Explanation of the author's statement: And from Abu Malik al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him): that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said

The Shaykh : He said: "And from Abu Malik al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him): that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Among my people there are four characteristics belonging to pre-Islamic period which they do not abandon

أربع في أمتي من أمر الجاهلية لا يتركونهن

Sahih Muslim 934

" It has been established that the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, always said "four," "three," and the like, specifying the number. The benefit of this is not restriction. Why was it not for restriction? Because there are other things that share in this meaning. But he (peace and blessings be upon him) says it in the context of summarizing and gathering knowledge. Indeed, summarizing and gathering knowledge through division and number, and the like, is undoubtedly what facilitates understanding and secures memorization. So, for example, if I give you issues listed like this, they might be lost to you. But if I say to you, "These are four issues," if you know three, you will keep looking for the fourth, right? You will keep looking for the fourth. If I say to you, for example, "The conditions of prayer are such and such, such and such, such and such, and such and such," they might be lost, or you might not realize that something was lost from you. If I say to you, for example, "The conditions of prayer are nine," it means if you know eight, you will look for the ninth. So, facilitating knowledge through division and number is undoubtedly a familiar path from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to this day. Yes. His saying: Look, "amr" means "affair." "Amr" here means "affair," so it is one of the "affairs" (amur), not one of the "commands" (awamir). Because the "amr" that is one of the "commands" means what? It means the demand for an action with a sense of superiority. But this is one of the "affairs," meaning the matter. The addition of "of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance" (al-jahiliyyah) undoubtedly aims at condemnation and aversion. "The affair of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance," because whenever it is said to a person, "Your action is an action of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance," he is undoubtedly angry, since no one is pleased to be described as ignorant or that his action is from the actions of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. So, what is the purpose of the addition here? Aversion. This is one point. Second: The purpose of this is to clarify that all these matters are ignorance and foolishness for a person, since they are not worthy of a person attending to them or caring about them. The one who attends to them is ignorant. The intended meaning of "pre-Islamic age of ignorance" here is what was before the mission, because they were in great ignorance and misguidance. So much so that the Arabs before the mission were the most ignorant of Allah's creation. For this reason, they are called "al-Ummiyyun" (the unlettered). The "Ummi" is the one who does not read or write, named after the mother, as if his mother just gave birth to him. But when this chosen Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent among them, what did he do? Allah bestowed upon the believers this great favor: He sent among them this Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for these noble matters. He recites to them the verses of Allah and purifies them, purifying their morals and their worship, and developing them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom. Four great benefits: if the world were weighed against one of them, it would weigh it down in the eyes of one who knows their worth. Then he clarified the state of what came before, saying: This is not a negation. This is an affirmation. It is a lightened form of the heavy form, meaning "And indeed, they were before in clear error." So, what is the intended meaning of "pre-Islamic age of ignorance"? It is what was before the mission, because the people were in it in great ignorance. Yes. And we have previously seen many examples indicating their ignorance in the rights of Allah and in the rights of Allah's servants. In the rights of Allah, they set up altars and worshipped them besides Allah. Altars of stones; they made idols with their own hands and worshipped them. How ignorant they were! The Creator worshipping the created, or not? They are the ones who made them with their own hands, then they go and worship them. Yes. Also, one of them would kill his daughter for fear of being disgraced by her. His daughter, who is a part of him and a piece of him, he kills her so that he is not disgraced by her. It is said, "So-and-so is a poor man; today he had a girl." Yes. Another ignorance: they kill their children, male and female, out of fear of poverty and destitution. This is from the great ignorance. And many other things. So, from the "affair of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance," "they do not leave them." The intended meaning is not that they do not leave them, nor that they do not leave each one of them considering each individual. The intended meaning is the aggregate, the total. Meaning, one of them might be with a group, and one with others. Yes. And the third with another group, and the fourth with yet another group. Also, these four might gather in one group, meaning in one tribe. They might gather in one tribe, and some tribes might be devoid of them. Yes. All of them. The nation as a whole must have something of that, because this is a report from whom? From the Truthful, the Verified (peace and blessings be upon him). A report from the Truthful, the Verified must be true in its reporter and must occur. Then, is the intended meaning of this report to solve this thing or to avert from it? To avert from it. Because the Messenger might report things that occur, and his purpose is not to say to people, "Surrender to reality" or "Take this matter." He said: Meaning, do you do it? No, it means "Beware." And he reported that the woman (al-dha'inah) goes from Sana'a to Hadramawt and fears no one but Allah. Meaning, let her do it and go without a mahram? No. This is a report about a factual matter, and it does not mean that he is ruling on the Shari'ah. The Shari'ah rules on reality, not the other way around. The first one says.
So, his saying: What is the intended meaning of "Ummah" here? The Ummah of response or the Ummah of invitation?
The student: Response

The Shaykh : The Ummah of response. Yes, the Ummah of response, and it is