The Meaning of the Poet's Statement: (And the discourse on the people of innovation's criticism of the texts and their implications) "Allah is the Greatest, are you or they upon the truth, and in error and in loss"
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The Shaykh : He (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
"And they are [in error], for they did not know it from them, but from *** the verses"
The verses of Allah: they knew their Lord by His verses, they knew their Lord by His cosmic and legislative verses. He says: "And they are [in error], for they did not know it from them, but from *** the verses" From whom? From the Khalaf (the later generations). They say: The implication of the Qur'an and the Sunnah is not proof, it is not decisive. So if you bring them evidence, they say this evidence is open to ten interpretations, and with the possibility of multiple interpretations, the argumentation falls away. This is if they cannot refute the evidence by its chain of narration. If they can refute the evidence by its chain, they say this chain is weak, this is an ahad report, we do not accept it in matters of creed. But if it comes from the Qur'an, what will they say? What do they say? They say this is open to several meanings, and with the possibility of multiple meanings, the argumentation is invalidated. So they made the texts of the Book and the Sunnah a mockery. They criticized the implication sometimes and the evidence sometimes. If they could criticize the evidence by denying its authenticity, what did they do? They did it. And if they could not, because one cannot criticize the Qur'an, they criticized the implication. So their criticism was either of the evidence, followed by criticism of the implication, or of the implication when they were unable to criticize the evidence. He said:
"Allah is the Greatest, are you or they upon the *** truth, and in error and in loss"
What is the answer?
The student: They are upon the truth.
The Shaykh : They are upon the truth.
The student: The people of the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : The people of the Sunnah, yes, the people of the Sunnah, and they are upon misguidance.
Now, if someone says: How does Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) say "they or you are upon the truth"? We say: Yes, this is from the teaching of Allah. Allah the Exalted said:[Saba 34:24] And this is fairness. Fairness is to say: I or you are mistaken, and then the error and the truth become clear. Because I and you are, for example, two litigants; I cannot judge against you by my saying, and you cannot judge against me by your saying. We say: The truth is either with me or with you, and the deciding factor is external evidence. [Al-Baqarah 2:140] In the matter of debate, in the matter of litigation, there is no objection. And we know that Allah is the most knowing. [Ghafir 40:28] This is correct. He is either a liar or what?
The student: Truthful
The Shaykh : Or truthful. This is fairness. It is not fairness for one to say: My saying is the correct one, and the other's saying is wrong, until the judgment is made. Now, here he says:
"Allah is the Greatest, are you or they upon the *** truth, and in error and in loss"
And the answer is: By Allah, the Salaf (the earliest generations) are upon the truth, and the Khalaf (the later generations) who oppose them are in loss.
Miscellaneous matters
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Be patient, everyone, let us finish this chapter.
"And they are [in error], for they did not know it from them, but from *** the verses"
The verses of Allah: they knew their Lord by His verses, they knew their Lord by His cosmic and legislative verses. He says: "And they are [in error], for they did not know it from them, but from *** the verses" From whom? From the Khalaf (the later generations). They say: The implication of the Qur'an and the Sunnah is not proof, it is not decisive. So if you bring them evidence, they say this evidence is open to ten interpretations, and with the possibility of multiple interpretations, the argumentation falls away. This is if they cannot refute the evidence by its chain of narration. If they can refute the evidence by its chain, they say this chain is weak, this is an ahad report, we do not accept it in matters of creed. But if it comes from the Qur'an, what will they say? What do they say? They say this is open to several meanings, and with the possibility of multiple meanings, the argumentation is invalidated. So they made the texts of the Book and the Sunnah a mockery. They criticized the implication sometimes and the evidence sometimes. If they could criticize the evidence by denying its authenticity, what did they do? They did it. And if they could not, because one cannot criticize the Qur'an, they criticized the implication. So their criticism was either of the evidence, followed by criticism of the implication, or of the implication when they were unable to criticize the evidence. He said:
"Allah is the Greatest, are you or they upon the *** truth, and in error and in loss"
What is the answer?
The student: They are upon the truth.
The Shaykh : They are upon the truth.
The student: The people of the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : The people of the Sunnah, yes, the people of the Sunnah, and they are upon misguidance.
Now, if someone says: How does Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) say "they or you are upon the truth"? We say: Yes, this is from the teaching of Allah. Allah the Exalted said:
And indeed, we or you are either upon guidance or in clear error."
وإنا أو إياكم لعلى هدى أو في ضلال مبينSay, "Are you more knowing or is Allah?"
قل أأنتم أعلم أم اللهIs Allah better or what they associate [with Him]?
آلله خير أم ما يشركونDo you kill a man [merely] because he says, 'My Lord is Allah' while he has brought you clear proofs from your Lord? And if he should be lying, then upon him is [the consequence of] his lie; but if he should be truthful, there will strike you some of what he promises you
أتقتلون رجلا أن يقول ربي الله وقد جاءكم بالبينات من ربكم فإن يك كاذبا فعليه كذبه وإن يك صادقا يصبكم بعض الذي يعدكمThe student: Truthful
The Shaykh : Or truthful. This is fairness. It is not fairness for one to say: My saying is the correct one, and the other's saying is wrong, until the judgment is made. Now, here he says:
"Allah is the Greatest, are you or they upon the *** truth, and in error and in loss"
And the answer is: By Allah, the Salaf (the earliest generations) are upon the truth, and the Khalaf (the later generations) who oppose them are in loss.
Miscellaneous matters
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Be patient, everyone, let us finish this chapter.