The Shaykh's statement regarding his knowledge of the lahd since his youth, including a story about it.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : I said that I know the lahd theoretically from the Sunnah, as if I were seeing it, though I had not seen it. But by the grace of Allah, I practiced it. It was decreed for me that I traveled with a group of the Saudi volunteer army that was with the Arab armies, which, unfortunately, were defeated in Palestine. Then these remnants of the armies returned to their countries. I was with about four hundred volunteer soldiers. These volunteers were Saudis residing in Syria. The Arab states agreed on a method at that time. When the matter ended in a way that did not please every Muslim, the order came to this Saudi volunteer army to return to Riyadh to meet the King. Who was the King at that time?
The questioner : Abdulaziz?
The Shaykh : No, Saud. The point is, the leader of this group was a student of knowledge, tall in stature but thin. He came to Damascus because the army was under the command of the Syrian leadership. In any case, he requested a guide for this army, because the army was going to travel outside, so someone had to lead them in prayer, teach them, and so on. Two people were nominated for this leader, one of whom wasThe Shaykh : Baha al-Bitar (may Allah have mercy on him), andThe Shaykh : Bahjat. At that time, I was in my youth, or perhaps a little younger, meaning if I had been nominated for what he was nominated for, I would not have accepted. Do you see now how many requests come to us by plane, and I am not pleased? How could I be pleased to go out now for about ten days from Damascus to, what, to Riyadh, in military transport trucks?
In any case, BahjatThe Shaykh : naturally excused himself, so he pointed to me. I was in the prime of my youth at that time, and as you know... especially since I had not performed Hajj. I agreed, I consulted my father, I consulted our brothers, and so on, and they all agreed. In any case, a person died. It is a long story. A person from this army, one of the soldiers, died. So they said, come, let us dig to see. They dug in the open field. They dug the lahd. We shrouded him with whatever clothes were available. We placed him facing the qiblah, and we put the earth on him after we had performed the funeral prayer and washed him. This happened to me. If my mind had been free of this Sunnah, we would have dug a trench and buried him, and that would have been the end of it. But people, my brother, the problem is that the Sunnahs have been killed for a long time. There may be some countries where there are traces of the Sunnahs, like you mentioned, rocky countries where it is impossible! And it may be sandy countries where it is also impossible. So we hold onto the Sharia principle and strive with all our effort to apply it. If it is not feasible for us, there is no blame on us.
The questioner : At least it is...
The Shaykh : Do you still have something to say? Bring it out, let us see?
The questioner : Abdulaziz?
The Shaykh : No, Saud. The point is, the leader of this group was a student of knowledge, tall in stature but thin. He came to Damascus because the army was under the command of the Syrian leadership. In any case, he requested a guide for this army, because the army was going to travel outside, so someone had to lead them in prayer, teach them, and so on. Two people were nominated for this leader, one of whom wasThe Shaykh : Baha al-Bitar (may Allah have mercy on him), andThe Shaykh : Bahjat. At that time, I was in my youth, or perhaps a little younger, meaning if I had been nominated for what he was nominated for, I would not have accepted. Do you see now how many requests come to us by plane, and I am not pleased? How could I be pleased to go out now for about ten days from Damascus to, what, to Riyadh, in military transport trucks?
In any case, BahjatThe Shaykh : naturally excused himself, so he pointed to me. I was in the prime of my youth at that time, and as you know... especially since I had not performed Hajj. I agreed, I consulted my father, I consulted our brothers, and so on, and they all agreed. In any case, a person died. It is a long story. A person from this army, one of the soldiers, died. So they said, come, let us dig to see. They dug in the open field. They dug the lahd. We shrouded him with whatever clothes were available. We placed him facing the qiblah, and we put the earth on him after we had performed the funeral prayer and washed him. This happened to me. If my mind had been free of this Sunnah, we would have dug a trench and buried him, and that would have been the end of it. But people, my brother, the problem is that the Sunnahs have been killed for a long time. There may be some countries where there are traces of the Sunnahs, like you mentioned, rocky countries where it is impossible! And it may be sandy countries where it is also impossible. So we hold onto the Sharia principle and strive with all our effort to apply it. If it is not feasible for us, there is no blame on us.
The questioner : At least it is...
The Shaykh : Do you still have something to say? Bring it out, let us see?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.