Explanation of the Book: The Beginning of Revelation, Faith, and Knowledge-06b

The reciter: Muhammad ibn Sinan narrated to us, saying: Falyah narrated to us. And Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir narrated to me, saying: Muhammad ibn Falyah narrated to us, saying: My father narrated to me, saying: Hilal ibn Ali narrated to me from Ata ibn Yasar from Abu Hurayrah, who said: .

The Shaykh : Allah is the One to be sought for help. In this chapter, al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) intended to convey that the one asked is not obligated to interrupt his speech to answer the questioner. Rather, he may continue his speech and then ask about the questioner afterward, if he intends to answer him. As for if he does not intend to answer him, the matter is clear. That is because a person is not obligated to answer every questioner. In fact, there may be questions to which it is not appropriate to respond, such as if answering would lead to fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), or to evil and calamity.
It is also not obligatory to answer if you know that the questioner only intends to harass and cause difficulty, and does not seek the truth. This is found in some people who ask the mufti (a scholar who issues fatwas) in order to harass him and make things difficult for him, and to put him in an awkward position. You will find, for example, that when he gives him a ruling, the man says, "Yes, but what is the evidence?" He says, "The evidence is such and such." He says, "What is the indication in the evidence?" He says, "The indication is such and such." He says, "Could it not be interpreted as such and such?" Then he puts him in an awkward position. This is bad conduct.
Likewise, some people seek a ruling not for the benefit, but in order to see what this mufti has to say, so that they can then ask another one. When they ask him, they say, "So-and-so said such and such, and you are saying such and such." Yes, this exists, especially in our time now, when, praise be to Allah, students of knowledge have multiplied and every person issues rulings based on what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has shown him and what has reached him of knowledge. People have come to differ, and you will find the common people coming to this one and asking him, and saying, "All right, let us go to so-and-so." They go to so-and-so and he gives them a ruling, and they say, "By Allah, I asked so-and-so yesterday and he said such and such, which is contrary to what you said." And this is common.
So if you know, or it becomes apparent to you from the man's features, that he only intends to harass and cause difficulty, or that he intends to pit the statements of scholars against one another, there is no blame on you if you say, "I will not give you a ruling." This is because Allah gave His Prophet the choice regarding giving rulings to the People of the Book who do not accept the truth, and He said: .
But if you know that the questioner is seeking the reality of knowledge, it is obligatory for you to give him a ruling, provided that no harm results from it. However, you may continue your speech until you are finished, and this hadith is clear in that regard.
But the brother Mustafa read: "Where is the man I think asked." Where is the man I think asked? "I think" takes two objects, and the pronoun is the first object and "the questioner" is the second object. So answer for yourself, O Mustafa?
The reader: ...

The Shaykh : You have it.
The reciter: The questioner, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : It is in the nominative case for us.

The Shaykh : He read it in the nominative case, so I want him to defend his reading now.

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : I am asking one person.
The reciter: But isn't it in the meaning of "I think," O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The reciter: Yes.

The Shaykh : And "I think" takes two objects.
The reciter: Two objects, all right.

The Shaykh : Yes, so how did he say "the questioner" in the nominative case?
The reciter: The pronoun is the first object.

The Shaykh : All right, and "the questioner"?
The reciter: "Being" (kayn), O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Here,
The reciter: "Being" is implied, meaning?

The Shaykh : It does not make sense. The answer to this is: "I think" is an interjected phrase. "I think" is an interjected phrase, and the original sentence is "Where is the questioner." Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say, "Where is the man I think asked?" He said: But the narrator was uncertain about this word, so he inserted an interjected phrase, which is his saying: "I think," meaning "I suppose." I suppose he said, "Where is the questioner?" And on this basis, the phrase is interjected. Yes, and "the questioner" is the subject (mubtada'), and its predicate (khabar) is "where," which is placed before it. If you wish, you can say "where" is the subject and "the questioner" is the predicate. But if what follows the interrogative is a definite noun, it is better to parse it as the subject, and what precedes it as the predicate.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) answered his question: "When is the Hour?" He said: , so the Bedouin asked, "How will it be abandoned?" He said: .
Allah is the One to be sought for help. If we expect the Hour from now on, if authority is entrusted... "Authority" here, the "al" (definite article) can be for generality, and it is possible that it is for reference. If we say it is for generality, then the meaning of this in that case is all matters, all matters, and all positions, small and large, from managing a school to managing education to the ministry to what is greater than that. This is if we say the "al" is for generality.
As for if we say it is for reference, and the meaning of "authority" is the authority of the people, then the meaning of that is the general authority, the general authority, meaning if the Imamate, the general authority, is entrusted to those not qualified for it, expect the Hour.
An example of that: if we entrusted the matter, the matter of the judiciary, to a judge, a judge who has no knowledge, who has no knowledge. Is this entrusting the matter to those not qualified for it or not?
To those not qualified for it, to another judge who has knowledge but has a bias that uproots the palm trees from their roots. Is he qualified or not qualified?
Not qualified. All right, and if we appointed a notary public, we appointed a notary public. The notary public writes the contracts between people. So if a person comes wanting to transfer ownership of land, real estate, he says, "I will not write it unless you make me your partner." Because the notary public knows that this land will increase in value now, so he says, "Make me a share." Perhaps they will be forced to agree to this, and this is a type of bribe. So is this notary public, the notary public, is he qualified for his position?
No. And on this basis, draw the analogy. If authority is entrusted to those not qualified for it, expect the Hour.
And from that also, if we appointed an imam in this mosque, an imam who does not recite al-Fatihah (Surat al-Fatihah) well, but he is a man, meaning of advanced age, and he was an imam before, but he does not recite al-Fatihah well. Does this fall under this or not?
It falls under this. So on this basis, we say that "authority" here, if we take it as general, what is it?
It is more appropriate. If we take it as general, it is more appropriate, and it includes all positions. And perhaps the generality is supported by his saying: , because the one entrusted must have one who entrusts, so it is general.
So expecting the Hour exists?
From long ago. From long ago we have been expecting the Hour. But we ask Allah to make our ending and outcome good for us and for you.

The questioner : Amen.