Reading from the author's words with commentary and collation of manuscripts: "And likewise what some people introduce
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The reader: "And likewise what some people introduce, either to imitate the Christians in the birth of Isa (peace be upon him), or out of love for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and reverence for him. And Allah may reward them for this love and effort, not for the religious innovation of making the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) birthday a festival"
The Shaykh : from me, regarding the introduction
The reader: Yes, regarding the introduction
The Shaykh : Yes.
The reader: "of making the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) birthday a festival, while people differ regarding his birth. For the Salaf did not do this, despite the presence of the motive for it and the absence of any obstacle to it, had it been good. And had this been purely good, or the stronger position, the Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them) would have been more deserving of it than we, for they were more intense in their love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and their reverence for him than we are, and they were more eager for good. And the perfection of loving him and revering him lies in following him, obeying him, adhering to his command, reviving his Sunnah in secret and in public, spreading what he was sent with, and striving for that with the heart, hand, and tongue. For this is the path of the foremost of the first, the emigrants and the helpers, and those who followed them with excellence. And most of these"
The Shaykh : Do you not know that these people who claim they love the Messenger and revere him by introducing these religious innovations and the like, by introducing these religious innovations and the like, are in reality not revering the Messenger, but rather they are accusing him, either of ignorance or of concealing and being lazy about acting? Because we say: this by which you seek nearness to Allah, either it is a means of nearness that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know, so he did not do it, or it is a means of nearness that he knew and concealed it and did not act upon it. And both matters are a defect in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), without doubt. Then, if we went further, we would say that it contains, or we would say its essence is, a denial of the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)[Al-Ma'idah 5:3]. For if these innovations are from the religion and did not exist in the Shari'ah of Allah, it would not be true that Allah completed His religion and perfected His favor. So the implications and necessities of religious innovations are very, very serious. If their practitioners were to reflect upon them, they would not persist in the innovation for the blink of an eye. But emotion blinds them, or blind imitation. Emotion in those who have love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in their hearts, or blind imitation in those who imitate the polytheists among the Christians, so they adopt such innovations. Yes. And the perfection of loving him, as the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said, and revering him lies in following him, obeying him, adhering to his command, and reviving his Sunnah. Yes.
The reader: "And most of these whom you find eager for such religious innovations, despite their good intention and effort for which reward is hoped for them, you find them neglectful regarding the matter of the Messenger"
The Shaykh : Yes, here.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : And most of these whom I read
The Shaykh : from me, regarding the introduction
The reader: Yes, regarding the introduction
The Shaykh : Yes.
The reader: "of making the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) birthday a festival, while people differ regarding his birth. For the Salaf did not do this, despite the presence of the motive for it and the absence of any obstacle to it, had it been good. And had this been purely good, or the stronger position, the Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them) would have been more deserving of it than we, for they were more intense in their love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and their reverence for him than we are, and they were more eager for good. And the perfection of loving him and revering him lies in following him, obeying him, adhering to his command, reviving his Sunnah in secret and in public, spreading what he was sent with, and striving for that with the heart, hand, and tongue. For this is the path of the foremost of the first, the emigrants and the helpers, and those who followed them with excellence. And most of these"
The Shaykh : Do you not know that these people who claim they love the Messenger and revere him by introducing these religious innovations and the like, by introducing these religious innovations and the like, are in reality not revering the Messenger, but rather they are accusing him, either of ignorance or of concealing and being lazy about acting? Because we say: this by which you seek nearness to Allah, either it is a means of nearness that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know, so he did not do it, or it is a means of nearness that he knew and concealed it and did not act upon it. And both matters are a defect in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), without doubt. Then, if we went further, we would say that it contains, or we would say its essence is, a denial of the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)
This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
اليوم أكملت لكم دينكم وأتممت عليكم نعمتي ورضيت لكم الإسلام ديناThe reader: "And most of these whom you find eager for such religious innovations, despite their good intention and effort for which reward is hoped for them, you find them neglectful regarding the matter of the Messenger"
The Shaykh : Yes, here.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : And most of these whom I read