Discussion on understanding general texts through the practice of the righteous Salaf

The Shaykh : What do you think? If you entered a mosque before the prayer was established, for example, before the pre-Zuhr sunnah, and you and the congregation each took a corner of the mosque to pray the sunnah, and one of the present congregation, one of those deprived from the gatherings of knowledge, said, "Why are you praying individually? And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, I suspect this man might be you. I guess, yes.

The questioner : According to the previous rule.

The Shaykh : I guess, yes, he knows his situation.

The questioner : From the perspective of, meaning, deriving evidence in my previous issue.

The questioner : ... but not to this extent.

The Shaykh : If you now say, "No, this action is not permissible."

The questioner : Why did I tell you the general evidence? Why did I say this? Because I know that the general evidence opens a long and wide door.

The Shaykh : I know, meaning, but how do I know and ... .

The questioner : I say, perhaps this is their evidence, my teacher. As for me, by Allah, I do not tell people, "Fast like this." But I will ask you a question; I asked you a question.

The Shaykh : But just one day.

The questioner : I asked you a question; I did not decide anything. I am telling you, would it not be, for example, like this?

The Shaykh : I want to ask you about your question. When you said, "But just one day," as for the three days, there is no necessity. I wanted to ask you, and now is the appropriate time. What if this day were like that day, a Friday?

The questioner : A Friday, of course. And if it were a Friday.

The Shaykh : That is more severe. No, here it is a violation of the specific, whereas there it is a violation of the general.

The questioner : Be patient, may Allah improve your situation. I say, we do not fast it because it is Friday. We fast it because it is a day on which we want to pray the prayer for rain.

The Shaykh : No, it does not agree with you. It does not follow you, teacher, with such ease. It is permissible, meaning, in another way. But like this, the moment you hint at it: when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) entered, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Juwayriyah and she was fasting on a Friday, he said to her, What did you intend by the specification?

The questioner : By Allah, perhaps I heard "on a Friday" because he thinks it is a Friday because it is the best fasting.

The Shaykh : It is a Friday, and she was fasting.

The questioner : He is asking about her intention.

The Shaykh : No, I am not asking about her intention, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is not asking about her intention. Do you not know the hadith? The hadith where two people disputed before me, and one of them was more eloquent in his argument. What is the hadith? From here, the scholars of usul al-fiqh say, "We judge by the apparent, and Allah takes care of the hidden." So we do not say, "The one who fasted with such and such an intention, and such and such an intention, is not allowed to specify," as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in another hadith, We do not say, "Come, brother, what is your intention?" You are not doing what your congregation around you sometimes, not always, do: they stand up to fast when? On a Friday. And they stand up on the night of Friday under what name? Keeping the night awake.

The questioner : Who are these? By Allah, I do not know anyone who is equal.

The Shaykh : No, you know.

The questioner : He is a scholar, my master.

The Shaykh : Yes, say so.

The questioner : His congregation, he knows what he knows about me.

The Shaykh : It appears that you were equal, and then you separated.

The questioner : ... I speak for myself.

The Shaykh : The important thing is that any person who stands up in the night of Friday, this is a specification by action, and he is forbidden from doing so. Or if he fasts on a Friday, he is forbidden from doing so, unless he fasts the day before it. And I do not say the day after it, because the day of Saturday, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it, I brought it, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it later, The important thing is that if the derivation here remains, the fiqh that is absent from the minds of many distinguished scholars, whom we respect and honor: every general text contains parts, and a part of it has not been acted upon by the Muslims, then acting upon it is a religious innovation. This must be engraved in the depths of your heart.

The questioner : I know it well.

Another questioner : You must repeat it for the sake of ... .

The questioner : I memorize from it, for example, you mentioned it, my teacher, once, and you said the derivation is by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), So the one who takes the general meaning, it means if there is a woman who is more eloquent in recitation than the attendees, she is brought forward for the generality of this hadith.

The Shaykh : Well, why did you forget this statement?

The questioner : Sometimes one forgets.

The Shaykh : I know he does not know why. The knowledge that is not reviewed is lost. Therefore, you are not gathering people around you who remind you of the knowledge and make you understand the religion. What you memorize from here goes out from here; it goes out with you.
Al-Halabi : Reviving knowledge is reviewing it.

The Shaykh : Reviewing it, yes, that is right. Meaning, knowledge is like a well; if you do not draw from it, it dries up. Yes, that is right.

The questioner : Every general text.

The Shaykh : Every general text contains parts; a part of these parts ... .