I read an article published in the Bayan magazine, issue 79, which distressed me, and I wanted to consult you about refuting it in the Friday sermon. It states:
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
May Allah preserve you, Shaykh Muhammad, and may Allah bless the Ummah with your knowledge and life. I read an article published in the Bayan magazine, issue 79, which distressed me. Although my view on this matter is limited, I wanted to refute this in the Friday prayer tomorrow, so I thought it best to consult your eminence. I am taking a brief excerpt of four lines from the article regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:189] It said: It has been mentioned in one of the exegeses of this noble verse that the people asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the new moons and the stars: why does the moon appear as a small crescent, then after a short time it begins to increase, glow, and become full? Then it said: In any case, it is a naive question that indicates superficiality in thinking, primitiveness in observation, limitation in contemplative treatment, and simplicity in the search for important intellectual knowledge appropriate to the place and time. It could have been answered on the surface of their frivolous question.
Then he took from these words.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : What is your eminence's opinion?
The Shaykh : First: May Allah bless you. The claim that the Companions asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the sizes of the new moons: why did they appear small and then large? This has no evidence. It is only transmitted by scholars of rhetoric. The verse does not indicate that the Companions asked about the new moons: what is the wisdom of their existence? Allah the Exalted explained that they are fixed times for people and for Hajj, as in His saying:[Yunus 10:5] Allah did not create that except for the truth. This is what the question was about, and it matches the answer exactly. However, the rhetoricians say: This is from the style of wise speech, as if Allah turned away from answering their question to what is more important and beneficial. Based on this, we say: It is obligatory for this person who spoke these words about the Companions to verify first: Is it true that they asked: Why does the crescent appear small and then grow large? Or did they ask about the wisdom of creating these new moons?
As for attacking the Companions in this manner without looking into the authenticity of the story, this is undoubtedly an error from the scientific and methodological perspective, and an insult to the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). The meaning of the verse is that they asked the Messenger about the wisdom of these new moons, and they were answered with an explanation of the wisdom. Yes.
The questioner : I mean this phrase that he mentioned.
The Shaykh : This is an error from the methodological perspective and a mistake in disparaging the Companions. The Companions did not ask this question that was intended. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And you as well.
May Allah preserve you, Shaykh Muhammad, and may Allah bless the Ummah with your knowledge and life. I read an article published in the Bayan magazine, issue 79, which distressed me. Although my view on this matter is limited, I wanted to refute this in the Friday prayer tomorrow, so I thought it best to consult your eminence. I am taking a brief excerpt of four lines from the article regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted:
They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say, "They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj."
يَسْأَلونَكَ عَنِ الْأَهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجِّThen he took from these words.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : What is your eminence's opinion?
The Shaykh : First: May Allah bless you. The claim that the Companions asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the sizes of the new moons: why did they appear small and then large? This has no evidence. It is only transmitted by scholars of rhetoric. The verse does not indicate that the Companions asked about the new moons: what is the wisdom of their existence? Allah the Exalted explained that they are fixed times for people and for Hajj, as in His saying:
and determined for it phases - that you may know the number of years
وَقَدَّرَهُ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَAs for attacking the Companions in this manner without looking into the authenticity of the story, this is undoubtedly an error from the scientific and methodological perspective, and an insult to the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). The meaning of the verse is that they asked the Messenger about the wisdom of these new moons, and they were answered with an explanation of the wisdom. Yes.
The questioner : I mean this phrase that he mentioned.
The Shaykh : This is an error from the methodological perspective and a mistake in disparaging the Companions. The Companions did not ask this question that was intended. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And you as well.