Why did Abu Dharr question the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the hadith?
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The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : This is a good question. It asks: Why did Abu Dharr question the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?
It is said that questioning is of two types: questioning to contradict, and questioning to verify and consider the worst-case scenario. So, which of these two types occurred with Abu Dharr?
The student: The second.
The Shaykh : The second one, of course, is for verification. A parallel to this is that Allah gave glad tidings to Zakariyya of a son, so Zakariyya said to Him:[Ali 'Imran 3:40] Then Allah said to him: [Ali 'Imran 3:40] Then he said: [Ali 'Imran 3:41] to verify and be reassured. He said: [Ali 'Imran 3:41] He wanted to verify so that the despair that had previously taken hold of him would go away.
So, questioning is of two types: questioning to verify and be reassured, and there is nothing wrong with that; and questioning to contradict, and it is not permissible to contradict the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in this way.
The Shaykh : This is a good question. It asks: Why did Abu Dharr question the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?
It is said that questioning is of two types: questioning to contradict, and questioning to verify and consider the worst-case scenario. So, which of these two types occurred with Abu Dharr?
The student: The second.
The Shaykh : The second one, of course, is for verification. A parallel to this is that Allah gave glad tidings to Zakariyya of a son, so Zakariyya said to Him:
how will I have a boy when I have reached old age and my wife is barren
أنى يكون لي ولد وقد بلغني الكبر وامرأتي عاقرSuch is Allah; He does what He wills."
كذلك الله يفعل ما يشاءMy Lord, make for me a sign
رب اجعل لي آيةYour sign is that you will not [be able to] speak to the people for three days except by gesture
آيتك ألا تكلم الناس ثلاثة أيام إلا رمزاًSo, questioning is of two types: questioning to verify and be reassured, and there is nothing wrong with that; and questioning to contradict, and it is not permissible to contradict the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in this way.