say, 'By Allah, no, this is not acceptable, and this is not acceptable.' If it had come to me without evidence from the Book and the Sunnah..."
Shuqara: I am asking you a big question now: Which is more beloved to Allah? And I will answer your question: Which is more honorable in the sight of Allah, Aisha, the Mother of the Believers, or the Senior Council of Scholars?

The questioner : First of all, O Shaykh, answer my question. I answered you until my throat was dry.
Shuqara: O Abu Jaber, I will answer your question, but this is a preamble to the answer. I am asking you: Which is more honorable in the sight of Allah, Aisha, the Mother of the Believers, or the Senior Council of Scholars?

The questioner : If you want to go by the principle you have followed, O Shaykh, first answer me in this situation: A body came with evidence.
Shuqara: O Abu Jaber, by Allah, I will answer you, my brother, but this is a preamble to the answer. I am asking you: Which is more honorable in the sight of Allah, in your opinion?

The questioner : Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her).
Shuqara: Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: Do you memorize the verse that follows it? Then He said: Did He not forgive those who slandered Aisha?

The questioner : Was the hadd established against them or was it not established?
Shuqara: Leave me alone. The Messenger did not establish the hadd against them.

The Shaykh : This is a deviation.
Shuqara: O Abu Jaber, may Allah be pleased with you. I am asking you, I will answer you, by Allah I will answer you, but I am completing the answer to my question: Did Allah accept their repentance or did He not accept it?

The Shaykh : Yes.
Shuqara: Allah turned to them in mercy. Allow me to tell you, this is the greatest sin that has occurred, you are in it now in this entire session, like the sin in which our brother Khalid fell. Let us tell you something: Safar, around there, threw [slander] at the Mother of the Believers, then he repented. Does Allah not turn to him in mercy? Well, he threw [slander] at the Senior Council of Scholars and repented. Will Allah not accept his repentance?

The questioner : Did he repent? Did he say...

The questioner : He wants to say he did not repent.
Shuqara: I am asking you, did he repent or did he not repent?

The questioner : I do not know about him.
Shuqara: If his matter is left to Allah, as long as his matter is left to Allah, it is not permissible for you to swear by Allah.

The questioner : I have a tape and it is distributed in the markets, and nothing has appeared regarding him. If he had repented, why does he not announce his repentance?

The Shaykh : Deviation. My brother, if I told you the light is off, how am I seeing it on? I am telling you it is a deviation, and you are telling me how?

The questioner : O Shaykh, allow me, may Allah reward you. First of all, I am now bound by that first question of mine, meaning I want what I did not answer. I say now, the body, may Allah reward you, came with evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, and it came and decided that this seeking assistance... I am enthusiastic, and even though I am not Shuqara, I said, may Allah reward you, O Shaykh, it came with evidence from the Book of Allah and from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, then you come and say it was subject to some pressures. If it had not come with this evidence...
Al-Halabi : We need a word that covers it.

The questioner : Give me water.

The Shaykh : Help him, help him with water. I hope you do not deviate from the answer so that we gain time and benefit together. The seeking assistance from disbelievers that occurred: did it occur with the fatwa of the scholars or before the fatwa of the scholars?

The questioner : I do not know.

The Shaykh : How do you not know?

The questioner : I do not know, did it...?

The Shaykh : Okay, another question, and you did well in the answer because you walked with us on the line. The best speech is what is little and proves. Do you believe that this seeking assistance, before it occurred, was consulted with the body of scholars? Do you know, I say?

The questioner : I do not know, O Shaykh, I do not know that the scholars were consulted before it occurred or after it occurred. I do not know.

The Shaykh : Do you know that the government there does not proceed with any of the projects that require consulting the scholars and the Senior Council of Scholars without doing so after consultation?

The questioner : I do not know.

The Shaykh : I do not know. Do you not know all of it?

The questioner : All of it, in truth, I do not know.

The Shaykh : Strange, this open sinfulness and transgression that occurs in the Kingdom. After consultation, do you think, or before consultation?

The questioner : Before consultation.

The Shaykh : How did you know this?

The questioner : After it was clarified to me, O Shaykh.