Explanation of the Book of Tawhid-14

The Shaykh :"And in it is a narration from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: قام رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حين أنزل عليه وأنذر عشيرتك الأقربين The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up when it was revealed to him: "And warn your nearest relatives"" "Warn" means to make afraid and to caution, and the warning is the notification accompanied by fear. And His saying: "Kin" refers to the man's tribe and the closest relatives, the closest then the next closest. The first to be included in them are his children, then his fathers, then his paternal uncles, and so on. And here, when He said "the closest relatives," we take from the description that the closer one is, the more he is entitled to guardianship, because a rule has preceded us in this chapter, which is that the ruling attached to a description becomes stronger with the strength of that description. And that is because the description that necessitates the ruling, the more apparent and clear it is, the more apparent and clear the ruling in it is. So here we say: the closer ones, the closer they are, the more entitled they are. And for this reason he said: When that was revealed to him, did he hesitate? No, he did not hesitate, nor did he delay, (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, he stood up and said: "O people, I told you..." "O people" means O group, i.e., O group of Quraysh. And Quraysh: is Fahar ibn al-Nadr ibn Malik, one of the ancestors of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And his saying: means, or he said: a word similar to it, i.e., resembling it. And this is from the caution of the narrators: when they doubted, even slightly, in the wording, they would say "or as he said," or they would say "a word similar to it," or "something like that."
What did he say to them? The content of the speech: This is what he said: "Buy yourselves." "Buying" means rescue, because the one who buys himself is as if he has rescued him from destruction. Yes, is the buyer eager or fearful? Eager. And so he expressed it as "buying," as if he is saying: "Rescue yourselves eagerly." Yes. If Allah intends something for you, can anything prevent it? No, because the matter is in the hand of Allah. Rather, it is the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself who says: And it is the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And in his saying: there is an encouragement for this matter that is apparent, because the buyer, as I said, is eager. "I cannot avail you of anything from Allah." "Something" is an indefinite noun in the context of negation, so it is comprehensive, meaning any thing. And what... is this? His connection to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he is his uncle. And here he said: with a dammah, and he said: because when the one being called is a proper noun, it is built on the dammah, and its description, if it is a possessive, is in the accusative case. And here "ibn Abd al-Muttalib" is a possessive, so it was put in the accusative. It was said "Ya Abbas ibn" (O Abbas, son of) rather than "Ya Abbasu ibn" (O Abbas, son of). His saying: "Abd al-Muttalib." What is this? His connection to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is that Muhammad is the son of Abdullah, the son of Abd al-Muttalib. So if someone says: How can the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) say "Abd al-Muttalib" when it is not permissible to attribute "Abd" (servant) to anyone but Allah? "Abdullah," "Abd al-Rahman," "Abd al-Aziz," "Abd al-Wahhab," "Abd al-Hamid," "Abd al-Majid," and the like? We say: This is not a creation [of a name] but a report. His name is Abd al-Muttalib. It was not the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) who named him.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, he became famous as Abd al-Muttalib... And so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) attributed himself to him and said: Here it is a report, not a creation. For example, if we suppose that you have a father named Abd al-Muttalib, or Abd al-Lat, or Abd al-Uzza, or the like, do you attribute yourself to him or not? He is not present now to change his name. If he were present, we would change his name, but you would still attribute yourself to him. Is this considered an affirmation? This is not an affirmation, but it is a report about a factual matter, just as if you said "So-and-so is a disbeliever" or "So-and-so is a hypocrite," and the like.
He said: And he is his uncle. Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not say about Abbas himself? He said to Umar: Yes, but it did not benefit him. Neither the Messenger, nor his father, nor the father of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) can benefit. The father of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is in the Fire. A man said to him: "O Messenger, where is he?"
And he is his uncle. So I do not have anything by which I can repel [harm] from you, nor do I bring you any good. It is said about her what was said about Abbas. "For I possess that." I possess the ability to give you from my wealth whatever you wish. But regarding what is the right of Allah, he says: And this is the speech of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding his nearest relatives: his uncle, his aunt, and the third is his daughter. So what about those who are further away? What about those who do not extend to him any tie of kinship? That he cannot avail them of anything is even more so. So these are the people who cling to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), take refuge in him, and seek his protection from the punishment of Allah, who exist in our time and before us. All of these have been deceived by Satan and lured away from the path of truth, because they clung to what is not a means of connection. What is beneficial regarding the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is that you believe in him; that is what saves you: you believe in him and follow him. But to cling to him with your hope, call upon him, and seek from him what you hope for and fear from what you are afraid of, this is not permissible. It is shirk (associating partners with Allah), and it is what distances you from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and from seeking protection from the punishment of Allah.
In this hadith is the obedience of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the command of Allah the Exalted: For he stood up to this command (peace and blessings be upon him) with the most complete standing. He called out, he generalized and specified, and he clarified that no one is saved from the punishment of Allah, (Glorified and Exalted is He), by any means. So if it is asked: What saves him? We say, as mentioned before: what saves from the punishment of Allah is faith in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and following him.
Yes, does the status (jaha) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) benefit?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : No. And it has been established for us that it is not permissible to seek nearness to Allah, (Glorified and Exalted is He), through the status (jaha) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because it is not a means.