What is meant by resemblance in the hadith: is it physical or moral?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah reward you, regarding his statement: Does this include moral resemblance as well as physical resemblance?
The Shaykh : By Allah, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) undoubtedly intended physical resemblance, not moral resemblance.
The questioner : It is widespread among people.
The Shaykh : Stay with me, stay with me.
And we cannot attribute to the hadith anything that is not clear in it. Also, because character can be acquired, meaning character is both innate and acquired. How many people are of bad character at first, then they associate with people of good character, or Allah opens for them beneficial knowledge, and their character improves, and the reverse is the reverse.
So, since character is a matter of choice, meaning it is acquired, and it is not an innate trait that we can say: if his father was of bad character, he became of bad character. Even if this may have an effect, undoubtedly. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) disliked a man hiring a foolish woman as a wet nurse for his son, even though this is a character trait, not a physical trait. Yes, Salim?
The questioner : May Allah forgive you, O Shaykh. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) acted between the two cases by blocking the means to harm for one of the matters, and not by acting on the stronger one, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : No, no, it is from the perspective of precaution. And we followed the path of precaution in this issue, the issue of marriage through breastfeeding, meaning the mother of the husband through breastfeeding, and the father of the husband through breastfeeding, and the like. And we said that precaution is to act on the statement of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) that the prohibition of marriage is not established, and on the statement of the majority that he does not marry her. Except that we excluded one issue, which is: if there is no woman among the daughters of Adam except this woman, then let him marry her. The time is up.
So where does the resemblance come from?
فمن أين الشبه ؟The Shaykh : By Allah, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) undoubtedly intended physical resemblance, not moral resemblance.
The questioner : It is widespread among people.
The Shaykh : Stay with me, stay with me.
And we cannot attribute to the hadith anything that is not clear in it. Also, because character can be acquired, meaning character is both innate and acquired. How many people are of bad character at first, then they associate with people of good character, or Allah opens for them beneficial knowledge, and their character improves, and the reverse is the reverse.
So, since character is a matter of choice, meaning it is acquired, and it is not an innate trait that we can say: if his father was of bad character, he became of bad character. Even if this may have an effect, undoubtedly. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) disliked a man hiring a foolish woman as a wet nurse for his son, even though this is a character trait, not a physical trait. Yes, Salim?
The questioner : May Allah forgive you, O Shaykh. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) acted between the two cases by blocking the means to harm for one of the matters, and not by acting on the stronger one, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : No, no, it is from the perspective of precaution. And we followed the path of precaution in this issue, the issue of marriage through breastfeeding, meaning the mother of the husband through breastfeeding, and the father of the husband through breastfeeding, and the like. And we said that precaution is to act on the statement of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) that the prohibition of marriage is not established, and on the statement of the majority that he does not marry her. Except that we excluded one issue, which is: if there is no woman among the daughters of Adam except this woman, then let him marry her. The time is up.