Continuation of the rest of the tape from the explanation of the Book of Rulings from Sahih al-Bukhari.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The Book of Rulings":
Al-Ahkam is the plural of hukm, which is establishing something for another; this is the ruling. It has known technical terms in the principles of jurisprudence: the ruling of obligation and the ruling of establishment.
What is meant here is: the rulings of the Imamate, and what is obligatory upon the Imam and what is obligatory for him.
This is a very important chapter that a student of knowledge should pay attention to, so that he does not fall into the pitfalls of the Khawarij and those who branched off from them, who corrupted religion and worldly affairs—may we seek refuge in Allah. When a person knows what is obligatory for the ruler and what is obligatory upon him, the truth becomes clear to him, and he becomes one who does not speak except with insight. Then, if it is decreed that the ruler does not fulfill what is obligatory upon him, it is obligatory for the one being ruled to fulfill what is obligatory upon him, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:. This book, which al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) titled, is important, especially in this time when evil has increased and the rebels against the rulers have increased. We see that when they take over after the rulers, they become worse and more vile than them. Therefore, it is obligatory for us to pay attention to it and to clarify its rulings so that we do not perish.
The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, or rather al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said, so we begin with the verse: The saying of Allah the Exalted: and[An-Nisa 4:59], and before this is: [An-Nisa 4:58]: and what comes after it?
[An-Nisa 4:59]: And in this we know that the correct wording of the verse is: [An-Nisa 4:59], or its beginning is brought: [An-Nisa 4:59]. As for this wording mentioned, which is found in *Sahih al-Bukhari*: "And obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority from among you," it is not so.
[An-Nisa 4:59]: Obedience is compliance with the command. If you wish, express it with what is more general and say: "Obedience is compliance with the ruling". What is the aspect of it being more general?
Because if you say compliance with the command, the prohibition is excluded. If you say compliance with the ruling, both the command and the prohibition are included. This is obedience.
And His saying, the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:59]: He singled out the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) with obedience, saying: , and did not make it a conjunction to His saying: . This indicates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has an independent obedience.
In[An-Nisa 4:59], the verb was omitted so that it would be dependent on what came before it. He did not say: "Obey those in authority." He said: [An-Nisa 4:59], because their obedience is dependent on the obedience of Allah and His Messenger. In fact, their obedience is not obligatory except because it is obedience to Allah and His Messenger, not because he is so-and-so, son of so-and-so, but because it is obedience to Allah and His Messenger. For this reason, a person should, when he obeys the ruler in a matter he has commanded, intend thereby to worship Allah and that he is obeying Allah, that he obeyed the ruler in obedience to Allah, because this is the principle.
And His saying:[An-Nisa 4:59] includes two types of those in authority:
The first: the scholars.
The second: the rulers. Because it is upon the scholars to explain, and upon the rulers to execute. Accordingly, the rulers are followers of the scholars because they are the executors of what the scholars say, so they are the people of concern in this matter. Even though each of them is a ruler, the scholars are the principle. When they explain the Shari'ah, the rulers are bound to act upon it. If they do not act upon it, they are not obedient to Allah and His Messenger. Then, if they command the opposite, disobeying them is obligatory, if they command leaving an obligatory act or doing a forbidden act.
So the conclusion is that those in authority are the scholars and the rulers:
What is the duty of the scholars?
Explanation, guidance, and indication. And the duty of the rulers is execution: executing the rulings of Allah upon His servants until the earth is rectified.
And His saying:[An-Nisa 4:59]: And this supports that the status of the scholars here is earlier and stronger than the status of the rulers, because disputes are only between the scholars and the jurists, and even though they occur between the rulers, they are more between the scholars and the jurists.
[An-Nisa 4:59]: And this condition is from the chapter of encouragement and incitement, meaning: if you are truthful in faith, your return should only be to Allah and the Messenger, to Allah and His Book, and to the Messenger and his Sunnah, alive and dead. And the saying of some scholars: "To his person in his life and to his Sunnah after his death": this is from the chapter of clarification. Otherwise, even returning to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in his life is returning to his Sunnah.
[An-Nisa 4:59]: Better in the present, and better in outcome in the future, because ta'wil here means: outcome and end. So returning to the Messenger is better for people in their livelihood and better for people in their hereafter, in the present and the future.
Some ignorant people may think that holding fast to the religion is a return to the past. And some atheists may explicitly say that it is not possible to return to a methodology that is fourteen centuries old, whose people have perished and did not live this present life. The civilization we call, if it is devoid of the Shari'ah, is baseness, not civilization. They say that the religion cannot be applied now; things have changed. The religion between you and your Lord is fine; walk as the Messenger and his Companions did. But the vital, economic, and social methodology is subject to time, place, and nations, and it is not possible to return the nation to what was before fourteen centuries. But, by Allah, if they returned to what was before fourteen centuries, they would surpass the nations existing now, and they would own their necks, their lands, and their wealth.
But you only address people like this who do not believe. If they believed, returning would be easy for them, even between you and your children. Do not think that we are addressing this or speaking of this regarding the great rulers who hold the reins of leadership in the nation. Even you, in yourself, apply what you direct your family to, as it came from the Salaf, for this is better and better in outcome.
And in His saying, the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:59], there is an indication that the criterion is not the majority. The criterion is what agrees with what came in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. If there were twenty with one opinion and five with an opinion agreeing with the Book and the Sunnah, it would be obligatory for us to return to the five. The criterion is not the majority.
But considering that people, as the common people say: "The market is equal", they said: then we do not prefer one over another and we take the majority in most of our gatherings. Otherwise, the obligatory thing is to return to what came in the Book and the Sunnah, even if only one out of a thousand is upon it.
Then the author said: "Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam narrated to us... until he said: That the Messenger of Allah (may Allah pray upon him and his family and grant him peace) said:Sahih Muslim 1835c":
And this is like His saying, the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:80].
Sahih Muslim 1835c: It is taken from the concept of His saying, the Exalted: [An-Nisa 4:80], meaning: and whoever disobeys the Messenger has disobeyed Allah.
Sahih Muslim 1835c: My commander whom I appointed and who walked in accordance with what I directed him to. For this reason he said: , and even though "his commander" or "the commander" with the definite article is used in some cases, the intended meaning is the commander who is like the one the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded.
Sahih Muslim 1835c: Because the commander of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) walks by his command and follows his guidance. This does not mean that his commanders are infallible; they are exposed to error. But the principle for them, I mean: the commanders whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) commands, the principle for them is rectitude and correctness. Yes.
The reader: He said: "Ismail narrated to us, Malik narrated to me from Abdullah ibn Dinar from Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): That the Messenger of Allah (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 7138".
The Shaykh : He repeated this twice, (peace and blessings be upon him), to emphasize that every one of us is a shepherd and responsible for his flock, even the man is a shepherd over himself and responsible for his flock.
Responsible for his youth; what did you spend your youth in?
So you are responsible for yourself because you are a shepherd over it. Every person is a shepherd and responsible for his flock.
The greatest of people in responsibility is the Imam, who is the head of the state. This is the greatest of people in responsibility. He is asked not only about his family who are under his command and in his palaces, but about every single person. Every single person of the nation, he is responsible for them. Even the Commander of the Faithful, Umar, said: "By Allah, if a female goat died in the Tigris or the Euphrates, Umar would be responsible for it", and it is a small female goat; he is responsible for it.
The responsibility of the Imam is extremely great. In fact, as some people have said, general authority is not an honor, but a burden and a duty, especially in our time when trials are numerous, deviations are widespread, and pressures are heavy. Therefore, the responsibility is immense.
He (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: : There may appear to be a contradiction here: how can a man be responsible for his household while a woman is a guardian over her husband's household?
We say: Yes, the man is a guardian over his household, and the woman is a guardian over her husband's household, but the nature of the guardianship differs. The woman is a guardian in her home regarding the home and its affairs, while the man is a guardian in everything else.
The man has the greater guardianship, as Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:34] : So if a woman neglects her guardianship in her home, he is responsible if he is aware of it. The reason for this is that every person is responsible for the care of what he directly oversees.
Then he said:Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 206 This means: if a man has a slave and gives him money to trade with, or if he has a slave and gives him camels to tend or sheep to tend, then he is a guardian over the master's property and is responsible for his charge.
And his saying: is because a slave does not own property. Even if he were to own something, he would not truly own it. If a person came to a slave and said, "Take this cloak, my son, for you to keep warm in the winter," whose would the cloak be?
It would be the master's. If the master said to his slave, "Boy, the cloak is yours to keep warm in the winter," the cloak still belongs to the master.
For this reason, we say that the phrase of some scholars who say: "There is no usury between a master and his slave" is not actually correct unless we say that a slave can own property through transfer of ownership, which is one of the opinions in this issue. However, the correct view is that he does not own property.
Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The Book of Rulings":
Al-Ahkam is the plural of hukm, which is establishing something for another; this is the ruling. It has known technical terms in the principles of jurisprudence: the ruling of obligation and the ruling of establishment.
What is meant here is: the rulings of the Imamate, and what is obligatory upon the Imam and what is obligatory for him.
This is a very important chapter that a student of knowledge should pay attention to, so that he does not fall into the pitfalls of the Khawarij and those who branched off from them, who corrupted religion and worldly affairs—may we seek refuge in Allah. When a person knows what is obligatory for the ruler and what is obligatory upon him, the truth becomes clear to him, and he becomes one who does not speak except with insight. Then, if it is decreed that the ruler does not fulfill what is obligatory upon him, it is obligatory for the one being ruled to fulfill what is obligatory upon him, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Give them their right, and ask for your right, for they are only responsible for what they carry, and you are responsible for what you carry.
أعطوهم الحق الذي لهم، واسألوا الحق الذي لكم فإنما عليهم ما حملوا وعليكم ما حملتمThe Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, or rather al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said, so we begin with the verse: The saying of Allah the Exalted: and
obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْIndeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.
إِنَّ اللهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا الْأَمَانَاتِ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ أَنْ تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْلِ إِنَّ اللهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُمْ بِهِ إِنَّ اللهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًاO you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْobey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْO you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْO you who have believed, obey Allah
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَBecause if you say compliance with the command, the prohibition is excluded. If you say compliance with the ruling, both the command and the prohibition are included. This is obedience.
And His saying, the Exalted:
obey Allah and obey the Messenger
أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَAnd obey the Messenger.
وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَObey Allah.
أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَIn
and those in authority among you
وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْand those in authority among you
وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْAnd His saying:
and those in authority among you
وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْThe first: the scholars.
The second: the rulers. Because it is upon the scholars to explain, and upon the rulers to execute. Accordingly, the rulers are followers of the scholars because they are the executors of what the scholars say, so they are the people of concern in this matter. Even though each of them is a ruler, the scholars are the principle. When they explain the Shari'ah, the rulers are bound to act upon it. If they do not act upon it, they are not obedient to Allah and His Messenger. Then, if they command the opposite, disobeying them is obligatory, if they command leaving an obligatory act or doing a forbidden act.
So the conclusion is that those in authority are the scholars and the rulers:
What is the duty of the scholars?
Explanation, guidance, and indication. And the duty of the rulers is execution: executing the rulings of Allah upon His servants until the earth is rectified.
And His saying:
And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger
فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِif you should believe in Allah and the Last Day
إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِThat is the best [way] and best in result.
ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًاSome ignorant people may think that holding fast to the religion is a return to the past. And some atheists may explicitly say that it is not possible to return to a methodology that is fourteen centuries old, whose people have perished and did not live this present life. The civilization we call, if it is devoid of the Shari'ah, is baseness, not civilization. They say that the religion cannot be applied now; things have changed. The religion between you and your Lord is fine; walk as the Messenger and his Companions did. But the vital, economic, and social methodology is subject to time, place, and nations, and it is not possible to return the nation to what was before fourteen centuries. But, by Allah, if they returned to what was before fourteen centuries, they would surpass the nations existing now, and they would own their necks, their lands, and their wealth.
But you only address people like this who do not believe. If they believed, returning would be easy for them
As for he who gives and fears Allah and believes in the good, We will make easy for him the easy.
فأما من أعطى واتقى وصدق بالحسنى * فسنيسره لليسرىAnd in His saying, the Exalted:
And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger
فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِBut considering that people, as the common people say: "The market is equal", they said: then we do not prefer one over another and we take the majority in most of our gatherings. Otherwise, the obligatory thing is to return to what came in the Book and the Sunnah, even if only one out of a thousand is upon it.
Then the author said: "Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam narrated to us... until he said: That the Messenger of Allah (may Allah pray upon him and his family and grant him peace) said:
Whoso obeys me obeys God
مَنْ أَطَاعَنِي فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللَّهَAnd this is like His saying, the Exalted:
He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah
من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع اللهand whose disobeys me disobeys God
وَمَنْ عَصَانِي فَقَدْ عَصَى اللَّهَHe who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah
من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع اللهWhoso obeys my commander obeys me
وَمَنْ أَطَاعَ أَمِيرِي فَقَدْ أَطَاعَنِيMy commander.
أميريobeys me, and whoso disobeys my commander disobeys me.
فقد أطاعني وَمَنْ عَصَى أَمِيرِي فَقَدْ عَصَانِيThe reader: He said: "Ismail narrated to us, Malik narrated to me from Abdullah ibn Dinar from Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): That the Messenger of Allah (may Allah pray upon him and grant him peace) said:
Surely! Everyone of you is a guardian and is responsible for his charges: The Imam (ruler) of the people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects; a man is the guardian of his family (household) and is responsible for his subjects; a woman is the guardian of her husband's home and of his children and is responsible for them; and the slave of a man is a guardian of his master's property and is responsible for it. Surely, everyone of you is a guardian and responsible for his charges.
أَلاَ كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ ، فَالإِمَامُ الأعظم الَّذِي عَلَى النَّاسِ رَاعٍ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ ، وَالرَّجُلُ رَاعٍ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ ، وَالمَرْأَةُ رَاعِيَةٌ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتِ زَوْجِهَا وَوَلَدِهِ وَهِيَ مَسْئُولَةٌ عَنْهُمْ ، وَعَبْدُ الرَّجُلِ رَاعٍ عَلَى مَالِ سَيِّدِهِ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْهُ ، أَلاَ فَكُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِThe Shaykh : He repeated this twice, (peace and blessings be upon him), to emphasize that every one of us is a shepherd and responsible for his flock, even the man is a shepherd over himself and responsible for his flock.
Responsible for his youth; what did you spend your youth in?
So you are responsible for yourself because you are a shepherd over it. Every person is a shepherd and responsible for his flock.
The greatest of people in responsibility is the Imam, who is the head of the state. This is the greatest of people in responsibility. He is asked not only about his family who are under his command and in his palaces, but about every single person. Every single person of the nation, he is responsible for them. Even the Commander of the Faithful, Umar, said: "By Allah, if a female goat died in the Tigris or the Euphrates, Umar would be responsible for it", and it is a small female goat; he is responsible for it.
The responsibility of the Imam is extremely great. In fact, as some people have said, general authority is not an honor, but a burden and a duty, especially in our time when trials are numerous, deviations are widespread, and pressures are heavy. Therefore, the responsibility is immense.
He (peace and blessings be upon him) also said:
The man is a shepherd over his household, and the woman is a shepherdess over the household of her husband, and each of them is responsible.
الرجل راع على أهل بيته، والمرأة راعية على أهل بيت زوجها وكل منهما مسؤولWe say: Yes, the man is a guardian over his household, and the woman is a guardian over her husband's household, but the nature of the guardianship differs. The woman is a guardian in her home regarding the home and its affairs, while the man is a guardian in everything else.
The man has the greater guardianship, as Allah the Exalted said:
Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other
الرجال قوامون على النساء بما فضل الله بعضهم على بعضThen he said:
A man's slave is the shepherd of his master's property and he is responsible for it.
وعبد الرجل راع على مال سيده وهو مسؤول عنهAnd his saying:
The wealth of his master.
مال سيدهIt would be the master's. If the master said to his slave, "Boy, the cloak is yours to keep warm in the winter," the cloak still belongs to the master.
For this reason, we say that the phrase of some scholars who say: "There is no usury between a master and his slave" is not actually correct unless we say that a slave can own property through transfer of ownership, which is one of the opinions in this issue. However, the correct view is that he does not own property.